《牧羊少年奇幻之旅》 07 老妇人给男孩解梦(1)

The old woman led the boy to a room at the back of her house; it was separated from her living room by a curtain of colored beads¹.

老妇人领着男孩走进最里面的房间，那里与客厅只隔着一道用彩色珠子制成的帘子。

The room's furnishings consisted of a table, an image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and two chairs.

房间里有一张桌子，一幅耶稣圣心像，还有两把椅子。

The woman sat down, and told him to be seated as well.

老妇人坐下来，让男孩也坐下。

Then she took both of his hands in hers, and began quietly to pray. It sounded like a Gypsy prayer.

然后，她握住男孩的双手，轻声祷告起来。似乎是吉卜赛人的一种祈祷词。

The boy had already had experience on the road with Gypsies; they also traveled, but they had no flocks of sheep.

男孩在途中遇到过许多吉卜赛人。他们云游四方，但从不放牧羊群。

People said that Gypsies spent their lives tricking others.

人们说吉卜赛人靠骗人为生，

It was also said that they had a pact² with the devil,

还说他们与魔鬼订有契约，

and that they kidnapped children and, taking them away to their mysterious camps, made them their slaves.

拐骗儿童，让孩子们在他们神秘的帐篷里当奴隶。

As a child, the boy had always been frightened to death that he would be captured by Gypsies,

男孩小时候一直非常害怕被吉卜赛人拐走。

and this childhood fear returned when the old woman took his hands in hers.

当老妇人拉住他的双手时，以前那种恐惧感又出现了。

But she has the Sacred Heart of Jesus there, he thought, trying to reassure³ himself.

不过这里有耶稣圣心像呢，男孩想，极力使自己镇定些。

He didn't want his hand to begin trembling, showing the old woman that he was fearful.

他不想自己的手发抖，不想让老妇人觉察出他很害怕。

He recited an Our Father silently.

他默默地念诵了一遍主祷文。

"Very interesting," said the woman, never taking her eyes from the boy's hands, and then she fell silent.

“太有意思了。”老妇人说道，两眼一直盯着男孩的手，接着沉默了。

The boy was becoming nervous. His hands began to tremble, and the woman sensed it. He quickly pulled his hands away.

男孩十分紧张，双手不由自主颤抖起来。老妇人感觉到了。他急忙把手抽出来。

"I didn't come here to have you read my palm," he said, already regretting having come.

“我不是来这里看手相的。”他说，开始对走进这所房子感到后悔。

He thought for a moment that it would be better to pay her fee and leave without learning a thing,

有那么一会儿他想付了钱马上走人，哪怕一无所获呢。

that he was giving too much importance to his recurrent dream.

可他太在乎那个梦了，那个梦他做了两遍。

"You came so that you could learn about your dreams," said the old woman.

“你是来这儿解梦的。”老妇人说，

"And dreams are the language of God. When he speaks in our language, I can interpret what he has said.

“梦是上帝的语言。如果上帝用的是尘世间的语言，我就能解你的梦。

But if he speaks in the language of the soul, it is only you who can understand.

但是，如果上帝用的是魂灵的语言，那就只有你自己能理解了。

But, whichever it is, I'm going to charge you for the consultation⁴."

但不管哪种情况，我都要收咨询费。”

Another trick, the boy thought. But he decided⁵ to take a chance.

男孩心想，是一个圈套。尽管如此，他还是决定冒一下险。

A shepherd always takes his chances with wolves and with drought, and that's what makes a shepherd's life exciting.

牧羊人总会遇到风险，要么是狼群，要么是干旱，恰恰是这些使放牧生涯更刺激。

1 beads   

n.（空心）小珠子( bead的名词复数 )；水珠；珠子项链

参考例句：

• a necklace of wooden beads 一条木珠项链
• Beads of perspiration stood out on his forehead. 他的前额上挂着汗珠。

2 pact   

n.合同，条约，公约，协定

参考例句：

• The two opposition parties made an electoral pact.那两个反对党订了一个有关选举的协定。
• The trade pact between those two countries came to an end.那两国的通商协定宣告结束。

3 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。

4 consultation   

n.咨询；商量；商议；会议

参考例句：

• The company has promised wide consultation on its expansion plans.该公司允诺就其扩展计划广泛征求意见。
• The scheme was developed in close consultation with the local community.该计划是在同当地社区密切磋商中逐渐形成的。

5 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。