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第二十六章（第3页）

"Nowgoaway，"saidthelittleprince."Iwanttogetdownfromthewall."Idroppedmyeyes，then，tothefootofthewall—andIleapedintotheair.Therebeforeme，facingthelittleprince，wasoneofthoseyellowsnakesthattakejustthirtysecondstobringyourlifetoanend.EvenasIwasdiggingintomypockedtogetoutmyrevolverImadearunningstepback.But，atthenoiseImade，thesnakelethimselffloweasilyacrossthesandlikethedyingsprayofafountain，and，innoapparenthurry，disappeared，withalightmetallicsound，amongthestones.

Ireachedthewalljustintimetocatchmylittlemaninmyarms;hisfacewaswhiteassnow.

"Whatdoesthismean"Idemanded."Whyareyoutalkingwithsnakes"Ihadloosenedthegoldenmufflerthathealwayswore.Ihadmoistenedhistemples，andhadgivenhimsomewatertodrink.AndnowIdidnotdareaskhimanymorequestions.Helookedatmeverygravely，andputhisarmsaroundmyneck.Ifelthisheartbeatingliketheheartofadyingbird，shotwithsomeone’srifle...

"Iamgladthatyouhavefoundwhatwasthematterwithyourengine，"hesaid."Nowyoucangobackhome—""Howdoyouknowaboutthat"

Iwasjustcomingtotellhimthatmyworkhadbeensuccessful，beyondanythingthatIhaddaredtohope.Hemadenoanswertomyquestion，butheadded:"I，too，amgoingbackhometoday..."Then，sadly—

"Itismuchfarther...itismuchmoredifficult..."Irealisedclearlythatsomethingextraordinarywashappening.Iwasholdinghimcloseinmyarmsasifhewerealittlechild;andyetitseemedtomethathewasrushingheadlongtowardanabyssfromwhichIcoulddonothingtorestrainhi..

Hislookwasveryserious，likesomeonelostfaraway.

"Ihaveyoursheep.AndIhavethesheep’sbox.AndIhavethemuzzle..."Andhegavemeasadsmile.

Iwaitedalongtime.Icouldseethathewasrevivinglittlebylittle.

"Dearlittleman，"Isaidtohim，"youareafraid..."Hewasafraid，therewasnodoubtaboutthat.Buthelaughedlightly.

"Ishallbemuchmoreafraidthisevening..."OnceagainIfeltmyselffrozenbythesenseofsomethingirreparable.AndIknewthatIcouldnotbearthethoughtofneverhearingthatlaughteranymore.Forme，itwaslikeaspringoffreshwaterinthedesert.

"Littleman，"Isaid，"Iwanttohearyoulaughagain."Buthesaidtome:

"Tonight，itwillbeayear...mystar，then，canbefoundrightabovetheplacewhereIcametotheEarth，ayearago...""Littleman，"Isaid，"tellmethatitisonlyabaddream—thisaffairofthesnake，andthemeeting-place，andthestar..."Buthedidnotanswermyplea.Hesaidtome，instead:"Thethingthatisimportantisthethingthatisnotseen...""Yes，Iknow..."

"Itisjustasitiswiththeflower.Ifyouloveaflowerthatlivesonastar，itissweettolookattheskyatnight.Allthestarsarea-bloomwithflowers...""Yes，Iknow..."

"Itisjustasitiswiththewater.Becauseofthepulley，andtherope，whatyougavemetodrinkwaslikemusic.Youremember—howgooditwas.""Yes，Iknow..."

"Andatnightyouwilllookupatthestars.WhereIliveeverythingissosmallthatIcannotshowyouwheremystaristobefound.Itisbetter，likethat.Mystarwilljustbeoneofthestars，foryou.Andsoyouwilllovetowatchallthestarsintheheavens...theywillallbeyourfriends.And，besides，Iamgoingtomakeyouapresent..."Helaughedagain.

