英文小說連載《小王子》No.26蛇

　　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.

　　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 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.

　　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？"

　　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...

　　"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？"

　　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--

　　"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...

　　His look was very serious， like some one lost far away.

　　"I have your sheep. And I have the sheep's box. And I have the muzzle..."

　　And he gave me a sad smile.

　　I waited a long time. I could see that he was reviving little by little.

　　"Dear little man，" I said to him， "you are afraid..."

　　He was afraid， there was no doubt about that. But he laughed lightly.

　　"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.

　　"Little man，" I said， "I want to hear you laugh again."

　　But he said to me：

　　"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..."

　　"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..."

　　"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..."

　　"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.

　　"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？"

　　"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？"

　　"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.

　　"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.

　　"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.

　　"I shall not leave you，" I said.

　　"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."

　　But he was worried.

　　"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."

　　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..."

　　And he took me by the hand. But he was still worrying.

　　"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.

　　"You understand... it is too far. I cannot carry this body with me. It is too heavy."

　　I said nothing.

　　"But it will be like an old abandoned shell. There is nothing sad about old shells..."

　　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.

　　"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...

　　"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 na飗e！ 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.

　　"There now-- that is all..."

　　He still hesitated a little； then he got up. He took one step. I could not move.

　　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.

　　在井旁邊有一堵殘缺的石墻。第二天晚上我工作回來的時(shí)候，我遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)地看見了小王子耷拉著雙腿坐在墻上。我聽見他在說話：

　　“你怎么不記得了呢？”他說，“絕不是在這兒。”

　　大概還有另一個(gè)聲音在回答他，因?yàn)樗�答著腔說道：

　　“沒錯(cuò)，沒錯(cuò)，日子是對的；但地點(diǎn)不是這里…”

　　我繼續(xù)朝墻走去。我還是看不到，也聽不見任何別人�？墒切⊥踝佑只卮鸬溃�

　　“…那當(dāng)然。你會在沙上看到我的腳印是從什么地方開始的。你在那里等著我就行了。今天夜里我去那里。”

　　我離墻約有二十米遠(yuǎn)，可我依然什么也沒有看見。

　　小王子沉默了一會又說：

　　“你的毒液管用嗎？你保證不會使我長時(shí)間地痛苦嗎？”

　　我焦慮地趕上前去，但我仍然不明白是怎么回事。

　　“現(xiàn)在你去吧，我要下來了！…”小王子說。

　　于是，我也朝墻腳下看去，我嚇了一跳。就在那里，一條黃蛇直起身子沖著小王子。這種黃蛇半分鐘就能結(jié)果你的性命。我一面趕緊掏口袋，拔出手槍，一面跑過去。可是一聽到我的腳步聲，蛇卻象一股干涸了的水柱一樣，慢慢鉆進(jìn)沙里去。它不慌不忙地在石頭的縫隙中鉆動著，發(fā)出輕輕的金屬般的響聲。

　　我到達(dá)墻邊的時(shí)候，正好把我的這位小王子接在我的懷抱中。他的臉色雪一樣慘白。

　　“這是搞的什么名堂！你怎么竟然和蛇也談起心來了！”我解開了他一直帶著的金黃色的圍脖。我用水漬濕了他的太陽穴，讓他喝了點(diǎn)水。這時(shí)，我什么也不敢再問他。他嚴(yán)肅地看著我，用雙臂摟著我的脖子。我感到他的心就象一只被槍彈擊中而瀕于死亡的鳥的心臟一樣在跳動著。他對我說：

　　“我很高興，你找到了你的機(jī)器所缺少的東西。你不久就可以回家去了…”

　　“你怎么知道的？”

　　我正是來告訴他，在沒有任何希望的情況下，我成功地完成了修理工作。

　　他不回答我的問題，卻接著說道：

　　“我也一樣，今天，要回家去了…”

　　然后，他憂傷地說：

　　“我回家要遠(yuǎn)得多…要難得多…”

