第二十六章
我也坐了下来，因为我再也站立不住了。他说道：“就是现在……就如许了。”
"I shall be much more afraid this evening..."Once again I felt myself frozen by the sense of something irreparable. And I knew that I could not bear the thought of never hearing that laughter any more. For me, it was like a spring of fresh water in the desert.
"And at night you will look up at the stars. Where I live everything is so small that I cannot show you where my star is to be found. It is better, like that. My star will just be one of the stars, for you. And so you will love to watch all the stars in the heavens... they will all be your friends. And, besides, I am going to make you a present..."He laughed again.
And he took me by the hand. But he was still worrying.
我解开他一向戴着的金黄色的围脖，用水浸湿他的太阳穴，让他喝了点水。此时，我甚么也不敢再问他。他严厉地凝睇着我，双手搂着我的脖子。我感到他的心就像一只被枪弹击中而濒于灭亡的鸟一样在跳动着。他说：“我很欢畅，你终究修好了飞机。你不久便能够回家去了……”
他担忧起来。
那天早晨，我没有看到他启程。他悄悄地分开了。当我终究赶上他的时候，他正果断地快步走着。他只是对我说：“啊，你来了……”
我仍然不语。
"Little man," I said, "I want to hear you laugh again."But he said to me:
“但是，这就仿佛剥落的旧树皮一样。旧的树皮，并没有甚么可悲的。”
“统统的人都具有星星。对观光的人来讲，星星是领导。对有的人来讲，星星只是些小亮光。对学者来讲，星星就是他们切磋的课题。对我遇见的阿谁贩子来讲，星星是财产。但对这些人来讲，统统这些星星都不会说话。只要你的那些星星将是任何人都未曾有过的……”
我离墙约有二十米远，可我仍然甚么也没有瞥见。
“我也一样，明天，要回家去了……”
“小家伙，我还想再听听你笑……”
“我不会分开你的。”
我等了很长时候，才感觉他身子垂垂规复过来。
小王子沉默了一会儿又说：
“这就仿佛我已经给你一大堆会笑出声来的小铃铛，而不是星星……”
"I shall look as if I were suffering. I shall look a little as if I were dying. It is like that. Do not come to see that. It is not worth the trouble...""I shall not leave you."
"In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars were laughing, when you look at the sky at night... you― only you― will have stars that can laugh!"And he laughed again.
“是的，我懂……”
"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 pocked 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.
大抵另有另一个声音在答复他，因为他又说：“没错，没错，日子是对的，但地点不是这里……”
But he was worried.
“夜晚，你能够昂首看看星星。我的那颗太小了，我没法给你指出我的那颗星星是在那里。如许倒更好。我的那颗星星就在这些星星当中。那么，统统的星星，你都会喜好看的……这些星星都将成为你的朋友。并且，我还要给你一件礼品……”
There was nothing but a flash of yellow close to his ankle. He remained motionless for an instant. He did not cry out. He fell as gently as a tree falls. There was not even any sound, because of the sand.
因而，我也朝墙脚下看去，一下子就被吓到了。就在那边，有一条黄蛇正抬头冲着小王子。这类黄蛇半分钟就能成果人的性命。我一面从速掏口袋，拔脱手枪，同时后退一步筹办跑畴昔。但是一听到我收回的声音，蛇却像落地的水柱一样，渐渐钻进沙里去。它不慌不忙地在石头的裂缝中钻动着，收回悄悄的金属般的响声，安闲地消逝在石头之间。
他坐下来，因为他惊骇了。他说：“你晓得……我的花……我是要对她卖力的！她是那么强大！她是那么天真。她有四根微不敷道的刺，庇护本身，抵当这个天下……”
他又笑了。
His look was very serious, like some one lost far away.
“你如何晓得的？”
“那多么好玩啊！你将有五亿个铃铛，我将有五亿口水井……”
我持续朝石墙走去。我还是看不到人，也听不见任何声音。但是小王子又答复道：“当然。到时你会看到我在沙地上留的足迹。你在那边等着我就行了。明天早晨我会畴昔的。”
再一次，我因为感到一些不成挽回的事情而后背发凉。这时我才明白：一想到再也不能听到这笑声，我就不能忍耐。这笑声对我来讲，就仿佛是戈壁中的甘泉一样。
当时一道黄色的闪电在他的脚踝子骨四周闪过。顷刻间他一动也不动了。他没有叫唤，悄悄地像一棵树被砍倒在地上，连一点响声都没有，大抵因为沙地的原因吧。
这时，他又笑了。
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.
