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A wreath thrown on
Mediterranean waters commemorated the day 60 years ago when Antoine de
Saint-Exupery, aviator and author of "The Little Prince," disappeared
without trace during a wartime flying mission.
The ceremony took place off the south French city of Marseille near the
island of Riou where Saint-Exupery's Lightning P38 military aircraft
crashed and sank on a reconnaissance mission on July 31,
1944.
For decades mystery surrounded what happened to Saint-Exupery, author
of the children's book "The Little Prince," which has captured the
imaginations of young and old since its publication in 1943.
Those present at the Saturday remembrance ceremony at sea included Luc
Vanrell, a local diver who last year discovered remains of the plane on
the seabed.
Also present were three French authors of a book called "Saint-Exupery,
the End of the Mystery" (Saint-Exupery, la fin du mystere).
Amateur historian Philippe Castellano, journalist Herve Vaudoit and
photographer Alexis Rosenfeld retraced the research that led to the seabed
remains being positively identified as those of Saint-Exupery's plane
after six decades of speculation on his fate.
Saint-Exupery, a veteran
pilot who helped establish Latin America's Aeropostale air delivery
service in the late 1920s, went missing shortly after flying out of his
base on Corsica in good weather.
A wreath-laying ceremony was also held at Bastia airfield on Corsica,
followed by a mass in the Corsican town of Borgo, from which Saint-Exupery
took off on the fateful last flight.
While serving with Free French Forces, he set out on the reconnaissance
mission over Nazi-occupied southern France in preparation for the landing
of Free French Forces in the south of France, shortly after the Allied
invasion in Normandy.
Few bookshelves are complete without a copy of "The Little Prince," the
tale of the little boy who leaves his home on a tiny asteriod and his beloved rose to
search for adventure among the other planets, along the way learning
valuable lessons about love and life.
(Agencies) |
60年前，《小王子》的作者、飞行员安托万·圣艾修伯里在战时执行飞行任务时神秘失踪。今天，人们把花环投入地中海的海水中来纪念60年前的那个日子。
纪念仪式在离里欧岛不远的法国南部城市马赛附近举行。1944年7月31日，圣艾修伯里在执行侦察任务时驾驶的P38“闪电”飞机不幸在里欧岛附近坠毁，沉入海底。
几十年来，儿童书《小王子》的作者圣艾修伯里的失踪一直笼罩着神秘的色彩，《小王子》一书自1943年出版以来，就抓住了大人和孩子们的想象空间。
周六出席海上纪念仪式的人包括当地的潜水员路克·凡赫尔，去年，他在海底发现了圣艾修伯里驾驶的飞机残骸。
出席仪式的还有三位法国作家，他们共同创作了一本名为《圣艾修伯里——神秘的尽头》的书。
业余历史学家菲利普·卡斯泰拉诺、新闻记者埃尔韦·沃都瓦和摄影师亚力克西·罗森菲尔德再次追踪了有关海底残骸的调查，该调查断定海底的残骸就是当年圣艾修伯里驾驶的飞机，结束了60年来（人们）对他命运的猜测。
圣艾修伯里是一位经验丰富的飞行员，20世纪20年代末期他曾协助创立拉美邮政航空公司的空运服务。他在天气状况良好的情况下飞离科西嘉岛基地后不久，神秘失踪。
在科西嘉岛的巴斯蒂亚机场上也举行了一次花环纪念仪式，参加仪式的很多人来自博戈的科西嘉镇，圣艾修伯里最后一次死亡之旅就是从这里起飞的。
同盟国军队攻占诺曼底后不久，在“自由法国”军团服役的他受命执行一次飞往被纳粹占领的法国南部的侦察任务，为“自由法国”军团在法国南部登陆做准备。
没有《小王子》的书架大多是不完整的，这本书讲述了一个小男孩的故事：小王子离开自己在一颗很小的行星上的家园和他心爱的玫瑰，到其他行星去探索冒险，一路上学到了关于爱和生命的宝贵经验。
（中国日报网站译）
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Updated: 2004-08-06 09:08
