Chapter 24
It was now the eighth day since I had had my accident in the desert, and I had listened to the story of the merchant as I was drinking the last drop of my water supply.
这是我在沙漠上出了事故的第八天，我听着有关这个商人的故事，我在喝最后一滴我的供水。
"Ah," I said to the little prince, "these memories of yours are very charming; but I have not yet succeeded in repairing my plane;
“啊！”我对小王子说，“你的这些回忆非常迷人，可是，我还没有成功修好我的飞机。
I have nothing more to drink; and I, too, should be very happy if I could walk at my leisure toward a spring of fresh water"!
我没有喝的了，而且我也，会很高兴，如果我能在空的时候走向一汪淡水泉水。”
"My friend the fox--" the little prince said to me.
“我的朋友狐狸……”小王子对我说。
"My dear little man, this is no longer a matter that has anything to do with the fox"!
“我亲爱的小家伙，再也没有什么事是和狐狸有关系的了！”
"Why not"?
“为什么没有？”
"Because I am about to die of thirst."
“因为我就要渴死了。”
He did not follow my reasoning, and he answered me:
他不理解我的思路，他回答我道：
"It is a good thing to have had a friend, even if one is about to die.
“有一个朋友是一件很好的事情，即使就要死了。
I, for instance, am very glad to have had a fox as a friend. . ."
比如我，就很高兴能有狐狸做朋友......”
"He has no way of guessing the danger," I said to myself.
“他不可能猜得到危险，”我对自己说。
"He has never been either hungry or thirsty. A little sunshine is all he needs. . ."
“他从来没有过饥渴。一点点阳光就是他需要的全部……”
But he looked at me steadily, and replied to my thought: "I am thirsty, too. Let us look for a well".
但他从容地看着我，答复着我的想法：“我也渴了。我们去找一口井吧。”
I made a gesture of weariness.
我做了一个厌烦的手势。
It is absurd to look for a well, at random, in the immensity of the desert.
在无垠的沙漠里随机寻找一口井，真荒唐。
But nevertheless we started walking.
然而我们还是开始走了。
When we had trudged along for several hours, in silence, the darkness fell, and the stars began to come out.
当我们默默地走了好几个小时以后，夜色降临，星星开始出现。
Thirst had made me a little feverish, and I looked at them as if I were in a dream.
口渴让我有点发烧，我看着它们，就像我是在一个梦里。
The little prince's last words came reeling back into my memory:
小王子最后的话在记忆中盘旋。
"Then you are thirsty, too"? I demanded.
“你也渴吗？”我询问着。
But he did not reply to my question.
他却不回答我的问题。
He merely said to me: "Water may also be good for the heart".
他只是对我说：“水对心也是有益处的。”
I did not understand this answer, but I said nothing.
我不明白这个回答，但我什么也没说。
I knew very well that it was impossible to cross-examine him.
我非常清楚反复询问他是不可能的。
He was tired. He sat down. I sat down beside him.
他累了。他坐了下来。我在他身旁坐下。
And, after a little silence, he spoke again: "The stars are beautiful, because of a flower that cannot be seen".
沉默了一会后，他又说道：“星星很美丽，因为有一朵看不见的花。”
I replied, "Yes, that is so". And, without saying anything more, I looked across the ridges of sand that were stretched out before us in the moonlight.
我回答道：“是的，是那样。”不再说任何事情，我看着在月光中延伸在我们面前的沙子的褶皱。
"The desert is beautiful," the little prince added.
“沙漠是美的。”他又说道。
And that was true. I have always loved the desert.
确实如此。我一直很喜欢沙漠。
One sits down on a desert sand dune, sees nothing, hears nothing.
坐在一个沙丘上，什么也看不见、听不见。
Yet through the silence something throbs, and gleams. . .
但是，在寂静中有些东西在悸动，在闪烁......
"What makes the desert beautiful," said the little prince, "is that somewhere it hides a well. . ."
“使沙漠美丽的，”小王子说，“是在某个地方藏着一口井……”
I was astonished by a sudden understanding of that mysterious radiation of the sands.
我很惊讶，突然明白了沙子神秘的发光。
When I was a little boy I lived in an old house, and legend told us that a treasure was buried there.
当我还是一个小男孩的时候，我住在一座古老的房子里，而且传说告诉我们，那里埋藏着一笔财富。
To be sure, no one had ever known how to find it; perhaps no one had ever even looked for it.
肯定的是，从来没有任何人知道怎么样找到它，也许甚至也没有人去寻找过。
But it cast an enchantment over that house.
但是，它使那个房子有了一种魔力。
My home was hiding a secret in the depths of its heart. . .
我家的房子在它的心灵深处隐藏着一个秘密……
"Yes," I said to the little prince.
“是的，”我对小王子说道。
"The house, the stars, the desert -- what gives them their beauty is something that is invisible"!
“房子，星星，沙漠，赐予它们它们的美丽的是一些看不见的东西！”
"I am glad," he said, "that you agree with my fox".
“我真高兴，”他说，“你赞同我的狐狸。”
As the little prince dropped off to sleep, I took him in my arms and set out walking once more.
小王子睡着了的时候，我把他抱在怀里，再一次上路了。
I felt deeply moved, and stirred.
我被深深感动，和激励。
It seemed to me that I was carrying a very fragile treasure.
在我看来我抱着一个脆弱的宝贝。
It seemed to me, even, that there was nothing more fragile on all the Earth.
在我看来，甚至，在整个地球上都没有比这更脆弱的了。
In the moonlight I looked at his pale forehead, his closed eyes, his locks of hair that trembled in the wind, and I said to myself:
月光中，我看着他苍白的前额，他双紧闭的眼睛，他在风中震颤的缕缕头发，我对自己说道：“
"What I see here is nothing but a shell. What is most important is invisible. .."
我在这里看到的什么也不是只是外壳。最重要的是看不见的……”
As his lips opened slightly with the suspicious of a half-smile, I said to myself, again:
在他的嘴唇稍稍张开露出一个疑似的半微笑时，我又对自己说：
"What moves me so deeply, about this little prince who is sleeping here, is his loyalty to a flower--the image of a rose that shines through his whole being like the flame of a lamp, even when he is asleep. . ."
“使我深深感动的是，关于这个熟睡的小王子，是他对他那朵花的忠诚，一个玫瑰的形象像一盏油灯的火焰照亮了他整个人，即使在他睡着的时候……”
And I felt him to be more fragile still.
而且我感觉他更加脆弱。
I felt the need of protecting him, as if he himself were a flame that might be extinguished by a little puff of wind. . .
我感觉到保护他的需要，好像他自己是一朵火焰，会被一阵小风就熄灭了……
And, as I walked on so, I found the well, at daybreak.
于是，我这样走着，我发现了水井，在黎明时。
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