17岁时的爱情
Neil Gaiman的小说Stardust中有这样一段。17岁的穷小子Tristran爱上了小镇的第一美女Victoria。他鼓起勇气问她: If you will not kiss me, will you marry me?
Victoria被这个问题逗笑了。嫁给你？我为什么要嫁给你呢？你能给我什么？
Tristan说:
I would go to India for you, Victoria Forester, and bring you the tusks of elephants, and pearls as big as your thumb, and rubies the size of wren's eggs.
I would go to Africa, and bring you diamonds the size of cricket balls. I would find the source of the Nile, and name it after you.
I would go to America—all the way to San Francisco, to the gold-fields, and I would not come back until I had your weight in gold. Then I would carry it back here, and lay it at your feet.
I would travel to the distant northlands did you but say the word, and slay the mighty polar bears, and bring you back their hides.
只需要你一句话，我愿意付出一切把最好的给你，无论是奇珍异宝金银首饰，还是北极熊。可是我在你眼中只是一个穷小子，我只是在说大话。我只是想说，我有多么爱你。
I would travel to far Cathay for you, and bring you a huge junk I would capture from the king of the pirates, laden with jade and silk and opium.
I would go to Australia, at the bottom of the world, and bring you...Um... a kangaroo, and opals.
好吧，我开始说胡话了，我为什么提到了鸦片，我根本不知道澳大利亚有什么。可是亲爱的，可不可以亲亲我？“There is nothing I would not do for your kiss, no mountain I would not scale, no river I would not ford, no desert I would not cross." 为了你的吻，为了能握住你的手，我愿意把星星带给你。
你有没有这样爱过一个人？你以为ta就是你的一切，爱ta胜过爱自己。10多年前我第一次谈恋爱，我记得那双大大的会说话的眼睛，喜欢她笑起来的样子，我想给她她想要的一切，哪怕去偷，去抢。
17岁的Victoria对17岁的Tristran说，如果你把星星带给我，我答应给你你想要的一切 -- anything you desire. 还有什么比这更让人欢喜的事情？他一路狂奔，准备远行，为她找那颗星。
他会不会也害怕野外的狼，陌生的城市，孤独的夜？可是一想到她的眼她的唇，就突然有了那份孤勇。And, too ignorant to be scared, too young to be awed, Tristran Thorn passed beyond the fields we know... and into Faerie.
可是傻孩子，你爱的她有没有想过你也会害怕，会有危险，甚至死掉？
意大利电影 Cinema Paradiso (《天堂电影院》)中, Alfredo给Toto讲了一个卫兵和公主的故事:
Once upon a time, a king gave a feast. And there came the most beautiful princesses of the realm. Now, a soldier, who was standing guard, saw the king's daughter go by. She was the most beautiful one, and he immediately fell in love with her. But what could a poor soldier do when it came to the daughter of the king? Well, finally, one day, he managed to meet her, and he told her that he could no longer live without her. The princess was so impressed by his strong feelings that she said to the soldier: "If you can wait 100 days and 100 nights under my balcony, then at the end of it, I shall be yours." Damn! The soldier immediately went there and waited one day. And two days. And ten. And then twenty. And every evening, the princess looked out of her window, but he never moved. During rain, during wind, during snow, he was always there. The bird shat on his head, and the bees stung him, but he didn't budge. After ninety nights, he had become all dried up, all white, and the tears streamed from his eyes. He couldn't hold them back. He no longer had the strength to sleep. All that time, the princess watched him. And on the 99th night, the soldier stood up, took his chair, and went away.
国王的卫兵深深地爱上了公主，后来他终于有机会向公主表白，公主告诉卫兵如果能连续一百个昼夜守在公主的阳台下，公主就会以身相许。10天、20天...无论风吹雨打、蚊虫叮咬卫兵都坚持守候在公主的阳台下，到了第90天，卫兵变得虚弱苍白，这一切都看在公主的眼里。可是到了第99天，士兵却走了… …
Alfred对他说：“别问我什么意思，你想通了来告诉我。”
在你17岁的时候，有没有恰好有这么一个人，让你愿意为ta去找一颗星？又是从什么时候开始，这个人突然消失了。