《牧羊少年奇幻之旅》 117 男孩来到小教堂

The boy reached the small, abandoned church just as night was falling.

男孩圣地亚哥在夜幕将至的时候，赶到了那座废弃的小教堂。

The sycamore was still there in the sacristy, and the stars could still be seen through the half-destroyed roof.

无花果树仍生长在圣器室所在的位置。透过坍塌了一半的屋顶，依然能够看到群星。

He remembered the time he had been there with his sheep; it had been a peaceful night ... except for the dream.

他想起有一次他曾和羊群来到这里，那是一个宁静的夜晚，只是那个梦打破了宁静。

Now he was here not with his flock¹, but with a shovel².

现在他又来到这里，没带羊群，而是带了把铁锹。

He sat looking at the sky for a long time. Then he took from his knapsack a bottle of wine, and drank some.

他久久地仰望着天空，然后从褡裢里拿出一瓶酒喝了起来。

He remembered the night in the desert when he had sat with the alchemist, as they looked at the stars and drank wine together.

他回忆起沙漠中的那个夜晚，当时也是仰望着星空，和炼金术士一起喝酒。

He thought of the many roads he had traveled, and of the strange way God had chosen to show him his treasure.

他想起自己走过的路，想起上帝为他指明财宝所在的奇特方式。

If he hadn't believed in the significance of recurrent dreams, he would not have met the Gypsy woman, the king, the thief, or ...

假如他不相信重复出现的梦，就不会遇到那个吉卜赛老妇人，还有撒冷王、骗子，还有……

"Well, it's a long list. But the path was written in the omens³, and there was no way I could go wrong," he said to himself.

“是的，这名单很长。但是道路已被种种预兆确定，我不会走错一步。”他暗暗对自己说。

He fell asleep, and when he awoke the sun was already high.

他不知不觉睡着了，醒来时，早已太阳高照。

He began to dig at the base of the sycamore.

他开始在无花果树下挖掘。

"You old sorcerer," the boy shouted up to the sky.

“老巫师，”男孩自言自语，

"You knew the whole story. You even left a bit of gold at the monastery⁴ so I could get back to this church.

“你什么都知道，甚至还给我留了一点金子，好让我能回到这个教堂。

The monk⁵ laughed when he saw me come back in tatters. Couldn't you have saved me from that?"

看到我衣衫褴褛地跑回去，那修士都笑了，你就不能让我免遭这一劫？”

"No," he heard a voice on the wind say. "If I had told you, you wouldn't have seen the Pyramids. They're beautiful, aren't they?"

“不能。”他听到风对他说，“如果我事先告诉你，你就看不到金字塔了。它们很壮美，不是吗？”

1 flock   

n.羊群，一群，大量；vi.群集，聚集，成群

参考例句：

• A flock of customers were waiting for the store to open.一群顾客在等候着商店开门。
• A few sheep have been lost from the flock.羊群里少了几只羊。

2 shovel   

n.铁锨，铲子，一铲之量；v.铲，铲出

参考例句：

• He was working with a pick and shovel.他在用镐和铲干活。
• He seized a shovel and set to.他拿起一把铲就干上了。

3 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

4 monastery   

n.修道院，僧院，寺院

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• She was appointed the superior of the monastery two years ago.两年前她被任命为这个修道院的院长。

5 monk   

n.和尚，僧侣，修道士

参考例句：

• The man was a monk from Emei Mountain.那人是峨眉山下来的和尚。
• Buddhist monk sat with folded palms.和尚合掌打坐。