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They were strange books. They spoke about mercury, salt, dragons, and kings, and he didn't understand any of it.
那些書很奇特，講的都是關于汞、鹽、龍和王者什么的，男孩根本看不懂。
But there was one idea that seemed to repeat itself throughout all the books: all things are the manifestation of one thing only.
盡管如此，他發現，似乎所有書里都在重復著一種觀念：萬物皆為一物的表現。
In one of the books he learned that the most important text in the literature of alchemy contained only a few lines, and had been inscribed on the surface of an emerald.
在其中一本書里，男孩讀到有關煉金術最重要的文字，只有寥寥幾行，據說寫在一塊普通的翡翠板上。
"It's the Emerald Tablet," said the Englishman, proud that he might teach something to the boy.
“那就是翡翠板。”英國人說，能教給男孩一些東西令他感到驕傲。
"Well, then, why do we need all these books?" the boy asked.
“那還要這么多書干嗎？”
"So that we can understand those few lines," the Englishman answered, without appearing really to believe what he had said.
“為了理解那幾行文字。”英國人說，但對于自己的回答并不十分有把握。
The book that most interested the boy told the stories of the famous alchemists.
有一本書是男孩最感興趣的，講的是著名煉金術士們的故事。
They were men who had dedicated their entire lives to the purification of metals in their laboratories;
他們一輩子都在實驗室里提煉金屬。
they believed that, if a metal were heated for many years, it would free itself of all its individual properties, and what was left would be the Soul of the World.
他們相信，一種金屬經過成年累月的冶煉，最后就會擺脫自身固有的全部特性，只剩下世界之魂。
This Soul of the World allowed them to understand anything on the face of the earth, because it was the language with which all things communicated.
這唯一剩下的東西，可以使煉金術士理解世上的一切，因為它是萬物用以相互溝通的方式。
They called that discovery the Master Work—it was part liquid and part solid.
煉金術士把這種東西稱作元精，它由液體和固體構成。
"Can't you just observe men and omens in order to understand the language?" the boy asked.
“難道通過觀察人類和所有的預兆，還不足以發現萬物精華嗎？”男孩問道。
"You have a mania for simplifying everything," answered the Englishman, irritated.
“你有一種把一切東西都簡單化的癖好。”英國人有些惱火地回答，
"Alchemy is a serious discipline. Every step has to be followed exactly as it was followed by the masters."
“煉金術是一項嚴肅的工作，每一個步驟都必須嚴格地按照師父所教的方法進行。”
