《牧羊少年奇幻之旅》 46 男孩与英国人交谈

"That's strange," said the boy, as he tried once again to read the burial scene that began the book. "I've been trying for two years to read this book, and I never get past these first few pages."

真有意思，当圣地亚哥正要重新阅读书上开头部分的葬礼场面时，忽然想，差不多两年前我就开始读它了，还没读完这几页呢。

Even without a king to provide an interruption¹, he was unable to concentrate.

尽管不再有什么撒冷王来打断他的阅读，可他还是无法集中精力。

He still had some doubts about the decision he had made.

他对自己作出的决定仍抱有怀疑。

But he was able to understand one thing: making a decision was only the beginning of things. When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision.

但是，他意识到了很重要的一点，那就是，一旦作出决定，实际上便坠入了一股巨大的洪流之中，这洪流会把人带到一个你作决定时从来没想到的地方去。

When I decided² to seek out my treasure, I never imagined that I'd wind up working in a crystal³ shop, he thought.

当我决定去寻找宝藏的时候，绝没想到会在一家水晶店打工。

And joining this caravan⁴ may have been my decision, but where it goes is going to be a mystery to me.

为了证实自己的论断，男孩想，同样，加入商队可以说是我作出的一个决定，但商队奔向何方则永远是个谜。

Nearby was the Englishman⁵, reading a book.

在他面前有一个英国人，也在读一本书。

He seemed unfriendly, and had looked irritated⁶ when the boy had entered.

那英国人很令人讨厌，男孩进来的时候，英国人曾轻蔑地瞥了他一眼。

They might even have become friends, but the Englishman closed off the conversation.

他们原本可以成为好朋友，但英国人的态度让交谈无法继续。

The boy closed his book. He felt that he didn't want to do anything that might make him look like the Englishman.

男孩合上了书。他不想做任何使别人觉得他与那英国人相似的事。

He took Urim and Thummim from his pocket, and began playing with them.

他从兜里掏出乌凌和图明，独自把玩起两块宝石来。

The stranger shouted, "Urim and Thummim!" In a flash the boy put them back in his pocket.

那英国人惊叫起来：“一块乌凌和一块图明！”男孩飞快地将两块宝石装进口袋里。

"They're not for sale," he said.

“这是非卖品。”他说。

"They're not worth much," the Englishman answered.

“它们没那么值钱。”英国人说，

"They're only made of rock crystal, and there are millions of rock crystals⁷ in the earth.

“只不过是大块石英晶体而已。世界上有无数大块石英晶体，

But those who know about such things would know that those are Urim and Thummim.

不过，懂行的人都知道这是乌凌和图明。

I didn't know that they had them in this part of the world."

我没想到这种地方还有乌凌和图明。”

"They were given to me as a present by a king," the boy said.

“这是一位王赠送的礼物。”男孩说。

The stranger didn't answer; instead, he put his hand in his pocket, and took out two stones that were the same as the boy's.

英国人没说话。随后，他把手伸进口袋里，令人惊讶的是，他掏出了两块一模一样的宝石。

1 interruption   

n.打扰；干扰；中止；阻碍

参考例句：

• Never mind the interruption;proceed with your story.不要理睬别人的插话，继续讲你的故事。
• The day passed by without further interruption.这一天过去了，没有再发生什么意外的事。

2 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。

3 crystal   

n.水晶，水晶饰品，结晶体；最好的玻璃器皿

参考例句：

• It used to be a crystal stream.那曾是条清澈见底的小溪。
• Those fine wine glasses are made of crystal.那些漂亮的酒杯是用水晶做的。

4 caravan   

n.大蓬车；活动房屋

参考例句：

• The community adviser gave us a caravan to live in.社区顾问给了我们一间活动住房栖身。
• Geoff connected the caravan to the car.杰弗把旅行用的住屋拖车挂在汽车上。

5 Englishman   

n.(pl.Englishmen)英国人；英国男人

参考例句：

• I was astonished that he was not an Englishman.我很惊讶,他竟不是英国人。
• She stared thoughtfully at the Englishman across the table.她若有所思地盯着桌子对面的那个英国人。

6 irritated   

a.恼怒的

参考例句：

• His little affectations irritated her. 他的装腔作势令她不快。
• Her genteel accent irritated me. 她那矫揉造作的腔调使我感到难受。

7 crystals   

n.水晶( crystal的名词复数 )；结晶（体）

参考例句：

• It is snow and ice crystals. 这是雪和冰的结晶体。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Snowflakes are loose aggregates of ice crystals. 雪花是冰晶的松散凝结。 来自《简明英汉词典》