我恰是来奉告他，在没有任何但愿的环境下，我胜利地完成了补缀事情。
“我回家要远很多……要难很多……”
“就这儿吧。让我本身走吧。”
"Dear little man," I said to him, "you are afraid..."He was afraid, there was no doubt about that. But he laughed lightly.
我缓慢达到墙边，恰好用度量接住我的这位小王子。他的神采雪一样惨白。
他仿佛想到了甚么，有点放心了：“对了，它咬第二口的时候就没有毒了……”
“你的毒液管用吗？你包管不会让我痛苦很长时候吗？”
他有些泄气了，但仍试着再次劝说我：“统统都会好起来，你晓得。我也会看着星星的。统统的星星都将是带有生了锈的辘轳的井。统统的星星都会倒水给我喝……”
"I have your sheep. And I have the sheep’s box. And I have the muzzle..." And he gave me a sad smile.
我清楚地感到产生了某种不平常的事。我把他当作小孩一样紧紧抱在怀里，仿佛他径直地向着一个无底深渊坠下去，我想要拉住他，却甚么也做不了……他的眼神很严厉，望着悠远的处所。
"It is just as it is with the flower. If you love a flower that lives on a star, it is sweet to look at the sky at night. All the stars are a-bloom with flowers...""Yes, I know..."
Chapter 26
"Tonight, it will be a year... my star, then, can be found right above the place where I came to the Earth, a year ago...""Little man," I said, "tell me that it is only a bad dream― this affair of the snake, and the meeting-place, and the star..."But he did not answer my plea. He said to me, instead: "The thing that is important is the thing that is not seen...""Yes, I know..."
“是的，我懂……”
我没法开口。
在水井中间，有一面倾塌残破的石墙。第二天早晨，我做完工作返来的时候，远远地看到小王子悄悄晃着双腿坐在墙上。我闻声他说：“你如何不记得了呢？”他说，“毫不是在这儿啊！”
我还是沉默不语。
He still hesitated a little; then he got up. He took one step. I could not move.
但他并不答复我的题目。他对我说：“首要的事，是看不见的……”
"It will be as if, in place of the stars, I had given you a great number of little bells that knew how to laugh..."And he laughed again. Then he quickly became serious:"Tonight― you know... do not come," said the little prince.
“是的，我懂……”
"It is much farther... it is much more difficult..."I realised clearly that something extraordinary was happening. I was holding him close in my arms as if he were a little child; and yet it seemed to me that he was rushing headlong toward an abyss from which I could do nothing to restrain him...
I waited a long time. I could see that he was reviving little by little.
“如何回事？你竟然和蛇也提及话来了！”
但他对我说：
"I shall not leave you," I said.
I reached the wall just in time to catch my little man in my arms; his face was white as snow.
“夜晚，当你望着天空的时候，既然我就住在此中一颗星星上，既然我在此中一颗星星上笑着，那么对你来讲，就仿佛统统的星星都在笑，那么你将具有的星星就是会笑的星星！”
这时，他又笑了。
“明天夜里，恰好是一年了。我的星球今晚会呈现在我客岁降落的阿谁处所的上空……”
I was just coming to tell him that my work had been successful, beyond anything that I had dared to hope. He made no answer to my question, but he added:"I, too, am going back home today..."Then, sadly―
But a thought came to reassure him:"It is true that they have no more poison for a second bite."That night I did not see him set out on his way. He got away from me without making a sound. When I succeeded in catching up with him he was walking along with a quick and resolute step. He said to me merely:"Ah! You are there..."
"That will be so amusing! You will have five hundred million little bells, and I shall have five hundred million springs of fresh water..."And he too said nothing more, becuase he was crying...
“你到底想说甚么？”
“现在你去吧，我要从墙高低来了！”小王子说。
“我叫你别来……这也是因为蛇的原因。别让它咬了你……蛇是有剧毒的，这条蛇能够会咬你来取乐……”
“你到底想说甚么？”
"It was wrong of you to come. You will suffer. I shall look as if I were dead; and that will not be true..."I said nothing.
