【Chapter 26】The Little Prince(小王子)

joker11111

Chapter 26

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 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 realized 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 . . . "

38. "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 will 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. "

"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 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.

"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.

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joker11111

这章很长很长，也看了很久，小王子选择离开，留给作者的是一片爱笑的夜空，当你看着一个东西不自主的发笑时，那个东西后面一定有你的一端甜蜜往事......

几则读后感分享：

之前诠释的事理在此章得到了汇总和升华。相信所有的读者都对小王子的离去倍感不舍吧！毕竟他的欢笑如一脉清泉一场甘霖，他的稚语是那么赤诚纯真又富有哲理，你永远都能感受到他灵魂的洁然无瑕。可惜美好的东西常是易碎的，小王子的生命就像地理学家说的那样短暂如昙花一现、蜉蝣一梦……他让我想起《海上钢琴师》中的1900。都是一样的执著到固执，淡泊到对世俗的行为不解，清醒到容易感到忧伤和孤独——他们似乎注定要与这个世界擦身而过……请别伤心，对他们来说，这或许是最好、最圆满的结局。小王子无法带着沉重的驱壳踏上归程，对他来说死亡也绝非生命的终点。所以啊朋友，就此别过，感谢你让我能在凝视夜空时发现一群爱笑的亮星(那是你熠熠生辉的双目与弯弯的眉眼吧)；感谢你让我懂得了短暂的生命是怎样镌刻出永恒的印记。

想起张国荣的明星那首歌，当你看到天上星星，可想起我，当你看到银河灿烂，可想起我曾为你比星星笑的多…

小王子真的“驯服”了飞行员，其实这种感情更像是亲人间的感情~ 他告诉你他一生的所见所闻他的命途多舛，教导你指引你，并且他最终总会离你而去。 珍惜

小王子中一个最大的伏笔 在第三章小王子与作者初次见面的时候，就要作者画一副sheep in the box给他带回星球上 请问，小王子世界中有任何一个已知能力可以点画成真的吗？ 没有答案 这其实一开始就预示着小王子根本不会回到星球上，起码不会以正常的形式回到星球上。 看似小王子中有很多逻辑不严谨的地方 然而正是他的浪漫才没让小王子沦为一部科幻片