As the little prince dropped off to sleep, I took him in my arms and set out walking once more. I felt deeply moved, and stirred. It seemed to me that I was carrying a very fragile treasure. It seemed to me, even, that there was nothing more fragile on all Earth. 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: "What I see here is nothing but a shell. What is most important is invisible..."
As his lips opened slightly with the suspicious of a half-smile, I said to myself, again: "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..." And I felt him to be more fragile still. I felt the need of protecting him, as if he himself were a flame that might be extinguished by a little puff of wind....
(from The Little Prince)
小王子睡著了,我將他搶在懷中,又重新上路。我被深深打動了,心潮澎湃。我覺得,自己似乎搶著一件易碎的珍寶,甚至覺得地球上再沒有比這更脆弱的東西了。我借著月光看著他蒼白的面額,緊閉的雙眼和那隨風飄動的綹綹頭發(fā),自言自語道:"在這兒我所見到的僅僅是外表。最重要的是看不見的......"
當我看到他雙唇微啟、似笑非笑的模樣時,我又對自己說:"在這個熟睡于此的小王子身上,令我感動至深的,是他對一朵花的忠誠,那朵玫瑰花,即使是在他睡著之時,也會如燈的火焰一樣照亮著他的整個生命......"這時,我就感覺他更加脆弱了。我感到他需要保護,他就如同燈焰一般,一縷輕風都可能將它吹滅......
--選自《小王子》