《牧羊少年奇幻之旅》 112 关于梦的故事(1)

"I want to tell you a story about dreams," said the alchemist.

“我想给你讲一个关于梦的故事。”炼金术士说。

The boy brought his horse closer.

男孩驱马靠近他。

"In ancient Rome, at the time of Emperor Tiberius, there lived a good man who had two sons.

“在古罗马，提比略皇帝执政时期，有一个心地善良的人，他有两个儿子。

One was in the military, and had been sent to the most distant regions of the empire.

一个是军人，被派往帝国最偏远的地区。

The other son was a poet, and delighted all of Rome with his beautiful verses¹.

另一个儿子是诗人，用他美妙的诗句迷住了所有罗马人。

One night, the father had a dream.

一天夜里，老人做了个梦。

An angel appeared to him, and told him that the words of one of his sons would be learned and repeated throughout the world for all generations to come.

一位天使出现在他面前，告诉他，他其中一个儿子说的话，将世世代代被全世界的人熟知和吟诵。

The father woke from his dream grateful and crying, because life was generous, and had revealed to him something any father would be proud to know.

那一夜醒来后，老人感激涕零，因为生活不但慷慨，而且向他展示了任何一位父亲都会感到自豪的事。

Shortly thereafter², the father died as he tried to save a child who was about to be crushed by the wheels of a chariot.

不久，老人在抢救一个险些被车轮碾过的孩子时死去。

Since he had lived his entire life in a manner that was correct and fair, he went directly to heaven, where he met the angel that had appeared in his dream.

由于他一辈子行为端正，无可指摘，便直接进入天堂，见到了曾出现在他梦中的那位天使。

'You were always a good man,' the angel said to him.

‘你一直是个好人，’天使对他说。

'You lived your life in a loving way, and died with dignity. I can now grant you any wish you desire.'

‘活着的时候有爱心，死的时候有尊严。现在我可以满足你的任何愿望。’

'Life was good to me,' the man said.

‘生活对我也不薄，’老人回答说。

'When you appeared in my dream, I felt that all my efforts had been rewarded,

‘当你出现在我梦中时，我觉得自己所有的努力都得到了肯定，

because my son's poems will be read by men for generations to come. I don't want anything for myself.

因为我儿子的诗句将流芳百世，为人传诵。我个人没什么要求。

But any father would be proud of the fame achieved by one whom he had cared for as a child, and educated as he grew up.

但是天下父母看到儿子出名都会感到自豪，因为小时候照顾过他，年轻时教育过他。

Sometime in the distant future, I would like to see my son's words.'

我倒很想去遥远的未来，听听我儿子说的话。’

The angel touched the man's shoulder, and they were both projected far into the future.

天使碰了碰老人的肩膀，两人便被拋入遥远的未来。

They were in an immense setting, surrounded by thousands of people speaking a strange language. The man wept with happiness.

他们周围出现了一块巨大的平地，有成千上万的人，在讲着一种奇怪的语言。老人高兴得留下了眼泪。

'I knew that my son's poems were immortal,' he said to the angel through his tears.

‘我就知道我儿子的诗句是优美而不朽的，’他含泪对天使说。

'Can you please tell me which of my son's poems these people are repeating?'

‘请你告诉我，这些人反复吟诵的是他的哪首诗？’

1 verses   

诗( verse的名词复数 )； 韵文； 诗节； (的)节

参考例句：

• He quotes a few verses from Tennyson in his paper. 他在论文中引用了英国诗人丁尼生的几行诗句。
• Tom sang the verses and everybody joined in chorus. 汤姆唱独唱部分，然后大家一起唱合唱部分。

2 thereafter   

adv.此后，以后

参考例句：

• Thereafter they did not speak.此后他们就不再讲话了。
• On the opening day all tickets are a dollar, thereafter,they'll be two dollars.开张那天票价一元，以后两元。