評論
打印
People say strange things, the boy thought.
男孩心想，人總會說一些刁鉆古怪的事情。
Sometimes it's better to be with the sheep, who don't say anything.
有的時候，最好與羊群為伴，羊群不聲不響，只顧吃草喝水。
And better still to be alone with one's books.
與書為伴也行，
They tell their incredible stories at the time when you want to hear them.
書總是在人們最想聽故事的時候，告訴你一些意想不到的事情。
But when you're talking to people, they say some things that are so strange that you don't know how to continue the conversation.
但是，當(dāng)人與人交談的時候，有些人說的話會讓我們無所適從，不知該怎樣把談話繼續(xù)下去。
"My name is Melchizedek," said the old man. "How many sheep do you have?"
“我叫麥基洗德?！崩先苏f，“你有多少只羊？”
"Enough," said the boy. He could see that the old man wanted to know more about his life.
“不多不少?！蹦泻⒒卮鹫f。看來老人很想了解他的生活。
"Well, then, we've got a problem. I can't help you if you feel you've got enough sheep."
“那么我們就面臨著-個問題。既然你認(rèn)為你已有足夠的羊，我可就沒法幫你了。”
The boy was getting irritated. He wasn't asking for help.
男孩生氣了。他并未請求幫助，
It was the old man who had asked for a drink of his wine, and had started the conversation.
反而是老人主動跟他搭訕，還跟他要酒喝。
"Give me my book," the boy said. "I have to go and gather my sheep and get going."
“請把書還給我。”他說道，“我得去找我的羊群，然后繼續(xù)趕路?！?/div>
"Give me one-tenth of your sheep," said the old man, "and I'll tell you how to find the hidden treasure."
“你把十分之一的羊送給我，我就告訴你怎樣找到寶藏。”老人說道。
The boy remembered his dream, and suddenly everything was clear to him.
男孩又想起了那個夢。突然之間，一切都明朗起來。
The old woman hadn't charged him anything,
老婦人沒收取任何報(bào)酬，
but the old man—maybe he was her husband—was going to find a way to get much more money in exchange for information about something that didn't even exist.
但這個老人卻想用一個子虛烏有的承諾，從他這兒弄走更多的錢，說不定他就是那老婦人的丈夫，
The old man was probably a Gypsy, too.
大槪也是個吉卜賽人。
But before the boy could say anything, the old man leaned over, picked up a stick, and began to write in the sand of the plaza.
然而，未等男孩開口，那老人便俯身拿起一根木棍，開始在沙土地上寫字。
Something bright reflected from his chest with such intensity that the boy was momentarily blinded.
當(dāng)他俯下身去的時候，懷里有個東西閃爍了一下，發(fā)出的光芒如此強(qiáng)烈，晃得男孩睜不開眼。
With a movement that was too quick for someone his age, the man covered whatever it was with his cape.
但老人迅速用披風(fēng)遮蓋了那個耀眼的東西，動作之快，像他這把年紀(jì)的平常人絕做不出來。
When his vision returned to normal, the boy was able to read what the old man had written in the sand.
男孩的視覺恢復(fù)了正常，能夠漸漸看清老人所寫的字了。
There, in the sand of the plaza of that small city, the boy read the names of his father and his mother and the name of the seminary he had attended.
在這座小城市中心廣場的沙土地上，他看到了自己父親和母親的名字，看到了自己上過的神學(xué)院的名字，
He read the name of the merchant's daughter, which he hadn't even known, and he read things he had never told anyone.
看到了那個女孩的名字——這是他原先不知道的。他還看到一些他從未對任何人講起過的事情。
