《牧羊少年奇幻之旅》 110 男孩和炼金术士来到修道院

They rode for the entire day.

他们一整天都在赶路。

Toward the end of the afternoon, they came upon a Coptic monastery¹.

夜幕将至，他们来到一座科普特人的修道院前。

The alchemist dismounted, and told the escorts they could return to the camp.

炼金术士将卫队遣回后，便翻身下了马。

"From here on, you will be alone," the alchemist said. "You are only three hours from the Pyramids."

“从此以后，你要独自一人赶路了。”炼金术士说，“从这里到金字塔只剩三个小时路程了。”

"Thank you," said the boy. "You taught me the Language of the World."

“谢谢！”男孩说，“您教会了我世界的语言。”

"I only invoked² what you already knew."

“我只不过使你回忆起早已知道的事情。”

The alchemist knocked on the gate of the monastery. A monk³ dressed in black came to the gates.

炼金术士敲了敲修道院的大门。一位身着黑衣的修士前来开门。

They spoke⁴ for a few minutes in the Coptic tongue, and the alchemist bade the boy enter.

他们用科普特语交谈了几句，炼金术士便请男孩进入修道院。

"I asked him to let me use the kitchen for a while," the alchemist smiled.

“我请求他把厨房借给我们用一下。”炼金术士说。

They went to the kitchen at the back of the monastery.

他们一径来到修道院的厨房。

The alchemist lighted the fire, and the monk brought him some lead, which the alchemist placed in an iron pan.

炼金术士点上火，那修士拿来了少许铅块，炼金术士将铅块放入一只铁罐中熔化。

When the lead had become liquid, the alchemist took from his pouch⁵ the strange yellow egg.

当铅变成液体时，他从他的袋子里取出那个奇怪的黄色玻璃蛋。

He scraped from it a sliver⁶ as thin as a hair, wrapped it in wax, and added it to the pan in which the lead had melted.

他从上面刮下来一条，细如发丝，然后，他用蜡把它包裹起来，和铅一起放入锅中。

The mixture took on a reddish color, almost the color of blood.

两种东西混合后变成了血红色。

The alchemist removed the pan from the fire, and set it aside to cool.

炼金术士将锅从火上挪开，放在一旁冷却。

As he did so, he talked with the monk about the tribal⁷ wars.

与此同时，他与修士谈起了有关部落战争的事。

"I think they're going to last for a long time," he said to the monk.

“大槪会持续很久。”他对修士说。

The monk was irritated. The caravans⁸ had been stopped at Giza for some time, waiting for the wars to end.

修士对此早已厌烦。许多商队在吉萨停留了很长时间，都等着战争结束呢。

"But God's will be done," the monk said.

“但愿上帝的意志能够实现。”修士说。

"Exactly," answered the alchemist.

“但愿如此。”炼金术士回答。

1 monastery   

n.修道院，僧院，寺院

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• She was appointed the superior of the monastery two years ago.两年前她被任命为这个修道院的院长。

2 invoked   

v.援引( invoke的过去式和过去分词 )；行使（权利等）；祈求救助；恳求

参考例句：

• It is unlikely that libel laws will be invoked. 不大可能诉诸诽谤法。
• She had invoked the law in her own defence. 她援引法律为自己辩护。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 monk   

n.和尚，僧侣，修道士

参考例句：

• The man was a monk from Emei Mountain.那人是峨眉山下来的和尚。
• Buddhist monk sat with folded palms.和尚合掌打坐。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 pouch   

n.小袋，小包，囊状袋；vt.装...入袋中，用袋运输；vi.用袋送信件

参考例句：

• He was going to make a tobacco pouch out of them. 他要用它们缝制一个烟草袋。
• The old man is always carrying a tobacco pouch with him.这老汉总是随身带着烟袋。

6 sliver   

n.裂片，细片，梳毛；v.纵切，切成长片，剖开

参考例句：

• There was only one sliver of light in the darkness.黑暗中只有一点零星的光亮。
• Then,one night,Monica saw a thin sliver of the moon reappear.之后的一天晚上，莫尼卡看到了一个月牙。

7 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。

8 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。