Chapter 26 Beside the well there was the ruin of an old stone wall. When I came back from my work, the next evening, I saw from some distance away my little prince sitting on top of a w "Then you don't remember. This is not the exact spot." all, with his feet dangling. And I heard him say: Another voice must have answered him, for he replied to it: "Yes, yes! It is the right day, but this is not the place." I continued my walk toward the wall. At no time did I see or hear anyone. The little prince, however, replied once again: "--Exactly. You will see where my track begins, in the sand. You have nothing to do but wait for me there. I shall be there tonight." I was only twenty meters from the wall, and I still saw nothing. After a silence the little prince spoke again: "You have good poison? You are sure that it will not make me suffer too long?" I stopped in my tracks, my heart torn asunder; but still I did not understand. "Now go away," said the little prince. "I want to get down from the wall." I dropped my eyes, then, to the foot of the wall--and I leaped into the air. There before me, facing the little prince, was one of those** yellow snakes** that take just thirty seconds to bring your life to an end. Even as I was digging into my pocket to get out my revolver I made a running step back. But, at the noise I made, the snake let himself flow easily across the sand like the dying spray of a fountain, and, in no apparent hurry, disappeared, with a light metallic sound, among the stones. I reached the wall just in time to catch my little man in my arms; his face was white as snow. "What does this mean?" I demanded. "Why are you talking with snakes?" I had loosened the golden muffler that he always wore. I had moistened his temples, and had given him some water to drink. And now I did not dare ask him any more questions. He looked at me very gravely, and put his arms around my neck. I felt his heart beating like the heart of a dying bird, shot with someone's rifle . . . "I am glad that you have found what was the matter with your engine," he said. "Now you can go back home--" "How do you know about that?" I was just coming to tell him that my work had been successful, beyond anything that I had dared to hope. He made no answer to my question, but he added: "I, too, am going back home today . . ." Then, sadly-- "It is much farther . . . It is much more difficult . . ." I realized clearly that something extraordinary was happening. I was holding him close in my arms as if he were a little child; and yet it seemed to me that he was rushing headlong toward an abyss from which I could do nothing to restrain him . . . Vocabulary 1. poison (n) Snow White eats the apple with poison. 2. yellow snake Dora and Chloe see a big yellow snake. 3. metallic (adj) I hear some metallic sounds in the song. -- Hosting provided by SoundOn

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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