Lessons from The Little Prince: On Death

Il ne répondit rien à ma question, mais il ajouta:                      He made no answer to my question, but he added:

-Moi aussi, aujourd'hui, je rentre chez moi...                          "I, too, am going back home today . . ."

Puis, mélancolique:                                                                     Then, sadly--

-C'est bien plus loin... c'est bien plus difficile...                       "It is much farther . . . It is much more difficult . . ."

                            ***                                                                                                 ***

Il avait eu peur, bien sûr! Mais il rit doucement.                        He was afraid, there was no doubt about that.  But

                                                                                                       he laughed sweetly.

Je me sentis glacé par le sentiment de l'irréparable.  Et             I felt myself frozen by the sense of something                        je compris que je ne supportais pas l'idée de ne plus jamais      irreparable. And I knew that I could not bear the              jamais entendre ce rire. C'était pour moi comme une                thought of never hearing that laughter any more.            fontaine dans le désert.                                                                For me, it was like a spring of fresh water in the

                                                                                                        desert.

-Justement ce sera mon cadeau... ce sera comme pour              "That is my present. Just that. It will be as it was l'eau...                                                                                             when we drank the water . . ." 

-Que veux-tu dire?                                                                           "What do you mean?" 

-Les gens ont des étoiles qui ne sont pas les mêmes.                     "All men have the stars," he answered, "but they                Pour les uns, qui voyagent, les étoiles sont des guides.                are not the same things for different people.  For               Pour d'autres elles ne sont rien que de petites lumières.              some, who are travelers, the stars are guides. For               Pour d'autres qui sont savants elles sont des problèmes.              others they are no more than little lights in the sky.      Pour mon businessman elles étaient de l'or. Mais toutes                For others, who are scholars, they are problems.                   ces étoiles-là elles se taisent. Toi, tu auras des étoiles                 For my businessman they were wealth. But all                        comme personne n'en a...                                                                 these stars are silent. You--you alone--will have

                                                                                                           the stars as no one else has them--" 

-Que veux-tu dire?                                                                            "What do you mean?"

                                                                                                            
Quand tu regarderas le ciel, la nuit, puisque j'habiterai                 "In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them                dans l'une d'elles, puisque je rirai dans l'une d'elles, alors                 I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars            ce sera pour toi comme si riaient toutes les étoiles.                       were laughing, when you look at the sky at night . . .                                

                                                                                                                                          

Tu auras, toi, des étoiles qui savent rire!                                       You--only you--will have stars that can laugh!"                   Et il rit encore.                                                                                   And he laughed again.

Et quand tu seras consolé (on se console toujours)                       "And when your sorrow is comforted (time soothes               tu seras content de m'avoir connu.                                                 all sorrows) you will be content that you have 

                                                                                                            known me.

                              ***                                                                                                          ***


"Cette nuit... tu sais... ne viens pas."                                                  "Tonight... you know... do not come."
"Je ne te quitterai pas."                                                                       "I will not leave you," I said.

"J'aurai l'air d'avoir mal... j'aurai un peu l'air de                                   "I shall look as if I were suffering... I shall look a               mourir.  C'est comme ça.  Ne viens pas voir ça,"                                little as if I were dying.  It is like that.  Do not                      ce n'est pas la peine."                                                                          come to see that, it's not worth it."

"Tu comprends. C'est trop loin. Je ne peux pas emporter               "You understand... it is too far.  I cannot

ce corps-là. C'est trop lourd.                                                            carry this body with me.  It is too heavy."                           Moi je me taisais.                                                                                I said nothing.

"Mais ce sera comme une vieille écorce abandonnée.                      "But it will be like an old abandoned shell.
Ce n'est pas triste les vieilles écorces..."                                         There is nothing sad about old shells..."

Il hésita encore un peu, puis se releva.  Il fit un pas.                       He still hesitated a little.  Then he got up.  He took one Moi je ne pouvais pas bouger.                                                            step.  I could not move.

Il n'y eut rien qu'un éclair jaune près de sa cheville.                         There was nothing but a flash of yellow close to his ankle.

Il demeura un instant immobile. Il ne cria pas.  Il tomba                    He remained motionless for an instant.  He did not cry doucement comme tombe un arbre. Ca ne fit même pas                    out.  He fell as gently as a tree falls.  There was not even de bruit, à cause du sable.                                                                   any sound, because of the sand.