第二十六章 (第2/2页)

那天晚上，我没有看到他起程。他悄悄地离开了。当我终于赶上他的时候，他正坚定地快步走着。他只是对我说：“啊，你来了……”

他拉着我的手。但是他仍然很担心：“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……”

我无法开口。

“你明白，路很远。我不能带着这副身躯走。它太重了。”

我依然不语。

“但是，这就好像剥落的旧树皮一样。旧的树皮，并没有什么可悲的。”

我还是沉默不语。

他有些泄气了，但仍试着再次劝说我：“一切都会好起来，你知道。我也会看着星星的。所有的星星都将是带有生了锈的辘轳的井。所有的星星都会倒水给我喝……”

我还是沉默不语。

“那多么好玩啊！你将有五亿个铃铛，我将有五亿口水井……”

这时，他什么也不说了，因为他哭了。

“就这儿吧。让我自己走吧。”

他坐下来，因为他害怕了。他说：“你知道……我的花……我是要对她负责的！她是那么弱小！她是那么天真。她有四根微不足道的刺，保护自己，抵抗这个世界……”

我也坐了下来，因为我再也站立不住了。他说道：“就是现在……就这样了。”

他犹豫了一下，然后站起来。他迈出了最后一步。我一动都不能动。

当时一道黄色的闪电在他的脚踝子骨附近闪过。刹那间他一动也不动了。他没有叫喊，轻轻地像一棵树被砍倒在地上，连一点响声都没有，大概由于沙地的缘故吧。

Chaptr 26

Bsd th ll thr as th run of an old ston all. Whn I ca ack fro y ork, th nxt vnng, I sa fro so dstanc aay y lttl prc sttng on top of a all, th hs ft danglng. And I hard h say:"Thn you don’t rr. Ths s not th xact spot."Anothr voc ust hav ansrd h, for h rpld to t:"Ys, ys! It s th rght day, ut ths s not th plac."I contnud y alk toard th all. At no t dd I s or har anyon. Th lttl prnc, hovr, rpld onc agan:"—Exactly. You ll s hr y track gns, n th sand. You hav nothng to do ut at for thr. I shall thr tonght."I as only tnty trs fro th all, and I stll sa nothng.

Aftr a slnc th lttl prnc spok agan:"You hav good poson You ar sur that t ll not ak suffr too long"I stoppd n y tracks, y hart torn asundr; ut stll I dd not undrstand.

"No go aay," sad th lttl prnc. "I ant to gt don fro th all."I droppd y ys, thn, to th foot of th all— and I lapd nto th ar. Thr for , facng th lttl prnc, as on of thos yllo snaks that tak just thrty sconds to rng your lf to an nd. Evn as I as dggng nto y pockd to gt out y rvolvr I ad a runnng stp ack. But, at th nos I ad, th snak lt hslf flo asly across th sand lk th dyng spray of a fountan, and, n no apparnt hurry, dsappard, th a lght tallc sound, aong th stons.

I rachd th all just n t to catch y lttl an n y ars; hs fac as ht as sno.

"What dos ths an" I dandd. "Why ar you talkng th snaks"I had loosnd th goldn ufflr that h alays or. I had ostnd hs tpls, and had gvn h so atr to drnk. And no I dd not dar ask h any or qustons. H lookd at vry gravly, and put hs ars around y nck. I flt hs hart atng lk th hart of a dyng rd, shot th soon’s rfl...

"I a glad that you hav found hat as th attr th your ngn," h sad. "No you can go ack ho—""Ho do you kno aout that"

I as just cong to tll h that y ork had n succssful, yond anythng that I had dard to hop. H ad no ansr to y quston, ut h addd:"I, too, a gong ack ho today..."Thn, sadly—

"It s uch farthr... t s uch or dffcult..."I ralsd clarly that sothng xtraordnary as happnng. I as holdng h clos n y ars as f h r a lttl chld; and yt t sd to that h as rushng hadlong toard an ayss fro hch I could do nothng to rstran h...

Hs look as vry srous, lk so on lost far aay.

"I hav your shp. And I hav th shp’s ox. And I hav th uzzl..." And h gav a sad sl.

I atd a long t. I could s that h as rvvng lttl y lttl.

"Dar lttl an," I sad to h, "you ar afrad..."H as afrad, thr as no dout aout that. But h laughd lghtly.

"I shall uch or afrad ths vnng..."Onc agan I flt yslf frozn y th sns of sothng rrparal. And I kn that I could not ar th thought of nvr harng that laughtr any or. For , t as lk a sprng of frsh atr n th dsrt.

