《牧羊少年奇幻之旅》 60 炼金术士寻找弟子

The times rush past, and so do the caravans², thought the alchemist, as he watched the hundreds of people and animals arriving at the oasis³.

日月如梭，商队也穿行如梭，当看到数百人的商队连同牲口来到绿洲的时候，炼金术士不禁想。

People were shouting at the new arrivals, dust obscured the desert sun, and the children of the oasis were bursting with excitement at the arrival of the strangers.

绿洲里的人跟在刚刚到达的人群后面大呼小叫，扬起的尘土遮蔽了太阳，孩子们见到陌生人，兴奋得又蹦又跳。

The alchemist saw the tribal⁴ chiefs greet the leader of the caravan¹, and converse⁵ with him at length.

炼金术士看到部落头领们朝商队首领走过去，双方交谈了很长时间。

But none of that mattered to the alchemist.

但是，炼金术士对这一切不感兴趣。

He had already seen many people come and go, and the desert remained as it was.

人们来了又去，他见得多了，而绿洲和沙漠却依然如故。

He had seen kings and beggars walking the desert sands.

他见过国王和乞丐踏上那些沙丘，

The dunes⁶ were changed constantly by the wind, yet these were the same sands he had known since he was a child.

沙丘随风不断改变形状，但沙子却依旧是他从小就熟悉的沙子。

He always enjoyed seeing the happiness that the travelers experienced when, after weeks of yellow sand and blue sky, they first saw the green of the date palms.

尽管如此，看到脚踏黄沙，头顶蓝天，长途跋涉的旅行者们见到绿色椰枣树时的狂喜，炼金术士内心深处仍不由自主地为他们感到高兴。

Maybe God created the desert so that man could appreciate the date trees, he thought.

也许真主创造沙漠的目的，就是为了让人们见到椰枣树的时候能开心地笑，他想。

He decided⁷ to concentrate on more practical matters.

接着，他决定考虑一下更为实际的事情。

He knew that in the caravan there was a man to whom he was to teach some of his secrets. The omens⁸ had told him so.

他明白，他必须把自己知道的部分秘密传授给那支商队里的一个人，预兆已经向他揭示了这一点。

He didn't know the man yet, but his practiced eye would recognize him when he appeared.

目前他还不知道那个人是谁，但是只要见到那人，他这双经验丰富的眼睛就能辨认出来。

He hoped that it would be someone as capable as his previous apprentice⁹.

但愿那人也像他前一个弟子那么有能力。

I don't know why these things have to be transmitted by word of mouth, he thought.

我不明白为什么这些事情必须要口耳相传，他想。

It wasn't exactly that they were secrets; God revealed his secrets easily to all his creatures.

这不完全是因为它们是秘密，真主向来是慷慨地向世人披露秘密的。

He had only one explanation for this fact:

对这种现象他只有一种解释：

things have to be transmitted this way because they were made up from the pure life, and this kind of life cannot be captured in pictures or words.

这些事情必须以这种方式传授，因为它们是由纯粹的生命体构成的，而这类生命体用图画和文字很难捕捉得到。

Because people become fascinated with pictures and words, and wind up forgetting the Language of the World.

人们由于迷恋图画和文字，忘记了宇宙的语言。

1 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。

2 caravans   

（可供居住的）拖车（通常由机动车拖行）( caravan的名词复数 )； 篷车； （穿过沙漠地带的）旅行队（如商队）

参考例句：

• Old-fashioned gypsy caravans are painted wooden vehicles that are pulled by horses. 旧式的吉卜赛大篷车是由马拉的涂了颜色的木质车辆。
• Old-fashioned gypsy caravans are painted wooden vehicles. 旧时的吉普赛大篷车是涂了颜色的木质车辆。

3 oasis   

n.（沙漠中的）绿洲，宜人的地方

参考例句：

• They stopped for the night at an oasis.他们在沙漠中的绿洲停下来过夜。
• The town was an oasis of prosperity in a desert of poverty.该镇是贫穷荒漠中的一块繁荣的“绿洲”。

4 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

5 converse   

vi.谈话，谈天，闲聊；adv.相反的，相反

参考例句：

• He can converse in three languages.他可以用3种语言谈话。
• I wanted to appear friendly and approachable but I think I gave the converse impression.我想显得友好、平易近人些,却发觉给人的印象恰恰相反。

6 dunes   

沙丘( dune的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The boy galloped over the dunes barefoot. 那男孩光着脚在沙丘间飞跑。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat. 将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

7 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。

8 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

9 apprentice   

n.学徒，徒弟

参考例句：

• My son is an apprentice in a furniture maker's workshop.我的儿子在一家家具厂做学徒。
• The apprentice is not yet out of his time.这徒工还没有出徒。