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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;andyetitseemedtomethathewasrushingheadlongtowardanabyssfromwhichIcoulddonothingtorestrainhim。。。

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。