風、沙與星辰
地道英文
作者：by Antoine de St. Exupery
本次小編節選了《風、沙與星辰》中的一段文字與大家分享，文章開頭作者得知一位飛行員前輩飛行遇難，在一輛簡陋的令人壓抑的“老爺車”上，同行的公務員們對那位飛行員的遭遇的反應引發了作者深刻的思考。成為一個在安逸中自甘墮落的小資產者顯然不是作者的選擇，作者選擇在天空翱翔，並通過每一次的不同經曆悟出各種關於生命的真理。若你讀完此書，你將會永遠記得一句話：“在雲海上空依靠指南針飛行確實很美好，也很痛快，但是……但你要記住：雲海之下……是萬劫不複。”不錯，在這個價值觀迷亂的年代，唯有認清自己的角色，我們才能生得坦然，死得從容，同時賦予生命和死亡以意義。
It was three in the morning when they woke me. I 1）thrust the shutters open with a dry snap， saw that rain was falling on the town， and got 2）soberly into my 3）harness. A half-hour later I was out on the pavement shining with rain， sitting on my little 4）valise and waiting for the bus that was to pick me up. So many other flyers before me， on their day of ordination， had undergone this humble wait with beating heart.
Finally I saw the old-fashioned vehicle come round the corner and heard its tinny 5）rattle. Like those who had gone before me， I 6）squeezed in between a sleepy customs guard and a few 7）glum government clerks. The bus smelled 8）musty， smelled of the dust of government offices into which the life of a man sinks as into a 9）quicksand. It stopped every five hundred yards to take on another 10）scrivener， another guard， another inspector.
Those in the bus who had already gone back to sleep responded with a vague grunt to the greeting of the newcomer， while he crowded in as well as he was able and instantly fell asleep himself. We 11）jolted mournfully over the 12）uneven pavements of 13）Toulouse， one mail pilot or another got into this bus and was for the moment indistinguishable from these bureaucrats. But as the street lamps moved by， as the field drew nearer and nearer， the old omnibus rattling along lost little by little its reality and became a grey 14）chrysalis from which one emerged 15）transfigured.
淩晨三點，我被人叫醒了。我用力推開了百葉窗，發現城裏正在下雨，我神情凝重地穿好降落傘背帶。半個小時以後，我來到被雨水洗刷一新的人行道，坐在自己的小行李箱上，等待著公司的班車。在我之前，已經有許多夥伴在即將踏上征程的時候，也和我一樣，在沉重的等待中備受煎熬。
那輛老式車子終於出現在街角，像破銅爛鐵一樣叮咣亂響。和其他的夥伴一樣，這次輪到我有權與還在犯迷糊的海關職員和幾個沉悶的公務員一起擠在長板凳上。車上彌漫著一股黴味，就像是積滿塵垢的機關和破舊的辦公室。而人一旦陷入這樣的辦公室裏，就再難自拔了。車子每開500碼就要停一次，好讓秘書、海關職員或督察員之類的人上車。
剛上來的新乘客朝著已經快要睡著的老朋友問好，並在得到了嘟囔著的回答後，找了個位置擠坐下來，然後很快也打起盹來。在圖盧茲高低不平的街道上，我們淒涼地顛簸著；飛行員與公務員混坐在一起，一點也不起眼。但是，街燈一盞盞閃過去，機場越來越近。這輛古董箱裏的老爺車在咯吱咯吱聲中逐漸幻化成一隻灰色的蝶蛹，坐在裏麵的人就像蝴蝶一樣，即將破蛹而出。
Morning after morning a flyer sat here and felt of a sudden， somewhere inside the vulnerable man subjected to his neighbor’s surliness， the stirring of the pilot of the Spanish and African mails， the birth of him who， three hours later， was to confront in the lightnings the dragon of the mountains； and who， four hours afterwards， having vanquished it， would be free to decide between a 16）detour over the sea and a direct assault upon the 17）Alcoy range， would be free to deal with storm， with mountain， with ocean. And thus every morning each pilot before me， in his time， had been lost in the anonymity of daybreak beneath the 18）dismal winter sky of Toulouse， and each one， transfigured by this old omnibus， had felt the birth within him of the 19）sovereign who， five hours later， leaving behind him the rains and snows of the North， had 20）throttled down his motor and begun to drift earthward in the summer air beneath the shining sun of 21）Alicante.