評論
打印
"He lives at the Al-Fayoum oasis," his friend had said. "And people say that he is two hundred years old, and is able to transform any metal into gold."
“那人住在法尤姆綠洲。”他的朋友說，“人們都說他有兩百歲了，還說他能把任何金屬變成黃金。”
The Englishman could not contain his excitement.
英國人興奮得難以自持。
He canceled all his commitments and pulled together the most important of his books, and now here he was, sitting inside a dusty, smelly warehouse.
他立即取消了所有的日程安排，把所有最重要的書籍找出來，然后直奔非洲。此刻，他正坐在這個牲口棚一樣的貨棧里。
Outside, a huge caravan was being prepared for a crossing of the Sahara, and was scheduled to pass through Al-Fayoum.
外面有一支龐大的商隊正在為穿越撒哈拉沙漠作準備。商隊將路過法尤姆綠洲。
I'm going to find that damned alchemist, the Englishman thought. And the odor of the animals became a bit more tolerable.
我必須去找那個該死的煉金術士，英國人心想。牲口散發出的氣味也變得稍稍可以忍受了。
A young Arab, also loaded down with baggage, entered, and greeted the Englishman.
一個阿拉伯男孩背著旅行包走進貨棧，跟英國人打了個招呼。
"Where are you bound?" asked the young Arab.
“您要去哪兒？”阿拉伯男孩問。
"I'm going into the desert," the man answered, turning back to his reading.
“去沙漠。”英國人回答，然后又埋頭看書。
He didn't want any conversation at this point.
這會兒他不愿與人交談。
What he needed to do was review all he had learned over the years, because the alchemist would certainly put him to the test.
他需要把十年來學到的東西重溫一遍，因為煉金術士一定會對他進行某種考核。
The young Arab took out a book and began to read. The book was written in Spanish. That's good, thought the Englishman.
阿拉伯男孩也掏出一本書讀起來。那是一本西班牙語的書。這倒不錯，英國人想。
He spoke Spanish better than Arabic, and, if this boy was going to Al-Fayoum, there would be someone to talk to when there were no other important things to do.
他的西班牙語比阿拉伯語講得好得多，如果這男孩也去法尤姆，沒什么要緊事可忙的時候，就可以跟他聊天了。
