評論
打印
A card hanging in the doorway announced that several languages were spoken in the shop.
商店門上的一張招貼注明，這里可以講好幾種語言。
The boy saw a man appear behind the counter.
圣地亞哥看到了柜臺后面的那個男人。
"I can clean up those glasses in the window, if you want," said the boy.
“如果您愿意，我可以把這些水晶器皿擦干凈。”男孩開口道，
"The way they look now, nobody is going to want to buy them."
“像現在這副樣子，沒人愿意買它們。”
The man looked at him without responding.
那男人看著圣地亞哥，沒說話。
"In exchange, you could give me something to eat."
“作為交換，您得管我一頓飯。”
The man still said nothing, and the boy sensed that he was going to have to make a decision.
那男人仍舊沉默著。男孩覺得必須自己作決定了。
In his pouch, he had his jacket—he certainly wasn't going to need it in the desert.
他的褡褳里有一件外套，在沙漠里用不上了。
Taking the jacket out, he began to clean the glasses.
他拿出外套，開始擦拭那些器皿。
In half an hour, he had cleaned all the glasses in the window,
他用半個小時擦干凈了柜臺里所有的器皿。
and, as he was doing so, two customers had entered the shop and bought some crystal.
在這段時間內，進來過兩個顧客，買了水晶制品。
When he had completed the cleaning, he asked the man for something to eat.
全部擦完之后，男孩要求那男人管他一頓飯。
"Let's go and have some lunch," said the crystal merchant.
“咱們吃飯去。”水晶店老板說。
He put a sign on the door, and they went to a small café nearby.
老板在門上掛出一塊告示牌后，便和圣地亞哥來到山丘頂部的一間小酒吧。
As they sat down at the only table in the place, the crystal merchant laughed.
里面僅有一張桌子，他們剛一落座，水晶店老板就笑了。
"You didn't have to do any cleaning," he said. "The Koran requires me to feed a hungry person."
“其實什么也不用擦。”他道，“《古蘭經》規定必須給饑餓的人飯吃。”
"Well then, why did you let me do it?" the boy asked.
“那您為什么不阻止我呢？”男孩問。
"Because the crystal was dirty. And both you and I needed to cleanse our minds of negative thoughts."
“因為那些水晶臟了。而無論是你還是我，都需要清除頭腦里的壞念頭。”
When they had eaten, the merchant turned to the boy and said,
吃過飯之后，水晶店老板對男孩說：
"I'd like you to work in my shop. Two customers came in today while you were working, and that's a good omen."
“我希望你在我店里打工。今天你擦水晶的時候，進來了兩個顧客，這是個好兆頭。”
People talk a lot about omens, thought the shepherd. But they really don't know what they're saying.
人們總是談論預兆，男孩想，但卻不知道自己在談什么。
Just as I hadn't realized that for so many years I had been speaking a language without words to my sheep.
我也一樣，沒意識到許多年來，都在用一種非語言的表達方式同我的羊群交流。
