佚名/Anonymous
Many Americans are familiar with The Little Prince, a wonderful book by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. This is a whimsical and fabulous book and works as a children's story as well as a thought—provoking adult fable. Far fewer are aware of Saint-Exupery's other writings, novels and short stories.
Saint-Exupery was a fighter pilot who fought against the Nazis and was killed in action. Before World War II, he fought in the Spanish Civil War against the fascists. He wrote a fascinating story based on that experience entitled The Smile. It is this story which I'd like to share with you now. It isn't clear whether or not he meant this to be autobiographical or fiction. I choose to believe it to be the former.
He said that he was captured by the enemy and thrown into a jail cell. He was sure that from the contemptuous looks and rough treatment he received from his jailers he would be executed the next day. From here, I'll tell the story as I remember it in my own words.
I was sure that I was to be killed. I became terribly nervous and distraught. I fumbled in my pockets to see if there were any cigarettes, which had escaped their search. I found one and because of my shaking hands, I could barely get it to my lips. But I had no matches, they had taken those.
I looked through the bars at my jailer. He did not make eye contact with me. After all, one does not make eye contact with a thing, a corpse. I called out to him 'Have you got a light?' He looked at me, shrugged and came over to light my cigarette.
As he came close and lit the match, his eyes inadvertently locked with mine. At that moment, I smiled. I don't know why I did that. Perhaps it was nervousness, perhaps it was becaus1, when you get very closs, one to another, it is very hard not to smile. In any case, I smiled. In that instant, it was as though a spark jumped across the gap between our two hearts, our two human souls. I knew he didn't want to, but my smile leaped through the bars and generated a smile on his lips, too. He lit my cigarette but stayed near, looking at me directly in the eyes and continuing to smile.
I kept smiling at him, now aware of him as a person and not just a jailer. And his looking at me seemed to have a new dimension, too.'Do you have kids?' he asked.
'Yes, here, here.' I took out my wallet and nervously fumbled for the pictures of my family. He, too, took out the pictures of his family and began to talk about his plans and hopes for them. My eyes filled with tears. I said that I feared that I'd never see my family again, never have the chance to see them grow up. Tears came to his eyes, too.
Suddenly, without another word, he unlocked my cell and silently led me out. Out of the jail, quietly and by back routes, out of the town. There, at the edge of town, he released me. And without another word, he turned back toward the town.
My life was saved by a smile.
Yes, the smile is the unaffected, unplanned, natural connection between people. I tell this story in my work because I'd like people to consider that underneath all the layers we construct to protect ourselves, our dignity, our titles, our degrees, our status and our need to be seen in certain ways and underneath all that, remains the authentic, essential self. I' m not afraid to call it the soul. I really believe that if that part of you and that part of me could recognize each othee, we wouldn't be enemies. We couldn't have hate or envy or fear. I sadly conclude that all those other layers, which we so carefully construct through our lives, distance and insulate us from truly contacting others. Saint-Exupery's story speaks of that magic moment when two souls recognize each other.
I've had just a few moments like that. Falling in love is one example. And looking at a baby. Why do we smile when we see a baby? Perhaps it's because we see someone without all the defensive layers, someone whose smile for us we know to be fully genuine and without guile. And that baby-soul inside us smiles wistfully in recognition.
