PART III

"Put you up where, you beauty?" asked the prince.

"In the water, you stupid!" answered the princess.

"Come, then," said the prince.

The condition of her dress, increasing her usual difficulty in walking, compelled her to cling to him; and he could hardly persuade himself that he was not in a delightful dream, notwithstanding the torrent of musical abuse with which she overwhelmed him. The prince being therefore in no hurry, they came upon the lake at quite another part, where the bank was twenty-five feet high at least; and when they had reached the edge, he turned towards the princess, and said,—

"How am I to put you in?"

"That is your business," she answered, quite snappishly. "You took me out—put me in again."

"Very well," said the prince; and, catching her up in his arms, he sprang with her from the rock. The princess had just time to give one delighted shriek of laughter before the water closed over them. When they came to the surface, she found that, for a moment or two, she could not even laugh, for she had gone down with such a rush, that it was with difficulty she recovered her breath. The instant they reached the surface—

"How do you like falling in?" said the prince.

After some effort the princess panted out,—

"Is that what you call FALLING IN?"

"Yes," answered the prince, "I should think it a very tolerable specimen."

"It seemed to me like going up," rejoined she.

"My feeling was certainly one of elevation too," the prince conceded.

The princess did not appear to understand him, for she retorted his question:—

"How do YOU like falling in?" said the princess.

"Beyond everything," answered he; "for I have fallen in with the only perfect creature I ever saw."

"No more of that: I am tired of it," said the princess.

Perhaps she shared her father's aversion to punning.

"Don't you like falling in then?" said the prince.

"It is the most delightful fun I ever had in my life," answered she. "I never fell before. I wish I could learn. To think I am the only person in my father's kingdom that can't fall!"

Here the poor princess looked almost sad.

"I shall be most happy to fall in with you any time you like," said the prince, devotedly.

"Thank you. I don't know. Perhaps it would not be proper. But I don't care. At all events, as we have fallen in, let us have a swim together."

"With all my heart," responded the prince.

And away they went, swimming, and diving, and floating, until at last they heard cries along the shore, and saw lights glancing in all directions.

第3节

“把你背到哪里，美丽的小姐？”王子又问道。

“放到水里，你这个白痴！”公主回答道。

“好的，等等。”王子说道。

公主的一身华丽穿戴让她在平常走路时常常举步维艰，这时则迫使她不得不紧紧贴着王子。王子简直无法确定自己是不是在做一个美妙的梦，尽管耳边不时飘来公主莺歌般的谩骂声。王子不急不恼地背着公主一路走过去，他们来到了湖泊的另一端，这里的湖堤距离湖面至少有二十五英尺。当他们踏上湖堤的时候，王子回过头对公主说：

“我怎么把你放进去啊？”

“那是你的事情，”公主十分不耐烦地答道，“你怎么把我拉出来的，就还怎么把我放进去。”

“那好吧。”王子说道，他紧紧抱住公主，纵身一跃跳入水中。公主还没来得及发出开心的大笑，湖水就将他们包围起来。当他们又浮到水面的时候，她发现有那么一两个瞬间，她甚至笑不出来了，因为她在露出水面的一刻，在忽然出现的一股向下的重力中，恢复呼吸有一些困难。

“你觉得坠落的感觉怎么样？”王子问道。

费了一些气力，公主总算缓过劲来：

“那就是你说的坠落？”

“是的， ”王子回答道，“我想这应该是十分标准的坠落。”

“可对我来说却像是升起。”公主说道。

“我的感觉确实也像是一种往上升的力量。”王子让步道。

公主看起来并不明白他什么意思，她又问道：

“你觉得坠落是怎么样的？”

“超越一切，”他答道，“我已经完全坠入我所见过唯一完美的事物中了。”

“别那么说话，我听着累得慌。”公主说道。

可能公主继承了她父王对双关的反感。

“难道你不喜欢坠入其中吗？”王子说道。

“这是我一生中最开心的时候，”她回答道，“以前我从来没有落下来过。我一直希望能体会到这种感觉。要知道，我是我父王的王国里唯一一个不会坠落的人！”

这时候，可怜的公主看起来有些伤心。

“我愿意陪你一起坠下去，只要你喜欢，任何时候都可以。”王子全心全意地说。

“谢谢你。我不知道，也许这是不对的。不过我不在乎。不管怎么样，我们已经一起坠落了，那就一起游泳吧。”

“乐于从命。”王子回答道。

于是他们就在一起游泳嬉戏，或潜入水中，或浮上水面，直到他们听到湖边传来呼唤声，四面八方都亮起了点点灯火。

第09章03 Put Me in Again / 你把我放回去