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On the third day, the chief met with his officers.
第三天，指揮官把他手下的重要軍官都召集在一起。
He called the alchemist to the meeting and said, "Let's go see the boy who turns himself into the wind."
“咱們?nèi)タ纯茨莻€能把自己變成風(fēng)的男孩。”指揮官對煉金術(shù)士說。
"Let's," the alchemist answered.
“好吧。”煉金術(shù)士回答。
The boy took them to the cliff where he had been on the previous day. He told them all to be seated.
男孩把他們領(lǐng)到前一天他去過的地方，請他們?nèi)甲隆?/div>
"It's going to take a while," the boy said.
“要花費點時間。”男孩說。
"We're in no hurry," the chief answered. "We are men of the desert."
“我們不急。”指揮官回答，“我們是沙漠里的人。”
The boy looked out at the horizon. There were mountains in the distance.
男孩開始觀望前方的地平線。遠(yuǎn)處有綿延起伏的山嶺。
And there were dunes, rocks, and plants that insisted on living where survival seemed impossible.
還有沙丘、巖石，還有頑強生長著的匍匐植物。
There was the desert that he had wandered for so many months; despite all that time, he knew only a small part of it.
眼前就是沙漠，他已經(jīng)在沙漠里走過了幾個月，即便如此，他也只了解其中很小的一部分。
Within that small part, he had found an Englishman, caravans, tribal wars, and an oasis with fifty thousand palm trees and three hundred wells.
他遇見了一個英國人，商隊和部落之間的斗爭，還有一片有著五萬棵椰棗樹和三百眼水井的綠洲。
"What do you want here today?" the desert asked him. "Didn't you spend enough time looking at me yesterday?"
“今天你想干什么？”沙漠問道，“昨天我們不是對望很久了嗎？”
"Somewhere you are holding the person I love," the boy said. "So, when I look out over your sands, I am also looking at her.
“你把我愛的人留在了你這里。”男孩說，“所以當(dāng)我看到沙子時，也就看到了她。
I want to return to her, and I need your help so that I can turn myself into the wind."
我想回到她的身邊，我需要你的幫助，好把自己變成風(fēng)。”
"What is love?" the desert asked.
“愛是什么？”沙漠問。
"Love is the falcon's flight over your sands.
“愛就是獵鷹在沙地上空飛翔。
Because for him, you are a green field, from which he always returns with game.
對獵鷹來說，你就是一片綠地，它永遠(yuǎn)不會無功而返。
He knows your rocks, your dunes, and your mountains, and you are generous to him."
它熟悉你的那些沙丘、巖石和山嶺，你對它十分慷慨。”
"The falcon's beak carries bits of me, myself," the desert said.
“獵鷹叼走了我身上的東西，”沙漠說。
"For years, I care for his game, feeding it with the little water that I have, and then I show him where the game is.
“我年復(fù)一年地養(yǎng)育它們的獵物，用我不多的水喂養(yǎng)它們，告訴它們食物在哪兒。
And, one day, as I enjoy the fact that his game thrives on my surface, the falcon dives out of the sky, and takes away what I've created."
有一天，當(dāng)我正要感受它的獵物在沙粒上撫弄的感覺時，它卻從天而降，把我喂養(yǎng)的東西叼走。”
"But that's why you created the game in the first place," the boy answered.
“可你正是為此目的才養(yǎng)育獵物，”男孩說。
"To nourish the falcon. And the falcon then nourishes man.
“是為了喂養(yǎng)獵鷹。獵鷹給人帶去食物。
And, eventually, man will nourish your sands, where the game will once again flourish. That's how the world goes."
而人總有一天也會喂養(yǎng)你的沙粒，獵物將重新在那里衍生。世界就是這樣運轉(zhuǎn)的。”
"So is that what love is?"
“這就是愛嗎？”
"Yes, that's what love is. It's what makes the game become the falcon, the falcon become man, and man, in his turn, the desert.
“這就是愛。是愛使獵物轉(zhuǎn)化成獵鷹，使獵鷹轉(zhuǎn)化成人，使人轉(zhuǎn)化成沙漠。
It's what turns lead into gold, and makes the gold return to the earth."
是愛使鉛塊變成金子，而金子又重新藏身于地下。”
"I don't understand what you're talking about," the desert said.
“我不明白你說的話。”沙漠說。
"But you can at least understand that somewhere in your sands there is a woman waiting for me.
“那么你要明白，在沙漠的某個地方，有個女人在等我。
And that's why I have to turn myself into the wind."
為了這個原因，我必須變成風(fēng)。”
