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People say strange things, the boy thought.
男孩心想，人总会说一些刁钻古怪的事情。
Sometimes it's better to be with the sheep, who don't say anything.
有的时候，最好与羊群为伴，羊群不声不响，只顾吃草喝水。
And better still to be alone with one's books.
与书为伴也行，
They tell their incredible stories at the time when you want to hear them.
书总是在人们最想听故事的时候，告诉你一些意想不到的事情。
But when you're talking to people, they say some things that are so strange that you don't know how to continue the conversation.
但是，当人与人交谈的时候，有些人说的话会让我们无所适从，不知该怎样把谈话继续下去。
"My name is Melchizedek," said the old man. "How many sheep do you have?"
“我叫麦基洗德。”老人说，“你有多少只羊？”
"Enough," said the boy. He could see that the old man wanted to know more about his life.
“不多不少。”男孩回答说。看来老人很想了解他的生活。
"Well, then, we've got a problem. I can't help you if you feel you've got enough sheep."
“那么我们就面临着-个问题。既然你认为你已有足够的羊，我可就没法帮你了。”
The boy was getting irritated. He wasn't asking for help.
男孩生气了。他并未请求帮助，
It was the old man who had asked for a drink of his wine, and had started the conversation.
反而是老人主动跟他搭讪，还跟他要酒喝。
"Give me my book," the boy said. "I have to go and gather my sheep and get going."
“请把书还给我。”他说道，“我得去找我的羊群，然后继续赶路。”
"Give me one-tenth of your sheep," said the old man, "and I'll tell you how to find the hidden treasure."
“你把十分之一的羊送给我，我就告诉你怎样找到宝藏。”老人说道。
The boy remembered his dream, and suddenly everything was clear to him.
男孩又想起了那个梦。突然之间，一切都明朗起来。
The old woman hadn't charged him anything,
老妇人没收取任何报酬，
but the old man—maybe he was her husband—was going to find a way to get much more money in exchange for information about something that didn't even exist.
但这个老人却想用一个子虚乌有的承诺，从他这儿弄走更多的钱，说不定他就是那老妇人的丈夫，
The old man was probably a Gypsy, too.
大槪也是个吉卜赛人。
But before the boy could say anything, the old man leaned over, picked up a stick, and began to write in the sand of the plaza.
然而，未等男孩开口，那老人便俯身拿起一根木棍，开始在沙土地上写字。
Something bright reflected from his chest with such intensity that the boy was momentarily blinded.
当他俯下身去的时候，怀里有个东西闪烁了一下，发出的光芒如此强烈，晃得男孩睁不开眼。
With a movement that was too quick for someone his age, the man covered whatever it was with his cape.
但老人迅速用披风遮盖了那个耀眼的东西，动作之快，像他这把年纪的平常人绝做不出来。
When his vision returned to normal, the boy was able to read what the old man had written in the sand.
男孩的视觉恢复了正常，能够渐渐看清老人所写的字了。
There, in the sand of the plaza of that small city, the boy read the names of his father and his mother and the name of the seminary he had attended.
在这座小城市中心广场的沙土地上，他看到了自己父亲和母亲的名字，看到了自己上过的神学院的名字，
He read the name of the merchant's daughter, which he hadn't even known, and he read things he had never told anyone.
看到了那个女孩的名字——这是他原先不知道的。他还看到一些他从未对任何人讲起过的事情。