　　我清楚地感到發(fā)生了某種不尋常的事。我把他當(dāng)作小孩一樣緊緊抱在懷里，可是我感覺到他徑直地向著一個(gè)無底深淵沉陷下去，我想法拉住他，卻怎么也辦不到…

　　他的眼神很嚴(yán)肅，望著遙遠(yuǎn)的地方。

　　“我有你畫的羊，羊的箱子和羊的嘴套子…”

　　他帶著憂傷的神情微笑了。

　　我等了很長時(shí)間，才覺得他身子漸漸暖和起來。

　　“小家伙，你受驚了…”

　　他害怕了，這是無疑的！他卻溫柔地笑著說：

　　“今天晚上，我會怕得更厲害…”

　　我再度意識到要發(fā)生一件不可彌補(bǔ)的事。我覺得我的心一下子就涼了。這時(shí)我才明白：一想到再也不能聽到這笑聲，我就不能忍受。這笑聲對我來說，就好象是沙漠中的甘泉一樣。

　　“小家伙，我還想聽你笑…”

　　但他對我說：

　　“到今天夜里，正好是一年了。我的星球?qū)⒄�好處于我去年降落的那個(gè)地方的上空…”

　　“小家伙，這蛇的事，約會的事，還有星星，這全是一場噩夢吧？”

　　但他并不回答我的問題。他對我說：

　　“重要的事，是看不見的…”

　　“當(dāng)然…”

　　“這就象花一樣。如果你愛上了一朵生長在一顆星星上的花，那么夜間，你看著天空就感到甜蜜愉快。所有的星星上都好象開著花。”

　　“當(dāng)然…”

　　“這也就象水一樣，由于那轆轤和繩子的緣故，你給我喝的井水好象音樂一樣…你記得嗎？…這水非常好喝…”

　　“當(dāng)然…”

　　“夜晚，你抬頭望著星星，我的那顆太小了，我無法給你指出我的那顆星星是在哪里。這樣倒更好。你可以認(rèn)為我的那顆星星就在這些星星之中。那么，所有的星星，你都會喜歡看的…這些星星都將成為你的朋友。而且，我還要給你一件禮物…”

　　他又笑了。

　　“�。⌒〖一�，小家伙，我喜歡聽你這笑聲！”

　　“這正好是我給你的禮物，…這就好象水那樣。”

　　“你說的是什么？”

　　“人們眼里的星星并不都一樣。對旅行的人來說，星星是向?qū)�。對別的人來說，星星只是些小亮光。對另外一些學(xué)者來說，星星就是他們探討的學(xué)問。對我所遇見的那個(gè)實(shí)業(yè)家來說，星星是金錢。但是，所有這些星星都不會說話。你呢，你的那些星星將是任何人都不曾有過的…”

　　“你說的是什么？”

　　“夜晚，當(dāng)你望著天空的時(shí)候，既然我就住在其中一顆星星上，既然我在其中一顆星星上笑著，那么對你來說，就好象所有的星星都在笑，那么你將看到的星星就是會笑的星星！”

　　這時(shí)，他又笑了。

　　“那么，在你得到了安慰之后（人們總是會自我安慰的）你就會因?yàn)檎J(rèn)識了我而感到高興。你將永遠(yuǎn)是我的朋友。你就會想要同我一起笑。有時(shí)，你會為了快樂而不知不覺地打開窗戶。你的朋友們會奇怪地看著你笑著仰望天空。那時(shí)，你就可以對他們說：‘是的，星星總是引我歡笑！’他們會以為你發(fā)瘋了。我的惡作劇將使你難堪…”

　　這時(shí)，他又笑了。

　　“這就好象我并沒有給你星星，而是給你一大堆會笑出聲來的小鈴鐺…”

　　他仍然笑著。隨后他變得嚴(yán)肅起來：

　　“今天夜里…你知道…不要來了。”

　　“我不離開你。”

　　“我將會象是很痛苦的樣子…我有點(diǎn)象要死去似的。就是這么回事，你就別來看這些了，沒有必要。”

　　“我不離開你。”

　　可是他擔(dān)心起來。