"Ah，littleprince，dearlittleprince!Ilovetohearthatlaughter!""Thatismypresent.Justthat.Itwillbeasitwaswhenwedrankthewater...""Whatareyoutryingtosay"

"Allmenhavethestars，"heanswered，"buttheyarenotthesamethingsfordifferentpeople.Forsome，whoaretravelers，thestarsareguides.Forotherstheyarenomorethanlittlelightsinthesky.Forothers，whoarescholars，theyareproblems.Formybusinessmantheywerewealth.Butallthesestarsaresilent.You—youalone—willhavethestarsasnooneelsehasthem—""Whatareyoutryingtosay"

"InoneofthestarsIshallbeliving.InoneofthemIshallbelaughing.Andsoitwillbeasifallthestarswerelaughing，whenyoulookattheskyatnight...you—onlyyou—willhavestarsthatcanlaugh!"Andhelaughedagain.

"Andwhenyoursorrowiscomforted（timesoothesallsorrows）youwillbecontentthatyouhaveknownme.Youwillalwaysbemyfriend.Youwillwanttolaughwithme.Andyouwillsometimesopenyourwindow，so，forthatpleasure...andyourfriendswillbeproperlyastonishedtoseeyoulaughingasyoulookupatthesky!Thenyouwillsaytothem，‘Yes，thestarsalwaysmakemelaugh!‘Andtheywillthinkyouarecrazy.ItwillbeaveryshabbytrickthatIshallhaveplayedonyou..."Andhelaughedagain.

"Itwillbeasif，inplaceofthestars，Ihadgivenyouagreatnumberoflittlebellsthatknewhowtolaugh..."Andhelaughedagain.Thenhequicklybecameserious:"Tonight—youknow...donotcome，"saidthelittleprince.

"Ishallnotleaveyou，"Isaid.

"IshalllookasifIweresuffering.IshalllookalittleasifIweredying.Itislikethat.Donotcometoseethat.Itisnotworththetrouble...""Ishallnotleaveyou."

Buthewasworried.

"Itellyou—itisalsobecauseofthesnake.Hemustnotbiteyou.Snakes—theyaremaliciouscreatures.Thisonemightbiteyoujustforfun...""Ishallnotleaveyou."

Butathoughtcametoreassurehim:"Itistruethattheyhavenomorepoisonforasecondbite."ThatnightIdidnotseehimsetoutonhisway.Hegotawayfrommewithoutmakingasound.WhenIsucceededincatchingupwithhimhewaswalkingalongwithaquickandresolutestep.Hesaidtomemerely:"Ah!Youarethere..."

Andhetookmebythehand.Buthewasstillworrying.

"Itwaswrongofyoutocome.Youwillsuffer.IshalllookasifIweredead;andthatwillnotbetrue..."Isaidnothing.

"Youunderstand...itistoofar.Icannotcarrythisbodywithme.Itistooheavy."Isaidnothing.

"Butitwillbelikeanoldabandonedshell.Thereisnothingsadaboutoldshells..."Isaidnothing.

Hewasalittlediscouraged.Buthemadeonemoreeffort:"Youknow，itwillbeverynice.I，too，shalllookatthestars.Allthestarswillbewellswitharustypulley.Allthestarswillpouroutfreshwaterformetodrink..."Isaidnothing.

"Thatwillbesoamusing!Youwillhavefivehundredmillionlittlebells，andIshallhavefivehundredmillionspringsoffreshwater..."Andhetoosaidnothingmore，becuasehewascrying...

"Hereitis.Letmegoonbymyself."Andhesatdown，becausehewasafraid.Thenhesaid，again:"Youknow—myflower...Iamresponsibleforher.Andsheissoweak!Sheissonaive!Shehasfourthorns，ofnouseatall，toprotectherselfagainstalltheworld..."Itoosatdown，becauseIwasnotabletostandupanylonger.

"Therenow—thatisall..."

Hestillhesitatedalittle;thenhegotup.Hetookonestep.Icouldnotmove.

Therewasnothingbutaflashofyellowclosetohisankle.Heremainedmotionlessforaninstant.Hedidnotcryout.Hefellasgentlyasatreefalls.Therewasnotevenanysound，becauseofthesand.

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