《牧羊少年奇幻之旅》 15 老人给男孩讲故事

The old man related that, the week before, he had been forced to appear before a miner, and had taken the form of a stone.

老人说，上个星期他不得不变换方式，以石头的面貌出现在一个掘矿人面前。

The miner had abandoned everything to go mining for emeralds.

那个掘矿人抛家舍业去寻找绿宝石，

For five years he had been working a certain river, and had examined hundreds of thousands of stones looking for an emerald.

在一条河边干了五年。为了找到绿宝石，他敲开了九十九万九千九百九十九块石头。

The miner was about to give it all up, right at the point when, if he were to examine just one more stone—just one more—he would find his emerald.

还剩一块石头，只差那一块石头，他就能发现他要找的绿宝石了。恰恰在这个关口，掘矿人打算放弃了。

Since the miner had sacrificed everything to his personal legend, the old man decided¹ to become involved.

这个人为实现天命已经牺牲了一切，因此老人决定帮他一把。

He transformed himself into a stone that rolled up to the miner's foot.

他变成一块石头，滚落在掘矿人脚下。

The miner, with all the anger and frustration² of his five fruitless years, picked up the stone and threw it aside.

白白浪费了五年时光的掘矿人，带着积蓄已久的绝望和怒气捡起石头，朝远处扔去。

But he had thrown it with such force that it broke the stone it fell upon, and there, embedded³ in the broken stone, was the most beautiful emerald in the world.

这一掷力量极大，那石头砸在另一块石头上，竟把另一块石头砸得爆裂开来，砸出了世上最美丽的一块绿宝石。

"People learn, early in their lives, what is their reason for being," said the old man, with a certain bitterness.

“人们很早就学会了生活的道理。”老人说，眼中露出一丝苦涩，

"Maybe that's why they give up on it so early, too. But that's the way it is."

“也许正因为如此，他们才会早早地就放弃了它们。世界就是如此。”

The boy reminded the old man that he had said something about hidden treasure.

男孩突然想起此番交谈的起因是关于隐秘宝藏的话题。

"Treasure is uncovered by the force of flowing water, and it is buried by the same currents," said the old man.

“财宝可能被水流冲出地面，也可能被洪水掩埋在地下。”老人说，

"If you want to learn about your own treasure, you will have to give me one-tenth of your flock."

“如果你想知道你那批财宝的下落，就必须把你羊群中十分之一的羊给我。”

"What about one-tenth of my treasure?"

“把财宝的十分之一给你不行吗？”

The old man looked disappointed.

老人看起来很失望。

"If you start out by promising⁴ what you don't even have yet, you'll lose your desire to work toward getting it."

“如果东西还没到手，你就先许诺于人，那你就不会积极去争取了。”

The boy told him that he had already promised to give one-tenth of his treasure to the Gypsy.

男孩说，他已经答应把财宝的十分之一给那个吉卜赛老妇人了。

"Gypsies are experts at getting people to do that," sighed the old man.

“吉卜赛人都是机灵鬼。”老人叹了口气，

"In any case, it's good that you've learned that everything in life has its price.

“但不管怎样，这是件好事，它让你明白了，生活中一切都要付出代价。

That is what the Warriors⁵ of the Light try to teach."

这正是光明斗士意图教导人们的。”

The old man returned the book to the boy.

老人把书还给了男孩。

"Tomorrow, at this same time, bring me a tenth of your flock. And I will tell you how to find the hidden treasure. Good afternoon."

“明天，还是这个时间，你把羊群中十分之一的羊带来给我。我将告诉你如何找到那批财宝。再见。”

And he vanished around the corner of the plaza⁶.

随后，他消失在广场的一角。

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

3 embedded   

a.扎牢的

参考例句：

• an operation to remove glass that was embedded in his leg 取出扎入他腿部玻璃的手术
• He has embedded his name in the minds of millions of people. 他的名字铭刻在数百万人民心中。

4 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

5 warriors   

武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I like reading the stories ofancient warriors. 我喜欢读有关古代武士的故事。
• The warriors speared the man to death. 武士们把那个男子戳死了。

6 plaza   

n.广场，市场

参考例句：

• They designated the new shopping centre York Plaza.他们给这个新购物中心定名为约克购物中心。
• The plaza is teeming with undercover policemen.这个广场上布满了便衣警察。