"Here it is. Let me go on by myself."And he sat down, because he was afraid. Then he said, again:"You know― my flower... I am responsible for her. And she is so weak! She is so naive! She has four thorns, of no use at all, to protect herself against all the world..."I too sat down, because I was not able to stand up any longer.
我还是沉默不语。
"What does this mean" I demanded. "Why are you talking with snakes"I had loosened the golden muffler that he always wore. I had moistened his temples, and had given him some water to drink. And now I did not dare ask him any more questions. He looked at me very gravely, and put his arms around my neck. I felt his heart beating like the heart of a dying bird, shot with someone’s rifle...
“这也就像水一样，因为那辘轳和绳索，你给我喝的水仿佛音乐一样美好……你记得吗？这水非常好喝……”
“就像那一朵花。如果你爱上了一朵发展在某颗星星上的花，每当你看着夜空就感到甜美镇静，仿佛统统的星星上都开着花。”
他带着哀伤的神情浅笑了。
"All men have the stars," he answered, "but they are not the same things for different people. For some, who are travelers, the stars are guides. For others they are no more than little lights in the sky. For others, who are scholars, they are problems . For my businessman they were wealth. But all these stars are silent. You― you alone― will have the stars as no one else has them―""What are you trying to say"
然后，他哀伤地说：
“到时，我会看起来很痛苦……有点像正在死去。就是这么回事，你就别来看这些了，没有需求。”
"And when your sorrow is comforted (time soothes all sorrows) you will be content that you have known me. You will always be my friend. You will want to laugh with me. And you will sometimes open your window, so, for that pleasure... and your friends w ill be properly astonished to see you laughing as you look up at the sky! Then you will say to them, ‘Yes, the stars always make me laugh!‘ And they will think you are crazy. It will be a very shabby trick that I shall have played on you..."And he laughed again.
这时，他甚么也不说了，因为他哭了。
"I tell you― it is also because of the snake. He must not bite you. Snakes― they are malicious creatures. This one might bite you just for fun...""I shall not leave you."
“你明白，路很远。我不能带着这副身躯走。它太重了。”
“我不会分开你的。”
他拉着我的手。但是他仍然很担忧：“你不该来。你会难受的。到时我会像是死去一样，但这不会是真的……”
他惊骇了，这是无疑的！他却悄悄地笑着说：“明天早晨，我会更加惊骇的……”
他没有答复我的题目，接着说：
"Ah, little prince, dear little prince! I love to hear that laughter!""That is my present. Just that. It will be as it was when we drank the water...""What are you trying to say"
“这恰好是我给你的礼品，这就仿佛水那样。”
"There now― that is all..."
"I am glad that you have found what was the matter with your engine," he said. "Now you can go back home―""How do you know about that"
他踌躇了一下，然后站起来。他迈出了最后一步。我一动都不能动。
"But it will be like an old abandoned shell. There is nothing sad about old shells..."I said nothing.
“那么，在你的哀痛获得安慰时（时候会抚平一些伤痛），你就会因为熟谙我而感到满足。你将永久是我的朋友。你会同我一起笑。偶然，你会为了那样的欢愉而不知不觉地翻开窗户。你的朋友们会奇特地看着你傻笑着瞻仰天空。当时，你便能够对他们说：‘是的，星星老是让我发笑！’他们会觉得你发疯了。这将是一个我在你身上玩的非常糟糕的把戏……”
他又笑了。随后他变得严厉起来：“明天夜里……你晓得……不要来了。”
"It is just as it is with the water. Because of the pulley, and the rope, what you gave me to drink was like music. You remember― how good it was.""Yes, I know..."
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 metres from the wall, and I still saw nothing.
“小家伙，你吃惊了……”
我停下脚步，心已碎，但我仍然不明白是如何回事。
“小家伙，这蛇的事、约会的事，另有星星，这满是一场恶梦吧？”
“我有你画的绵羊、羊的箱子和羊的嘴套子……”
“啊！小家伙，小家伙，我喜好听你这笑声！”
“我不会分开你的。”
"You understand... it is too far. I cannot carry this body with me. It is too heavy."I said nothing.
He was a little discouraged. But he made one more effort:"You know, it will be very nice. I, too, shall look at the stars. All the stars will be wells with a rusty pulley. All the stars will pour out fresh water for me to drink..."I said nothing.