評論
打印
The old man related that, the week before, he had been forced to appear before a miner, and had taken the form of a stone.
老人說，上個星期他不得不變換方式，以石頭的面貌出現在一個掘礦人面前。
The miner had abandoned everything to go mining for emeralds.
那個掘礦人拋家舍業去尋找綠寶石，
For five years he had been working a certain river, and had examined hundreds of thousands of stones looking for an emerald.
在一條河邊干了五年。為了找到綠寶石，他敲開了九十九萬九千九百九十九塊石頭。
The miner was about to give it all up, right at the point when, if he were to examine just one more stone—just one more—he would find his emerald.
還剩一塊石頭，只差那一塊石頭，他就能發現他要找的綠寶石了。恰恰在這個關口，掘礦人打算放棄了。
Since the miner had sacrificed everything to his personal legend, the old man decided to become involved.
這個人為實現天命已經犧牲了一切，因此老人決定幫他一把。
He transformed himself into a stone that rolled up to the miner's foot.
他變成一塊石頭，滾落在掘礦人腳下。
The miner, with all the anger and frustration of his five fruitless years, picked up the stone and threw it aside.
白白浪費了五年時光的掘礦人，帶著積蓄已久的絕望和怒氣撿起石頭，朝遠處扔去。
But he had thrown it with such force that it broke the stone it fell upon, and there, embedded in the broken stone, was the most beautiful emerald in the world.
這一擲力量極大，那石頭砸在另一塊石頭上，竟把另一塊石頭砸得爆裂開來，砸出了世上最美麗的一塊綠寶石。
"People learn, early in their lives, what is their reason for being," said the old man, with a certain bitterness.
“人們很早就學會了生活的道理。”老人說，眼中露出一絲苦澀，
"Maybe that's why they give up on it so early, too. But that's the way it is."
“也許正因為如此，他們才會早早地就放棄了它們。世界就是如此。”
The boy reminded the old man that he had said something about hidden treasure.
男孩突然想起此番交談的起因是關于隱秘寶藏的話題。
"Treasure is uncovered by the force of flowing water, and it is buried by the same currents," said the old man.
“財寶可能被水流沖出地面，也可能被洪水掩埋在地下。”老人說，
"If you want to learn about your own treasure, you will have to give me one-tenth of your flock."
“如果你想知道你那批財寶的下落，就必須把你羊群中十分之一的羊給我。”
"What about one-tenth of my treasure?"
“把財寶的十分之一給你不行嗎？”
The old man looked disappointed.
老人看起來很失望。
"If you start out by promising what you don't even have yet, you'll lose your desire to work toward getting it."
“如果東西還沒到手，你就先許諾于人，那你就不會積極去爭取了。”
The boy told him that he had already promised to give one-tenth of his treasure to the Gypsy.
男孩說，他已經答應把財寶的十分之一給那個吉卜賽老婦人了。
"Gypsies are experts at getting people to do that," sighed the old man.
“吉卜賽人都是機靈鬼。”老人嘆了口氣，
"In any case, it's good that you've learned that everything in life has its price.
“但不管怎樣，這是件好事，它讓你明白了，生活中一切都要付出代價。
That is what the Warriors of the Light try to teach."
這正是光明斗士意圖教導人們的。”
The old man returned the book to the boy.
老人把書還給了男孩。
"Tomorrow, at this same time, bring me a tenth of your flock. And I will tell you how to find the hidden treasure. Good afternoon."
“明天，還是這個時間，你把羊群中十分之一的羊帶來給我。我將告訴你如何找到那批財寶。再見。”
And he vanished around the corner of the plaza.
隨后，他消失在廣場的一角。
