59. 王子与蛇（讲解）

Beside the well there was the ruin of an old stone wall. When I came back from my work, the next evening, I saw from some distance away my little price sitting on top of a wall, with his feet dangling. And I heard him say:

"Then you don't remember. This is not the exact spot."

Another voice must have answered him, for he replied to it:

"Yes, yes! It is the right day, but this is not the place." 

I continued my walk toward the wall. At no time did I see or hear anyone. The little prince, however, replied once again:

"--Exactly. You will see where my track begins, in the sand. You have nothing to do but wait for me there. I shall be there tonight."

I was only twenty meters from the wall, and I still saw nothing.

After a silence the little prince spoke again:

"You have good poison? You are sure that it will not make me suffer too long?"

I stopped in my tracks, my heart torn asunder; but still I did not understand.

"Now go away," said the little prince. "I want to get down from the wall."



I dropped my eyes, then, to the foot of the wall—and I leaped into the air. There before me, facing the little prince, was one of those yellow snakes that take just thirty seconds to bring your life to an end. Even as I was digging into my pocket to get out my revolver I made a running step back. But, at the noise I made, the snake let himself flow easily across the sand like the dying spray of a fountain, and, in no apparent hurry, disappeared, with a light metallic sound, among the stones.

I reached the wall just in time to catch my little man in my arms; his face was white as snow.

"What does this mean?" I demanded. "Why are you talking with snakes?"

语言点

- ruin：n. 废墟（常作复数）；例：the ruins of an old castle 古城堡遗迹 / v. 破坏；例：His career is completely ruined. 他的事业都被毁了。
- dangle：v. 悬荡；例：The kid is dangling from a tree branch. 那个小孩抓着树枝晃悠着。
- track：n. 足迹，车辙；例：to cover one’s tracks 掩盖行踪
- poison：n. 毒物 / v. 使中毒；例：The king was poisoned to death. 国王是被毒死的。
- asunder：adv. 撕碎地；例：a country ripped asunder by civil war 因内战而分崩离析的国家
- leap：v. 跳跃；例：to leap over the stream 跃过小溪 / to leap to conclusion 草率下结论
- dig：v. 挖掘，搜寻；例：to dig a hole 挖一个洞
- revolver：n. 左轮手枪
- spray：n. / v. 喷洒；例：Say it, don’t spray it. 说话注意别喷口水。
- apparent：adj. 明显的；例：for no apparent reason 无缘无故地
- metallic：adj. 金属的（声音、光泽、味道）