PART IV

It was now quite late, and there was no moon.

"I must go home," said the princess. "I am very sorry, for this is delightful."

"So am I," returned the prince. "But I am glad I haven't a home to go to—at least, I don't exactly know where it is."

"I wish I hadn't one either," rejoined the princess; "it is so stupid! I have a great mind," she continued, "to play them all a trick. Why couldn't they leave me alone? They won't trust me in the lake for a single night!—You see where that green light is burning? That is the window of my room. Now if you would just swim there with me very quietly, and when we are all but under the balcony, give me such a push—up you call it-as you did a little while ago, I should be able to catch hold of the balcony, and get in at the window; and then they may look for me till to-morrow morning!"

"With more obedience than pleasure," said the prince, gallantly; and away they swam, very gently.

"Will you be in the lake to-morrow night?" the prince ventured to ask.

"To be sure I will. I don't think so. Perhaps," was the princess's somewhat strange answer.

But the prince was intelligent enough not to press her further; and merely whispered, as he gave her the parting lift, "Don't tell."

The only answer the princess returned was a roguish look. She was already a yard above his head. The look seemed to say, "Never fear. It is too good fun to spoil that way."

So perfectly like other people had she been in the water, that even yet the prince could scarcely believe his eyes when he saw her ascend slowly, grasp the balcony, and disappear through the window. He turned, almost expecting to see her still by his side. But he was alone in the water. So he swam away quietly, and watched the lights roving about the shore for hours after the princess was safe in her chamber.

As soon as they disappeared, he landed in search of his tunic and sword, and, after some trouble, found them again. Then he made the best of his way round the lake to the other side. There the wood was wilder, and the shore steeper-rising more immediately towards the mountains which surrounded the lake on all sides, and kept sending it messages of silvery streams from morning to night, and all night long.

He soon found a spot whence he could see the green light in the princess's room, and where, even in the broad daylight, he would be in no danger of being discovered from the opposite shore. It was a sort of cave in the rock, where he provided himself a bed of withered leaves, and lay down too tired for hunger to keep him awake.

 All night long he dreamed that he was swimming with the princess.

第4节

天色已经很晚了，夜空中却还没有出现月亮。

“我必须回家了，”公主说，“这真让我非常遗憾，因为我真的玩得很开心。”

“我也是，”王子答道，“不过我很高兴我已经无家可归了，我现在真的不知道家到底在哪里？”

“我也希望我没有家，”公主接着说道，“实在太傻了！有时候真想好好捉弄他们一下。为什么他们不能让我一个人待着？他们就是不 相信我可以在湖里待上一整夜！你看到那边亮着的绿光吗？那就是我房间的窗户。现在要是你能够陪我一起悄悄地游过去，游到那边的阳台下面的时候，你就把我一推……你知道的，就像你刚才做的那样，我就能抓住阳台，翻进窗户，然后他们就会到处找我，一直找到明天早上。”

“恭敬不如从命。”王子优雅地说道，然后他们一起游过去，轻轻地，没有溅起一个水花。

“明天晚上你也会来湖里吗？”王子壮起胆子问道。

“当然会了。不过我不能肯定。也许吧。”公主给了他一个有些奇怪的回答。

不过王子很聪明，没有去逼问她更多的事情，他只是轻轻地凑到她耳边，在向上托起她的时候小声说道：“嘘，别告诉别人——”

公主只回了一个调皮的眼神——她已经离王子的头顶有一码远了。那眼神似乎在说：“别担心。这很好玩，一切都不会搞砸的。”

就和其他人第一次看到公主在水里的感觉一样，王子难以置信地看着公主慢慢地升上去，抓住阳台，翻过窗户，消失不见了。他转过身，希望能看到公主依然在自己身边。不过他只是一个人孤零零待在水中。于是他静静地游走了，看到搜寻公主的灯火在岸边摇晃了好几个钟头，而公主却早已经安安稳稳地待在自己的房间了。

当搜寻公主的人渐渐散去，王子就爬上岸，找到衣服和宝剑。这费了不少工夫，不过最后他把它们都找到了，然后立刻抄小路沿着湖边赶到湖的对岸。那里的树木要稀疏一些，湖岸也显得更为陡峭一些，更加笔直地沿着环绕湖周的山岩爬升上去，并且不断地涌下涓涓细流，从早到晚，昼夜不息。

王子很快找到一个地方，正好可以看到公主房间里发出的绿光。在这里，就算是大白天，他也不用担心被对岸的人发现。这是一个岩洞，王子用落叶给自己铺了一张床，他又饥又饿，一躺下便昏昏入睡。

一整夜他都梦见自己和公主一起在水中游着。