"Lttl an," I sad, "I ant to har you laugh agan."But h sad to :

"Tonght, t ll a yar... y star, thn, can found rght aov th plac hr I ca to th Earth, a yar ago...""Lttl an," I sad, "tll that t s only a ad dra— ths affar of th snak, and th tng-plac, and th star..."But h dd not ansr y pla. H sad to , nstad: "Th thng that s portant s th thng that s not sn...""Ys, I kno..."

"It s just as t s th th flor. If you lov a flor that lvs on a star, t s st to look at th sky at nght. All th stars ar a-loo th flors...""Ys, I kno..."

"It s just as t s th th atr. Bcaus of th pully, and th rop, hat you gav to drnk as lk usc. You rr— ho good t as.""Ys, I kno..."

"And at nght you ll look up at th stars. Whr I lv vrythng s so sall that I cannot sho you hr y star s to found. It s ttr, lk that. My star ll just on of th stars, for you. And so you ll lov to atch all th stars n th havns... thy ll all your frnds. And, sds, I a gong to ak you a prsnt..."H laughd agan.

"Ah, lttl prnc, dar lttl prnc! I lov to har that laughtr!""That s y prsnt. Just that. It ll as t as hn drank th atr...""What ar you tryng to say"

"All n hav th stars," h ansrd, "ut thy ar not th sa thngs for dffrnt popl. For so, ho ar travlrs, th stars ar guds. For othrs thy ar no or than lttl lghts n th sky. For othrs, ho ar scholars, thy ar prols . For y usnssan thy r alth. But all ths stars ar slnt. You— you alon— ll hav th stars as no on ls has th—""What ar you tryng to say"

"In on of th stars I shall lvng. In on of th I shall laughng. And so t ll as f all th stars r laughng, hn you look at th sky at nght... you— only you— ll hav stars that can laugh!"And h laughd agan.

"And hn your sorro s cofortd (t sooths all sorros) you ll contnt that you hav knon . You ll alays y frnd. You ll ant to laugh th . And you ll sots opn your ndo, so, for that plasur... and your frnds ll proprly astonshd to s you laughng as you look up at th sky! Thn you ll say to th, ‘Ys, th stars alays ak laugh!‘ And thy ll thnk you ar crazy. It ll a vry shay trck that I shall hav playd on you..."And h laughd agan.

"It ll as f, n plac of th stars, I had gvn you a grat nur of lttl lls that kn ho to laugh..."And h laughd agan. Thn h quckly ca srous:"Tonght— you kno... do not co," sad th lttl prnc.

"I shall not lav you," I sad.

"I shall look as f I r suffrng. I shall look a lttl as f I r dyng. It s lk that. Do not co to s that. It s not orth th troul...""I shall not lav you."

But h as orrd.

"I tll you— t s also caus of th snak. H ust not t you. Snaks— thy ar alcous craturs. Ths on ght t you just for fun...""I shall not lav you."

But a thought ca to rassur h:"It s tru that thy hav no or poson for a scond t."That nght I dd not s h st out on hs ay. H got aay fro thout akng a sound. Whn I succdd n catchng up th h h as alkng along th a quck and rsolut stp. H sad to rly:"Ah! You ar thr..."

And h took y th hand. But h as stll orryng.

"It as rong of you to co. You ll suffr. I shall look as f I r dad; and that ll not tru..."I sad nothng.

"You undrstand... t s too far. I cannot carry ths ody th . It s too havy."I sad nothng.

"But t ll lk an old aandond shll. Thr s nothng sad aout old shlls..."I sad nothng.

H as a lttl dscouragd. But h ad on or ffort:"You kno, t ll vry nc. I, too, shall look at th stars. All th stars ll lls th a rusty pully. All th stars ll pour out frsh atr for to drnk..."I sad nothng.

"That ll so ausng! You ll hav fv hundrd llon lttl lls, and I shall hav fv hundrd llon sprngs of frsh atr..."And h too sad nothng or, cuas h as cryng...

"Hr t s. Lt go on y yslf."And h sat don, caus h as afrad. Thn h sad, agan:"You kno— y flor... I a rsponsl for hr. And sh s so ak! Sh s so nav! Sh has four thorns, of no us at all, to protct hrslf aganst all th orld..."I too sat don, caus I as not al to stand up any longr.

"Thr no— that s all..."

H stll hstatd a lttl; thn h got up. H took on stp. I could not ov.

Thr as nothng ut a flash of yllo clos to hs ankl. H rand otonlss for an nstant. H dd not cry out. H fll as gntly as a tr falls. Thr as not vn any sound, caus of th sand.