《牧羊少年奇幻之旅》 77 男孩遇到神秘骑士

Suddenly he heard a thundering sound, and he was thrown to the ground by a wind such as he had never known.

突然，传来一声巨响，圣地亚哥被一阵罕见的狂风猛地掀翻在地。

The area was swirling¹ in dust so intense that it hid the moon from view.

四周尘土飞扬，星月黯淡。

Before him was an enormous white horse, rearing over him with a frightening scream.

在他面前，一匹高大的白马正扬起前蹄，发出骇人的嘶鸣。

When the blinding dust had settled a bit, the boy trembled at what he saw.

男孩一时看不清发生的事情，但当尘埃稍稍落定之后，他感到了一种前所未有的恐惧。

Astride the animal was a horseman dressed completely in black, with a falcon² perched on his left shoulder.

马背上坐着一个身穿黑衣的骑士，左肩一只猎鹰，

He wore a turban and his entire face, except for his eyes, was covered with a black kerchief.

额上缠着头巾，黑布遮面，只露出两只眼睛，

He appeared to be a messenger from the desert, but his presence was much more powerful than that of a mere³ messenger.

看上去颇像沙漠里传递消息的信使，身材比男孩这辈子见过的任何人都强壮。

The strange horseman drew an enormous, curved sword from a scabbard mounted on his saddle. The steel of its blade glittered in the light of the moon.

神秘骑士抽出拴在马鞍上的一把巨大弯刀，刀刃在月光下闪着寒光。

"Who dares to read the meaning of the flight of the hawks⁴?" he demanded, so loudly that his words seemed to echo through the fifty thousand palm trees of Al-Fayoum.

“什么人竟敢解读鹰翔的寓意？”那骑士问道，声如龙吟，在法尤姆绿洲的五万棵椰枣树中回响。

"It is I who dared to do so," said the boy.

“是我。”男孩说。

He was reminded of the image of Santiago Matamoros, mounted on his white horse, with the infidels beneath his hooves.

他突然想起圣地亚哥·马塔莫罗斯的雕像：骑着白马，马蹄下匍匐着一群异教徒。

This man looked exactly the same, except that now the roles were reversed.

那场景与眼前情况如出一辙，只是双方情势颠倒了过来。

"It is I who dared to do so," he repeated, and he lowered his head to receive a blow from the sword.

“是我。”男孩又说了一遍，并低下头，等着那弯刀斩落下来，

"Many lives will be saved, because I was able to see through to the Soul of the World." The sword didn't fall.

“许多生命终将得救，因为世界之魂不在你们一边。”然而，弯刀并没有快速斩落下来。

Instead, the stranger lowered it slowly, until the point touched the boy's forehead. It drew a droplet⁵ of blood.

那神秘骑士的手缓缓落下，刀尖触到男孩的额头。刀尖无比锋利，鲜血流了出来。

The horseman was completely immobile, as was the boy.

骑士一动不动，停在那里。男孩亦如此。

It didn't even occur to the boy to flee.

他丝毫没有动过逃跑的念头，

In his heart, he felt a strange sense of joy: he was about to die in pursuit of his personal legend. And for Fatima.

相反，他内心深处涌起一种罕见的快意，流遍全身。他将为完成天命而死，将为法蒂玛而死。

The omens⁶ had been true, after all.

不管怎么说，预兆是真实的。

Here he was, face-to-face with his enemy, but there was no need to be concerned about dying—the Soul of the World awaited him, and he would soon be a part of it.

敌人就在这里，正是由于如此，他才无需担心死去，因为有世界之魂。不用多久，他将成为世界之魂的一部分。

And, tomorrow, his enemy would also be apart of that Soul.

明天，敌人也将成为世界之魂的一部分。

1 swirling   

v.旋转，打旋( swirl的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Snowflakes were swirling in the air. 天空飘洒着雪花。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• She smiled, swirling the wine in her glass. 她微笑着，旋动着杯子里的葡萄酒。 来自辞典例句

2 falcon   

n.隼，猎鹰

参考例句：

• The falcon was twice his size with pouted feathers.鹰张开羽毛比两只鹰还大。
• The boys went hunting with their falcon.男孩子们带着猎鹰出去打猎了。

3 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

4 hawks   

鹰( hawk的名词复数 )； 鹰派人物，主战派人物

参考例句：

• Two hawks were hover ing overhead. 两只鹰在头顶盘旋。
• Both hawks and doves have expanded their conditions for ending the war. 鹰派和鸽派都充分阐明了各自的停战条件。

5 droplet   

n.小滴，飞沫

参考例句：

• The rate of droplet growth under different conditions can be evaluated.可以计算在不同条件下的云滴增长率。
• The test results showed that increasing droplet size was associated with better stability.试验结果表明，增加液滴尺寸将使稳定性提高。

6 omens   

n.前兆，预兆( omen的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The omens for the game are still not propitious. 这场比赛仍不被看好。 来自辞典例句
• Such omens betide no good. 这种征兆预示情况不妙。 来自辞典例句