《牧羊少年奇幻之旅》 49 商队沉默地行进着（在线收听）

The caravan moved toward the east.

老商队开始朝着东方行进。

It traveled during the morning, halted when the sun was at its strongest, and resumed late in the afternoon.

他们上午赶路，中午日头最毒的时候便停下来，傍晚时分再重新上路。

The boy spoke very little with the Englishman, who spent most of his time with his books.

男孩很少跟英国人聊天，而那英国人把大部分时间都消磨在读书上了。

The boy observed in silence the progress of the animals and people across the desert.

男孩默默地观察着人群和牲口在沙漠里行进。

Now everything was quite different from how it was that day they had set out:

现在，一切都与出发的那一天大相径庭了。

then, there had been confusion and shouting, the cries of children and the whinnying of animals, all mixed with the nervous orders of the guides and the merchants.

那天人声鼎沸，一片混乱，孩子们的哭闹声，牲口的嘶叫声，领队和商人们的吆喝声，全都交织在一起。

But, in the desert, there was only the sound of the eternal wind, and of the hoofbeats of the animals. Even the guides spoke very little to one another.

然而，在沙漠里，只有无休无止的风声，牲口的踏蹄声和永远的寂静，就连领队之间也很少交谈。

"I've crossed these sands many times," said one of the camel drivers one night.

“这沙漠我已经走过许多次了。”一天晚上，有个赶驼人说道，

"But the desert is so huge, and the horizons so distant, that they make a person feel small, and as if he should remain silent."

“不过这片沙漠太大了，地平线遥不可及，令人感到自己太渺小，根本不想说话。”

The boy understood intuitively what he meant, even without ever having set foot in the desert before.

虽然男孩此前从未踏进过沙漠，但他明白赶驼人话里的含义。

Whenever he saw the sea, or a fire, he fell silent, impressed by their elemental force.

每当观看泱泱大海或熊熊烈焰的时候，他能一连几个小时保持沉默，脑子里什么都不想，完全沉浸在自然的浩瀚和威力之中。

I've learned things from the sheep, and I've learned things from crystal, he thought.

我从羊群身上学到了东西，从水晶身上学到了东西，他心想。

I can learn something from the desert, too. It seems old and wise.

我也能从沙漠身上学到东西。我觉得沙漠更沧桑，更智慧。

The wind never stopped, and the boy remembered the day he had sat at the fort in Tarifa with this same wind blowing in his face.

风刮个不停。男孩想起了他坐在塔里法一座城堡上的那一天，当时刮的就是这种风。

It reminded him of the wool from his sheep ... his sheep who were now seeking food and water in the fields of Andalusia, as they always had.

要是不来非洲，也许此刻，他仍在安达卢西亚田野上，轻轻抚摸那些寻找食物和水源的羊群呢。

"They're not my sheep anymore," he said to himself, without nostalgia.

它们已经不是我的羊了，男孩心说，并没觉得有什么可眷恋的。

"They must be used to their new shepherd, and have probably already forgotten me.

它们大概已经习惯了一个新的牧羊人，早把我忘了。

That's good. Creatures like the sheep, that are used to traveling, know about moving on."

这样很好。谁像羊群那样习惯了云游四方，谁就明白出游是必不可少的。