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The caravan moved toward the east.
老商隊開始朝著東方行進。
It traveled during the morning, halted when the sun was at its strongest, and resumed late in the afternoon.
他們上午趕路，中午日頭最毒的時候便停下來，傍晚時分再重新上路。
The boy spoke very little with the Englishman, who spent most of his time with his books.
男孩很少跟英國人聊天，而那英國人把大部分時間都消磨在讀書上了。
The boy observed in silence the progress of the animals and people across the desert.
男孩默默地觀察著人群和牲口在沙漠里行進。
Now everything was quite different from how it was that day they had set out:
現在，一切都與出發的那一天大相徑庭了。
then, there had been confusion and shouting, the cries of children and the whinnying of animals, all mixed with the nervous orders of the guides and the merchants.
那天人聲鼎沸，一片混亂，孩子們的哭鬧聲，牲口的嘶叫聲，領隊和商人們的吆喝聲，全都交織在一起。
But, in the desert, there was only the sound of the eternal wind, and of the hoofbeats of the animals. Even the guides spoke very little to one another.
然而，在沙漠里，只有無休無止的風聲，牲口的踏蹄聲和永遠的寂靜，就連領隊之間也很少交談。
"I've crossed these sands many times," said one of the camel drivers one night.
“這沙漠我已經走過許多次了。”一天晚上，有個趕駝人說道，
"But the desert is so huge, and the horizons so distant, that they make a person feel small, and as if he should remain silent."
“不過這片沙漠太大了，地平線遙不可及，令人感到自己太渺小，根本不想說話。”
The boy understood intuitively what he meant, even without ever having set foot in the desert before.
雖然男孩此前從未踏進過沙漠，但他明白趕駝人話里的含義。
Whenever he saw the sea, or a fire, he fell silent, impressed by their elemental force.
每當觀看泱泱大海或熊熊烈焰的時候，他能一連幾個小時保持沉默，腦子里什么都不想，完全沉浸在自然的浩瀚和威力之中。
I've learned things from the sheep, and I've learned things from crystal, he thought.
我從羊群身上學到了東西，從水晶身上學到了東西，他心想。
I can learn something from the desert, too. It seems old and wise.
我也能從沙漠身上學到東西。我覺得沙漠更滄桑，更智慧。
The wind never stopped, and the boy remembered the day he had sat at the fort in Tarifa with this same wind blowing in his face.
風刮個不停。男孩想起了他坐在塔里法一座城堡上的那一天，當時刮的就是這種風。
It reminded him of the wool from his sheep ... his sheep who were now seeking food and water in the fields of Andalusia, as they always had.
要是不來非洲，也許此刻，他仍在安達盧西亞田野上，輕輕撫摸那些尋找食物和水源的羊群呢。
"They're not my sheep anymore," he said to himself, without nostalgia.
它們已經不是我的羊了，男孩心說，并沒覺得有什么可眷戀的。
"They must be used to their new shepherd, and have probably already forgotten me.
它們大概已經習慣了一個新的牧羊人，早把我忘了。
That's good. Creatures like the sheep, that are used to traveling, know about moving on."
這樣很好。誰像羊群那樣習慣了云游四方，誰就明白出游是必不可少的。
