提要在黑漆漆的洞穴中，看見微弱的光亮時，會不自覺的朝那裡走去；寒冷的季節，對溫暖的渴求格外強烈，下面這個「求火」的小故事，其實也是追求人性溫暖的故事。



There was great trouble in the King's white castle that stood at the top of the hill. The huge fire that had burned in the castle kitchen for years had suddenly gone out, and no one seemed to be able to light it again.

It was deep winter outside. The hill was white with snow, and the fountains in the castle garden looked like tall ladies dressed in white cloaks. Inside the castle, where the walls and the floor were made all of stone, it was so cold that every one was blowing on his fingers and saying that something must be done at once about starting the fire in the kitchen.

It had been the warmest and the most useful fire in the castle, always bright and glowing and cheerful. It made the big kettle sing, and it cooked the food, and painted pictures in the fireplace for the le Prince, who always sat in front of it before he went to bed.

Some said that the fire needed a special kind of fuel to keep it burning, and others said that it had gone out because it was such a hard, cold winter. Still others said that the castle folk were quarreling so over matters of state that they made the castle too cold for any fire to burn.

The King blew the bellows, the Cook piled on more logs, but still the fire would not burn.

"Go down the hill road," the King at last commanded the Court Messenger, "and wherever you see a bright fire burning in one of the houses, go inside and ask for some coals to bring back to the castle. It may be that we can light our fire in this way."

So the Messenger, with a great iron lantern for holding the coals, started out in the bitter cold.

"A light for the castle fire!" he called as he went. "Who will give me some coals with which to light the castle fire?"

As the Messenger went on his way, a great many people heard him and they all wanted to have a share in lighting the fire at the castle. Some thought that to do this would bring them riches.

"Here are glowing coals for you," said Gary, whose father kept the forest; "and tell the King that we want as many gold pieces as there are lumps of coal in return."

The Messenger put Gary's red coals with the tongs inside his lantern, and he started back to the castle. He had gone only a few steps, though, when he saw that the coals had turned cold and gray, so he had to throw them beside the road and search farther.

A bright light shone from the fire in Maria's house. Maria's father was one of the King's guards and when she heard the Messenger's call, "A light for the castle fire!" she opened the door and asked him to come in.

"Fill your lantern with our coals," Maria said, "and they will surely light the fire in the castle. Tell the King, though, that in return for the coals he must make my father Captain of the guards."

The Messenger took the coals and started back to the castle. He had gone but a little way, though, when he saw that the coals from Maria's fire were no longer burning but had turned to gray ashes. So he emptied them out in the snow and went on down the hill.

At last he came to a tiny house on a bleak side of the hill. The door opened at once when he knocked, though, and inside he found a little girl, stirring porridge over a small fire.

"A light for the castle fire?" she repeated when the Messenger had told her what he wanted. "You may have as many coals as you like, although we have few large ones. I tend this small fire so that the kitchen may be comfortable for my father when he comes home from work. I am cooking his supper, too," she said.

"Why don't you sit down and warm yourself, and have a bowl of warm supper, then you may have half of our fire if the King needs it."

The Messenger did as the little girl bade him, and then he lifted one small, bright coal from the fire, and put it in his lantern.

"It will never burn all the way back to the castle," he said to himself, but with each step the coal grew brighter. It cast pink shadows on the snow as if the spring were sending wild roses up through the ground.

It made the dark road in front of the Messenger as bright as if the sun were shining, and it warmed him like the summer time. When he came to the castle, the coal still burned and glowed. As soon as he touched it to the gray logs in the fireplace they burst into flames, and the castle fire was kindled again.

People in the castle wondered why the new fire made the kettle sing so much more sweetly than it had ever sung before, and warmed the hearts of the castle folk so that they forgot to quarrel. At last, when they talked it over with the Messenger, they decided that it was because love had come from the cottage with the coal, and was kindled and burning now in the castle fire.



