by Antoine de St. Exupery

本次小编节选了《风、沙与星辰》中的一段文字与大家分享，文章开头作者得知一位飞行员前辈飞行遇难，在一辆简陋的令人压抑的“老爷车”上，同行的公务员们对那位飞行员的遭遇的反应引发了作者深刻的思考。成为一个在安逸中自甘堕落的小资产者显然不是作者的选择，作者选择在天空翱翔，并通过每一次的不同经历悟出各种关于生命的真理。若你读完此书，你将会永远记得一句话：“在云海上空依靠指南针飞行确实很美好，也很痛快，但是……但你要记住：云海之下……是万劫不复。”不错，在这个价值观迷乱的年代，唯有认清自己的角色，我们才能生得坦然，死得从容，同时赋予生命和死亡以意义。

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.

凌晨三点，我被人叫醒了。我用力推开了百叶窗，发现城里正在下雨，我神情凝重地穿好降落伞背带。半个小时以后，我来到被雨水洗刷一新的人行道，坐在自己的小行李箱上，等待着公司的班车。在我之前，已经有许多伙伴在即将踏上征程的时候，也和我一样，在沉重的等待中备受煎熬。

那辆老式车子终于出现在街角，像破铜烂铁一样叮咣乱响。和其他的伙伴一样，这次轮到我有权与还在犯迷糊的海关职员和几个沉闷的公务员一起挤在长板凳上。车上弥漫着一股霉味，就像是积满尘垢的机关和破旧的办公室。而人一旦陷入这样的办公室里，就再难自拔了。车子每开500码就要停一次，好让秘书、海关职员或督察员之类的人上车。

刚上来的新乘客朝着已经快要睡着的老朋友问好，并在得到了嘟囔着的回答后，找了个位置挤坐下来，然后很快也打起盹来。