在美國，安東尼·聖·埃克蘇佩裏的《小王子》幾乎家喻戶曉。小孩子覺得那是個神奇的童話，成年人則認為那是個哲理故事，發人深省。至於聖·埃克蘇佩裏的其他作品和故事，很少有人知道。
聖·埃克蘇佩裏是名空軍士兵，參加過反納粹戰爭，在執行任務時不幸身亡。“二戰”前，他參加了西班牙內戰，抗擊法西斯，以此為素材，他寫了篇感人至深的《微笑》。現在，我們就來回味這個故事，故事是否真實無從考證，我寧願相信那是作者的親身所曆。
作者說，他被敵人俘虜並關進了監獄，看到看守那輕蔑的眼神、粗暴的態度，他肯定自己明天就會命喪九泉。下麵，我根據我的回憶，用我的語言把這個故事講給你們聽。
明天便是我的末日，一想到這兒，我就恐懼慌亂、狂躁不安起來。我翻遍所有的口袋，終於找到了一支煙。我的手顫抖著，好不容易才把它放到嘴裏，但沒有火柴，全被他們搜走了。
透過鐵欄，我看見外麵的警衛。他並不看我，畢竟，我隻是他們眼裏的一件“物品”、一具“屍體”。我衝他喊道：“能借個火嗎？”他看著我，聳了聳肩，走過來點燃我的香煙。
他靠近我，給我點火，無意間，他掃了我一眼，不知怎地，我笑了起來。也許是緊張，也許是人與人近距離接觸時，很難不笑出來。不管出於何種原因，那一瞬，我笑了。這笑，猶如一朵跳躍的火花，打破了心靈的隔膜，拉近了兩個人的靈魂。我知道他本來並沒打算微笑，但我的微笑好像越過了鐵欄，啟動了他的雙唇，他竟然也笑了。他幫我點燃了香煙，並未立刻離開，而是注視著我，依舊笑著。
我也笑著，仿佛他是我的朋友，而非看守。他的表情似乎柔和了許多，“你有小孩嗎？”他問道。
“有，有，你看。”說著，我摸出皮夾，哆哆嗦嗦地掏出了家人的照片。他也拿出家人的照片，並開始講述他的計劃和夢想。我的眼裏噙滿了淚水，我說，我恐怕以後再也見不到家人，無法看著孩子長大成人了。聽到這些，他也流下了淚水。
突然，沒有說一句話，他打開牢門，帶我出去，悄悄地從後麵的小路將我帶出了城。在城市的邊緣，他放了我，什麽也沒說，便轉身回去了。
“是微笑拯救了我。”
是的，微笑是聯結人與人之間自然、真摯、難以預料的紐帶。在這裏，我之所以講述這個故事，是希望人們能認識到：為了維護尊嚴、頭銜、身份、地位和形象，我們建立了層層保護屏障，來掩飾自己。在這些掩飾之下，人人都有一個真實的本我，姑且就叫它靈魂吧。我堅信，如果我們能以誠相待，世間將會成為友愛之邦，仇恨、嫉妒、恐懼會消失殆盡。遺憾的是，我們生活中精心建立起來的保護膜使我們彼此疏遠了，失去了真正的交流溝通。聖·埃克蘇佩裏的故事，講述了那個神奇的瞬間——那個人與人之間心際相通的時刻。
那個神奇的瞬間，我也曾曆經過，比如，墜入情網，還有，看著嬰兒的笑臉。為何我們看到嬰兒就會綻放笑容？或許就是那不設防的心、那純真的笑，頃刻間打破了我們的心理防線。
W 詞匯筆記
whimsical[?hwιmzιk?l]adj.異想天開的；反複無常的；古怪的，奇形怪狀的
例 He has a whimsical sense of humor.
他有著離奇的幽默感。
contemptuous[k?n?tempt?u:?s]adj.蔑視的；鄙視的；表示輕蔑的
例 He felt people were contemptuous of his lack of sophistication.
他覺得人們看不起他不懂人情世故。
execute[?eksikju?t]v.處決；執行；實現；使生效
例 A month or two later they executed the king.
一兩個月以後，他們處死了國王。
dimension[di?men??n]n.方麵；部分
例 There is another dimension to this problem which you haven't considered.
這個問題你還有尚未考慮到的另一方麵。
S 小試身手
小孩子覺得那是個神奇的童話，成年人則認為那是個哲理故事，發人深省。
譯___________________________________________
這笑，猶如一朵跳躍的火花，打破了心靈的隔膜，拉近了兩個人的靈魂。
譯___________________________________________
是的，微笑是聯結人與人之間自然、真摯、難以預料的紐帶。
譯___________________________________________
P 短語家族
Far fewer are aware of Saint-Exupery's other writings, novels and short stories.
aware of：意識到；明白；察覺；小心
造___________________________________________
Saint-Exupery was a fighter pilot who fought against the Nazis and was killed in action.
fight against：與……作鬥爭；反對……
造___________________________________________