解說國王在山頂的白色城堡出了大麻煩，城堡廚房燃燒多年的爐火突然熄滅了，而且似乎沒有人能再次點燃它。

這是隆冬時節，山上被白雪覆蓋，城堡花園的噴泉凍成了冰瀑。沒有爐火，城堡裡面所有石頭建造的牆壁和地板，使人更加寒冷難忍，每個人都對自己的手指呼熱氣，都說：「想點辦法吧！」

城堡裡最重要的爐火，總帶給大家光明與溫暖。它讓大水壺「唱歌」、烹煮食物，並在爐壁映照愉悅的橘色，小王子上床就寢之前，總是坐在壁爐前，欣賞火光映照的「畫作」。

有人說，需要特殊燃料才可以讓爐火持續燃燒；又有人說，酷寒讓爐火難以續燃；甚至還有一些人說，因朝野對國家事務不停地吵架，使得他們的城堡冷酷無情，連火也燒不下去了。

國王用風箱吹火堆，廚子堆了更多的薪柴，但火仍然燒不著。

「下山去，」 國王吩咐使者，「只要看到有火光的房子，要一些煤帶回來，可能是我們再讓火復燃的方法。」

使者帶著一個大的鐵燈籠準備裝燃煤，走進凜冽寒風中。

「誰能給我一些煤？」他叫著， 「誰能給我一些煤，點燃城堡中的爐火？」

使者走著走著，很多人圍了過來，他們都想幫忙點燃城堡中的爐火，因為他們認為，這樣做會可以趁機發財。

「這些煤塊給你帶回去，」蓋瑞說，他的父親是森林守護員，「請告訴國王，我們希望能有等量的金塊作為回報。」

使者把蓋瑞紅通通的煤鉗進他的燈籠，開始往城堡走，但只走了幾步，就看到那些煤塊轉冷，全部變成灰色的。他不得不把它們扔在路旁。

又有明亮的火光從瑪麗亞的房中透出，瑪麗亞的父親是國王的衛士，當她聽到呼喊，打開門讓使者進屋。

「我們的煤炭，」 瑪麗亞說，「一定可以點燃城堡裡的爐火，請告訴國王，他必須讓我的父親當衛士隊長。」

使者拿了煤，準備回到城堡。但只走了一小段路，瑪麗亞的煤不再燃燒，同樣地迅速變成了灰燼，他只好拋在雪地裡，失望地走下了山。

最後，他在荒涼山邊的山坡上，看到一個破舊的小房子，屋內卻有一個小女孩，在一個小火堆上攪拌著稀粥。

「需要點燃國王城堡的爐火嗎？」她重複，並告訴使者，他想要拿多少煤都可以，雖然沒幾塊大的。

「我看著這堆小火，使廚房保持溫暖，我的父親下班回家時，也才可以舒服的吃我做的晚飯，」小女孩說。

「你先坐下讓自己溫暖，來一點溫熱的餐點，然後再繼續寒冷的路途。如果國王需要，你可以拿走我們一半的煤。」

使者照著小女孩的囑咐做了，然後，他拿起一小塊燒得發亮的煤，放在他的鐵燈籠。

「回到城堡前就變會成灰了，」他自言自語，但是，他每走一步，煤炭的光亮就增長一些，地面上的積雪映出大片粉紅，如同春暖花開時野玫瑰遍地綻放。使者前方道路一片光明，彷彿夏天般的陽光普照。

走進城堡，小女孩給的煤炭仍一直閃閃發光，他把這一小塊煤放在冰冷灰暗的壁爐，立刻讓木柴噴燄燃燒，連帶讓整個城堡溫暖了起來。

城堡中的居民都想知道，為什麼重新點燃的爐火能讓水壺「唱歌」，甜美更勝從前，讓人們心中溫暖，甚至忘了爭吵。當與使者談過之後終於得知，因為這煤炭來自充滿愛的小屋，點燃了城堡裡的爐火與人性光輝。