第二十五章[第5页/共6页]

I raised the bucket to his lips. He drank, his eyes closed. It was as sweet as some special festival treat. This water was indeed a different thing from ordinary nourishment. Its sweetness was born of the walk under the stars, the song of the pulley, the effort of my arms. It was good for the heart, like a present. When I was a little boy, the lights of the Christmas tree, the music of the Midnight Mass, the tenderness of smiling faces, used to make up, so, the radiance of the gifts I received.

"I am thirsty for this water," said the little prince. "Give me some of it to drink..."And I understood what he had been looking for.

But he did not answer me. He said to me, instead:"You know― my descent to the earth... Tomorrow will be its anniversary."Then, after a silence, he went on:"I came down very near here."And he flushed.

"Your fox― his ears look a little like horns; and they are too long."And he laughed again.

我喝了水。我舒畅地呼吸着氛围。戈壁在晨光中泛出蜂蜜的光芒。这蜂蜜般的光芒也使我感到幸运。那么，是甚么给我这些哀痛的感受呢？

“你听，”小王子说，“我们唤醒了这口井，它现在唱起歌来了……”

"And yet what they are looking for could be found in one single rose, or i