“Suddenly, without another word, he unlocked my cell and silently led me out. Out of the jail, quietly and by back routes, out of the town. There, at the edge of town, he released me. And without another word, he turned back toward the town.
“My life was saved by a smile.”
Yes, the smile―the unaffected, unplanned, natural connection between people. I tell this story in my work because I’d like people to consider that underneath all the layers we construct to protect ourselves, our dignity, our titles, our degrees, our status and our need to be seen in certain ways―underneath all that remains the authentic, essential self. I’m not afraid to call it the soul. I really believe that if that part of you and that part of me could recognize each other, we wouldn’t be enemies. We couldn’t have hate or envy or fear. I sadly conclude that all those other layers, which we so carefully construct through our lives, distance and insulate us from truly contacting others. Saint-Exupery’s story speaks of that magic moment when two souls recognize each other.
I’ve had just a few moments like that. Falling in love is one example. And looking at a baby. Why do we smile when we see a baby? Perhaps it’s because we see someone without all the defensive layers, someone whose smile for us we know to be fully genuine and without guile. And that baby-soul inside us smiles wistfully in recognition.
经常保持笑容，对你的另一半、你的孩子微笑，甚至对陌生人也不要吝惜你的微笑，因为小小的微笑就能大大增进人与人之间的感情。
法国作家安东尼·圣艾修伯里所写的《小王子》是本很多美国人都很熟悉的极好的书。这本书表面上看来是童话故事，但世故的成人读来也觉寓意深远。很少人知道，除了《小王子》，圣艾修伯里还创作过其他小说和短篇故事。
圣艾修伯里是名飞行员，二次大战对抗纳粹时被击落身亡，之前他也曾参加西班牙内战打击法西斯分子。他根据这次经验写了一篇精彩的故事——《微笑》，现在要提的就是这篇作品。这是真实故事或是虚构事情，没人能下定论，但我宁可相信这是作者的亲身体验。
故事的前段大意是作者被敌军俘虏，关进监牢。看守监狱的人一脸凶相，态度极为恶劣。他心想，明天绝对会被拖出去枪毙。以下是我记忆中的故事原文。
“一想到自己明天就没命了，不禁陷入极端的惶恐与不安。我翻遍了口袋，终于找到一支没被他们搜走的香烟，但我的手紧张得不停发抖，连将烟送进嘴里都成问题，而我的火柴也在搜身时被拿走了。
“我透过铁栏望着外面的警卫，他并没有注意到我在看他，也许对他而言，我只是他看守的一‘物品’、一具‘尸体’。我叫了他一声：‘能跟你借个火吗？’他转头望着我，耸了耸肩，然后走了过来，点燃我的香烟。
“当他帮我点火时，他的眼光无意中与我的相接触，这时我突然冲着他微笑。我不知道自己为何有这般反应，也许是过于紧张，或者是当你如此靠近另一个人，你很难不对他微笑。不管是何理由，我对他笑了。就在这一刹那，这抹微笑如同火花般，打破了我们心灵间的隔阂。受到了我的感染，他的嘴角不自觉地也现出了笑容，虽然我知道他原无此意。他点完火后并没立刻离开，两眼盯着我瞧，脸上仍带着微笑。
“我也以笑容回应，仿佛他是个朋友，而不是个守着我的警卫。他看着我的眼神也少了当初的那股凶气，‘你有小孩吗？’他开口问道。
“‘有，你看。’我拿出了皮夹，手忙脚乱地翻出了我的全家福照片。他也掏出了照片，并且开始讲述他对家人的期望与计划。这时我眼中充满了泪水，我说我害怕再也见不到家人。我害怕没机会看着孩子长大。他听了也流下两行眼泪。
“突然间，他二话不说地打开了牢门，悄悄地带我从后面的小路逃离了监狱，出了小镇，就在小镇的边上，他放了我，之后便转身往回走，不曾留下一句话。
“一个微笑居然能救自己一条命。”
是的，微笑是人与人之间最自然真挚的沟通方式，我在我的作品中讲这个故事，因为我希望人们能仔细想想以下的事情：人常常为自己建立层层的保护膜，为了维护尊严、头街、身分、形象等，而必须有所隐藏。我相信在这些掩饰下，每个人都有一个真实、不带虚伪的灵魂。如果我们能用心灵去认识彼此，世间不会有结怨成仇的憾事；恨意、妒嫉、恐惧也会不复存在。可惜的是人小心翼翼为自己所建造的保护膜，却阻隔了自己与他人真诚相对的机会。圣艾修伯里的这则故事，让我们见到了两颗心灵相互交流的神奇时刻。
我也曾有过如此神奇的时刻，坠入情网是其中一刻，而看着婴儿的脸是另外一例。为什么我们见到婴孩会微笑？也许是因为我们在他们身上见到不设防的灵魂，还有他们纯真无邪的笑容，更引起了我们内心深处的共鸣。
