XXIII
"Hello."Said The Little Prince.
"Hello."Said the merchant.
This is a businessman who sells refined pills that can quench his thirst.One pill a week won't feel thirsty.
"Why do you sell this?"Said The Little Prince.
"It saves a lot of time.“Experts have calculated that you can save fifty-three minutes a week, " the businessman said.”
"So, what do you do with these fifty-three minutes?”
"Whatever it takes," he said.……”
The little prince said to himself: "if I have fifty-three minutes at my disposal, I will leisurely walk to the spring……” XXIV
This is the eighth day of my accident in the desert.I listened to the story of the merchant and drank the last drop of water that I had left for me.
"Ah!"I said to the little prince," these are beautiful stories you recall.But I haven't fixed my plane yet.I don't have any more to drink,and I would be very happy if I could take a leisurely walk to the water fountain!”
The little prince said to me: "my friend Fox……”
"My little fellow, now say what Fox!”
"Why?”
"Because this is going to die of thirst."”
He didn't understand me, he answered.：
"Even dying, have a friend!"I was so happy that I had a fox friend.……”
He ignored the danger."I thought to myself," he never knew hunger and thirst.With a little bit of sunshine, he's content.……”
He looked at me and answered my thoughts.：
"I'm thirsty too...... let's find a well……”
I am tired of looking for a well in the vast desert. it is absurd.However, we still began to look for.
As we walked silently for hours, it got dark and the stars began to shine.I have a fever because of thirst, and I look at the stars as if I were dreaming.The words of the little prince came and went in my mind.
"Are you thirsty too?"I asked him.
And he didn't answer my question. he just said to me,：
"Water is good for the heart……”
I don't know what he meant, but I didn't say it...I knew I shouldn't have asked him.
He was tired and he sat down.I sat down beside him.After a moment of silence, he said：
"The stars are beautiful, because there is a flower that people cannot see……”
I replied: "Of course."And I silently watched the folds of the desert under the moonlight.
"The desert is beautiful.He added.
Indeed.I've always loved the desert.Sitting on a sand dune, you can't see or hear anything.However, there is an indescribable thing in Silent Light……
"To make the desert more beautiful is to hide a well in a corner……”
I was surprised and suddenly understood why the desert shines.When I was a little kid, I lived in an old house, and legend has it, this house is buried a baby.Of course, no one has ever been able to find this baby, probably, and no one has ever looked for it.But this treasure enchanted the whole house.My house has a secret hidden deep within it.……
I said to the little prince,“yes, whether it be the house, the stars, or the desert, the things that make them beautiful are invisible!”
"I'm so glad that you and my Fox have the same opinion."Said The Little Prince.
When the little prince was asleep, I took him in my arms and set off again.I'm excited.It's like holding a fragile baby.It's as if there's nothing more fragile on Earth than that.I looked through the moonlight at the pale face, the closed eyes, the windswept locks of hair, and I said to myself, " all I see is the outward appearance.The most important thing is the invisible.……”
Seeing his slightly open mouth with a smile, I said to myself: "in this sleeping little prince, I am very touched by his allegiance to his flower, the image of the Rose that twinkles in his heart.This rose, even when the little prince was asleep, glowed like a flame of a lamp... " then I sensed that he was more vulnerable.Should protect the lamp flame: a gust of wind could blow it out……
So, just walking, I found the well at dawn.
XXV
"The people, they were crowded into the Express, but they didn't know what to look for," he said.So they were busy, circling back and forth... " said The Little Prince.
He went on to say,：
"It's not necessary……”
We finally found this well, unlike the ones in the Sahara.The well of the Sahara is just a hole dug in the desert.The well is much like the one in the village.However, there are no villages there, I thought it was a dream."Strange," I said to the Little Prince, " Everything is ready: the reel, the bucket, the rope……”He smiled, took the rope, turned the wheel.The reel is like an old weathervane with no wind to blow for a long time, creaking."Listen," said the little prince; " we have awakened this well, and it is singing now...."I said to him,："Let me do it.This job is too much for you.”