《牧羊少年奇幻之旅》 32 男孩非常失落

"Do you want to go to work for me?" the merchant asked.

“你愿意为我干活吗？”水晶商人问。

"I can work for the rest of today," the boy answered.

“今天可以。”男孩回答说，

"I'll work all night, until dawn, and I'll clean every piece of crystal¹ in your shop.

“天亮前，我会把店里所有的水晶都擦干净。

In return, I need money to get to Egypt tomorrow."

作为交换，我需要盘缠，明天我得赶到埃及。”

The merchant laughed.

水晶商人笑了。

"Even if you cleaned my crystal for an entire year ...

“哪怕你一整年都给我擦水晶，

even if you earned a good commission² selling every piece, you would still have to borrow money to get to Egypt.

哪怕你从每一件卖出去的商品中都能挣到可观的佣金，仍必须借一笔钱才能去埃及。

There are thousands of kilometers of desert between here and there."

从丹吉尔到金字塔，要穿过几千公里的沙漠呢。”

There was a moment of silence so profound³ that it seemed the city was asleep.

一时间，周围一片寂静，似乎整个城市都静止不动了。

No sound from the bazaars⁴, no arguments among the merchants, no men climbing to the towers to chant.

集市里的货摊、商人们的吵闹、爬到清真寺塔尖上的诵经的人，全都不复存在了。

No hope, no adventure, no old kings or personal legends, no treasure, and no Pyramids.

希望和冒险、老迈的王和天命、宝藏和金字塔，全都不复存在了。

It was as if the world had fallen silent because the boy's soul had.

仿佛整个世界都停滞了，因为男孩的心已经死了。

He sat there, staring blankly through the door of the café, wishing that he had died, and that everything would end forever at that moment.

只有透过酒吧小门投向外面的失神目光，只有寻死的强烈愿望，只有让一切都在这一刻永远结束的强烈愿望。

The merchant looked anxiously at the boy.

水晶商人惊恐地看着男孩。

All the joy he had seen that morning had suddenly disappeared.

上午在男孩身上见到的快乐，突然之间不见踪影。

"I can give you the money you need to get back to your country, my son," said the crystal merchant.

“孩子，我可以给你回家的钱。”水晶商人说。

The boy said nothing. He got up, adjusted his clothing, and picked up his pouch⁵.

男孩仍旧沉默着。随后，他站起身来，整理了一下衣服，拿起他的褡裢。

"I'll work for you," he said.

“先生，我将为您打工。”他说。

And after another long silence, he added, "I need money to buy some sheep."

又沉默了一阵之后，他说道：“我需要钱，好去买些羊。”

1 crystal   

n.水晶，水晶饰品，结晶体；最好的玻璃器皿

参考例句：

• It used to be a crystal stream.那曾是条清澈见底的小溪。
• Those fine wine glasses are made of crystal.那些漂亮的酒杯是用水晶做的。

2 commission   

n.委托，授权，委员会，拥金，回扣，委任状

参考例句：

• The salesman can get commission on everything he sells.这个售货员能得到所售每件货物的佣金。
• The commission is made up of five people,including two women.委员会由五人组成，其中包括两名妇女。

3 profound   

adj.深奥的，造诣深的；深度的，极度的

参考例句：

• I give you my profound thanks for saving my life.我对您的救命之恩深表谢意。
• He has a profound knowledge of mathematics.他数学知识渊博。

4 bazaars   

（东方国家的）市场( bazaar的名词复数 )； 义卖； 义卖市场； （出售花哨商品等的）小商品市场

参考例句：

• When the sky chooses, glory can rain into the Chandrapore bazaars. 如果天公有意，昌德拉卜的集市也会大放光彩。
• He visited the shops and bazaars. 他视察起各色铺子和市场来。

5 pouch   

n.小袋，小包，囊状袋；vt.装...入袋中，用袋运输；vi.用袋送信件

参考例句：

• He was going to make a tobacco pouch out of them. 他要用它们缝制一个烟草袋。
• The old man is always carrying a tobacco pouch with him.这老汉总是随身带着烟袋。