Chapter 26 III
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 seethat. 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. Thisone 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 Isucceeded in catching up with him he was walking along with a quick and resolute step. He said to memerely:
"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 hundredmillion springs of fresh water . . .
And he too said nothing more, because 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 naïve! She has fourthorns, 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 didnot cry out. He fell as gently as a tree falls. There was not even any sound, because of the sand.
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