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 w orks 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 w as 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 exp erience entitled The Smile.It is this story which I'd like to share wit h you now.It isn't clear whether or not he meant this to be autobiograp hical 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 cel l.He was sure that from the contemptuous looks and rough treatment he r eceived 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 d istraught.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 ha nds,I could barely get it to my lips.But I had no matches,they had ta ken 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 w ith mine.At that moment,I smiled.I don't know why I did that.Perhaps it was nervousness,perhaps it was because,when you get very close,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 leap ed through the bars and generated a smile on his lips,too.He lit my ci garette but stayed near,looking at me directly in the eyes and continui ng 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 y ou have kids?'he asked.
"'Yes,here,here.'I took out my wallet and nervously fumbled for t he pictures of my family.He,too,took out the pictures of his family a nd 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 ha ve the chance to see them grow up.Tears came to his eyes,too.
"Suddenly,without another word,he unlocked my cell and silently le d 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 betw een people.I tell this story in my work because I'd like people to cons ider that underneath all the layers we construct to protect ourselves,o ur dignity,our titles,our degrees,our status and our need to be seen in certain ways and underneath all that,remains the authentic,essentia l self.I'm not afraid to call it the soul.I really believe that if th at part of you and that part of me could recognize each other,we wouldn't be enemies.We couldn't have hate or envy or fear.I sadly conclude t hat all those other layers,which we so carefully construct through our lives,distance and insulate us from truly contacting others.Saint-Exup ery's story speaks of that magic moment when two souls recognize each ot her.
I've had just a few moments like that.Falling in love is one exampl e.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 whos e smile for us we know to be fully genuine and without guile.And that b aby-soul inside us smiles wistfully in recognition.
在美国，安东尼·圣·埃克苏佩里的《小王子》几乎家喻户晓。小孩子觉得那是个神奇的童话，成年人则认为那是个哲理故事，发人深省。至于圣·埃克苏佩里的其他作品和故事，很少有人知道。
圣·埃克苏佩里是名空军士兵，参加过反纳粹战争，在执行任务时不幸身亡。“二战”前，他参加了西班牙内战，抗击法西斯，以此为素材，他写了篇感人至深的《微笑》。现在，我们就来回味这个故事，故事是否真实无从考证，我宁愿相信那是作者的亲身所历。
作者说，他被敌人俘虏并关进了监狱，看到看守那轻蔑的眼神、粗暴的态度，他肯定自己明天就会命丧九泉。下面，我根据我的回忆，用我的语言把这个故事讲给你们听。
“明天便是我的末日，一想到这儿，我就恐惧慌乱、狂躁不安起来。我经遍所有的口袋，终于找到了一支烟。我的手颤抖着，好不容易才把它放到嘴里，但没有火柴，全被他们搜走了。”
“透过铁栏，我看见外面的警卫。他并不看我，毕竟，我只是他们眼里的一件‘物品’、一具‘尸体’。我冲他喊道：‘能借个火吗？’他看着我，耸了耸肩，走过来点燃我的香烟。”
“他靠近我，给我点火，无意间，他扫了我一眼，不知怎地，我笑了起来。也许是紧张，也许是人与人近距离接触时，很难不笑出来，不管出于何种经因，那一瞬，我笑了。这笑，犹如一朵跳跃的火花，打破了心灵的隔膜，拉近了两个人的灵魂。我知道他本来并没打算微笑，但我的微笑好像越过了铁栏，启动了他的双唇，他竟然也笑了。他帮我点燃了香烟，并未立刻离开，而是注视着我，依旧笑着。”
“我也笑着，仿佛他是我的朋友，而非看守。他的表情似乎柔和了许多，‘你有小孩吗？’”他问道。
“‘有，有，你看。’说着，我摸出皮夹，哆哆嗦嗦地掏出了家人的照片。他也拿出家人的照片，并开始讲述他的计划和梦想。我的眼里噙满了泪水，我说，我恐怕以后再也见不到家人，无法看着孩子长大成人了。听到这些，他也流下了泪水。”
“突然，没有说一句话，他打开牢门，带我出去，悄悄地从后面的小路将我带出了城。在城市的边缘，他放了我，什么也没说，便转身回去了。”
“是微笑拯救了我。”
是的，微笑是联结人与人之间自然、真挚、难以预料的纽带。在这里，我之所以讲述这个故事，是希望人们能认识到：为了维护尊严、头衔、身份、地位和形象，我们建立了层层保护屏障，来掩饰自己。在这些掩饰之下，人人都有一个真实的本我，姑且就叫它灵魂吧。我坚信，如果我们能以诚相待，世间将会成为友爱之邦，仇恨、嫉妒、恐惧会消失殆尽。遗憾的是，我们生活中精心建立起来的保护膜使我们彼此疏远了，失去了真正的交流沟通。圣·埃克苏佩里的故事，讲述了那个神奇的瞬间——那个人与人之间心际相通的时刻。
那个神奇的瞬间，我也曾历经过，比如，坠入情网，还有，看着婴儿的笑脸。为何我们看到婴儿就会绽放笑容？或许就是那不设防的心、那纯真的笑，顷刻间打破了我们的心理防线。