The Selling of a Soul出卖灵魂
A poet struggling with the world’s condition,
Prostitution of talents and the bondage
With which the bulk of men have been deceived,
I am not, I think, one who would say
That the selling of the soul would give respite.
But I did say to myself, and not once,
That I would sell my soul for your love
If lie and surrender were needed.
I spoke this haste without thinking
That it was black blasphemy and perversion.
Your forgiveness to me for the thought
That you were one who would take a poor creature
Of a little weak base spirit
Who could be sold, even for the graces
Of your beautiful face and proud spirit.
Therefore, I will say again now,
That I would sell my soul for your sake
Twice, once for your beauty
And again for that grace
That you would not take a sold and slavish spirit.
我乃同世界现状抗争的诗人，
反对出卖天赋，反对奴役，
多数人仍然被蒙在鼓里，
我想，我还不至于会相信
出卖灵魂能够缓解痛苦。
但我的确说过，还不止一次，
我将为了你的爱出卖灵魂，
如果你的爱需要我撒谎和放弃。
我匆出此言，却没想到，
它是邪恶的亵渎和堕落。
原谅我拥有如此荒唐的想法，
以为你能接受一个可怜虫
和他软弱卑微的灵魂，这灵魂
可以被出卖，即使是为了
你美丽容颜与骄傲灵魂的高贵。
因此，我现在再次宣布，
我要出卖灵魂，为了你，
出卖两次，一次为你的美丽，
一次为你的高贵，你那决不接受
出卖了的奴性灵魂的高贵。
The Importance of Being Honest诚信的意义
In the busy city of New York, such an astonishing thing that ever happened.
On a Friday night, a poor young artist stood at the gate of the subway station, playing his violin. Though the music was great, people were quickly going home for the weekend. In this case, many of them slowed down their paces and put some money into the hat of the young man.
The next day, the young artist came to the gate of the subway station, and put his hat on the ground gracefully. Different than the day before, he took out a large piece of paper and laid it on the ground and put some stones on it. Then he adjusted the violin and began playing. It seemed more pleasant to listen to.
Before long, the young violinist was surrounded with people, who were all attracted by the words on that paper. It said, “Last night, a gentleman named George Sang put an important thing into my hat by mistaken. Please come to claim it soon.”
Seeing this, it caused a great excitement and people wondered what it could be. After about half an hour, a middle-aged man ran there in a hurry and rushed through the crowd to the violinist and grabbed his shoulders and said, “Yes, it’s you. You did come here. I knew that you’re an honest man and would certainly come here.”
The young violinist asked calmly, “Are you Mr. George Sang?”
The man nodded. The violinist asked, “Did you lose something?”
“Lottery. It’s lottery,” said the man.
The violinist took out a lottery ticket on which George Sang’s name was seen. “Is it?” he asked.
George nodded promptly and seized the lottery ticket and kissed it, and then he danced with the violinist.