Сны Старого Фонаря / The Old Lantern’s Dreams. Премия им. Г. Х. Андерсена / H. Chr. Andersen Award (Билингва: Rus/Eng) - страница 10

«Yes,» the Butterfly admitted. «I am the dream of the Old Lantern. All his life he wished I could fly to him in reality, but at the same time he was afraid of caterpillars! However, any butterfly first appears on Earth in the form of a caterpillar.»

The Girl yawned, she didn’t understand the connection between caterpillars and butterflies, but she wanted to talk a little more with the Butterfly about… fears!

«Do our fears have their own fears?» the Girl asked.

«Of course,» the Butterfly sighed.

«So the fears of our fears have their own fears too, and do they all live in the Land of Dreams?!» the Girl got surprised and yawned again. «The Land of Dreams must be so scary!»

«If everyone fights with the own fears, for example, laughs in their faces, there will be no fears anywhere! They will exist neither there nor here!» the Butterfly laughed. «And now… could you, please, open the window! It’s time for me to find the Old Lantern, that has been dreaming of me for so many years.»

The Girl didn’t want to say goodbye to the Butterfly, but she imagined that somewhere in the night the Old Lantern was awake, waiting for that particular Butterfly all his life, perhaps as much as the Girl had been waiting for a kitten… and for a prince in a castle as well as for sweets… and she opened the window.

«Bon voyage, Mrs. Butterfly!» the Girl whispered.

«Thank you! Have a happy journey too!» the Butterfly smiled and waved her wings to the Girl.

Granny entered the Girl’s room.

«Aye-aye! Come to bed!» she said and closed the window.

The Girl soon fell asleep. However, since then, each time the Girl finds herself in the Land of Dreams and meets her fears, she tries to laugh in their faces in order to bring closer the meeting with the kitten and the prince, she will live with in a sweet-sweet castle, that is dreaming of them as well.

Наступал Новый год. Всё было почти так же, почти… Пахучая ёлка с колючими ветками, усыпанная игрушками и обвитая мишурой, стояла в комнате у окна. Но на стене справа теперь висело уже два портрета. Девочка смотрела на их живые лица, а они – на неё. Никто не знал, где они сейчас. И ей стало невыносимо грустно оттого, что все вокруг ждали праздника и исполнения желаний, а её желание уже не сбудется. Никогда. По крайней мере, на Земле.