7. Try Metaphysics.

After a long avoidance of the painful subject, the king and queen resolved to hold a council of three upon it; and so they sent for the princess. In she came, sliding and flitting and gliding from one piece of furniture to another, and put herself at last in an armchair, in a sitting posture. Whether she could be said to sit, seeing she received no support from the seat of the chair, I do not pretend to determine.

"My dear child," said the king, "you must be aware by this time that you are not exactly like other people."

"Oh, you dear funny papa! I have got a nose, and two eyes, and all the rest. So have you. So has mamma."

"Now be serious, my dear, for once," said the queen.

"No, thank you, mamma; I had rather not."

"Would you not like to be able to walk like other people?" said the king.

"No indeed, I should think not. You only crawl. You are such slow coaches!"

"How do you feel, my child?" he resumed, after a pause of discomfiture.

"Quite well, thank you."

"I mean, what do you feel like?"

"Like nothing at all, that I know of."

"You must feel like something."

"I feel like a princess with such a funny papa, and such a dear pet of a queen-mamma!"

"Now really!" began the queen; but the princess interrupted her.

"Oh Yes," she added, "I remember. I have a curious feeling sometimes, as if I were the only person that had any sense in the whole world."

She had been trying to behave herself with dignity; but now she burst into a violent fit of laughter, threw herself backwards over the chair, and went rolling about the floor in an ecstasy of enjoyment. The king picked her up easier than one does a down quilt, and replaced her in her former relation to the chair. The exact preposition expressing this relation I do not happen to know.

"Is there nothing you wish for?" resumed the king, who had learned by this time that it was useless to be angry with her.

"Oh, you dear papa!—yes," answered she.

"What is it, my darling?"

"I have been longing for it—oh, such a time!—ever since last night."

"Tell me what it is."

"Will you promise to let me have it?"

The king was on the point of saying Yes, but the wiser queen checked him with a single motion of her head.

"Tell me what it is first," said he.

"No no. Promise first."

"I dare not. What is it?"

"Mind, I hold you to your promise.—It is—to be tied to the end of a string—a very long string indeed, and be flown like a kite. Oh, such fun! I would rain rose-water, and hail sugar-plums, and snow whipped-cream, and—and—and—"

A fit of laughing checked her; and she would have been off again over the floor, had not the king started up and caught her just in time.

7.尝试玄学

很长时间，国王和王后都避而不谈这个伤感的话题，最后他们决定三个人坐到一起商量，于是派人去召来公主。她一进来，就从一件家具上连滑带飘地飞到另一件家具上，最后轻轻地落在一个有扶手的椅子上，坐了下来。那也说不上是坐了下来，因为她完全就是飘在座位上面的，我不能装得就这么肯定。

“我亲爱的孩子，”国王说道，“这一回你必须要明白一点，你和别人不一样。”

“哦，亲爱的滑稽爸爸！我有一个鼻子，两只眼睛，还有所有其他的部分。你是这样子的，妈妈也是这个样子的啊。”

“现在严肃一点，我亲爱的，哪怕一次。”王后说道。

“不嘛，求求你，妈妈，我才不要那样。”公主答道。

“难道你不希望自己能够像别人一样走路 吗？”国王说道。

“不想不想，我从没想过要那样。你们只是在爬。你们都是慢得要死的大马车！”公主答道。

“那你觉得自己怎么样呢，我的孩子？”国王觉得有些尴尬，顿了一会儿，继续问道。

“棒极了，谢谢你关心。”

“我是说，你觉得自己的身体像什么呢？”

“什么也不像，我就是我自己。”

“你总要有点什么感觉吧。”

“我感觉就像一个公主，有一个这么好玩的国王爸爸，还有一个王后妈妈这么疼爱着！”

“现在说正经的！”王后开始生气了，可公主还是打断了她的话。

“哦，好吧，”她接着说道，“我记得，我有时候有一种很奇特的感觉，好像我是整个世界唯一有这种感觉的人。”

她刚刚开始摆出一副高贵的姿态，却还是“扑哧”一下笑了出来，然后一面哈哈大笑，一面在椅子上打起滚来，兴高采烈地骨碌骨碌滚到地板上。国王就像捡起一条鸭绒被一样把她拎起来，在椅子上把她重新摆成“先前”的姿势。到底要用什么更准确地词汇来形容这个姿势，我不知道，只好用“先前”了。

“那你就没什么想要的吗？”国王继续问道，现如今他才明白怎么对她发火都无济于事。

“哦，亲爱的爸爸！有的。”她回答道。

“是什么，我的宝贝？”

“我一直以来都好想要的。哦，就那么一次！……自从那个晚上。”

“告诉我是什么？”

“你会答应给我吗？”

国王刚要说可以，机敏的王后给他递了一个眼色。“先告诉我那是什么？”国王说道。

“不嘛！你先答应我。”

“恐怕不行。你要先告诉我那是什么？”国王说道。

“不嘛！你先答应我。”

“恐怕不行。你要先告诉我那是什么？”

“听好，我要你信守承诺哦！那就是把我系在一根线上，一根非常非常长的线，让我像风筝那样飞起来。哦，太好玩了！我可以下玫瑰雨，还有蜜饯冰雹，还有奶油大雪，还有，还有，还有……”

她的话被自己的一阵大笑打断了，然后她又一次滚到了地板上，这次国王没能立马站起身来抓住她。