介绍:
The Alchemist 原文 （65）
All things are one, the boy thought. And then, as if the desert wanted to demonstrate that the alchemist was right, two horsemen appeared from behind the travelers.
"You can't go any farther," one of them said. "You're in the area where the tribes are at war."
"I'm not going very far," the alchemist answered, looking straight into the eyes of the horsemen. They were silent for a moment, and then agreed that the boy and the alchemist could move along.
The boy watched the exchange with fascination. "You dominated those horsemen with the way you looked at them," he said.
"Your eyes show the strength of your soul," answered the alchemist.
That's true, the boy thought. He had noticed that, in the midst of the multitude of armed men back at the encampment, there had been one who stared fixedly at the two. He had been so far away that his face wasn't even visible. But the boy was certain that he had been looking at them.
Finally, when they had crossed the mountain range that extended along the entire horizon, the alchemist said that they were only two days from the Pyramids.
"If we're going to go our separate ways soon," the boy said, "then teach me about alchemy."
"You already know about alchemy. It is about penetrating to the Soul of the World, and discovering the treasure that has been reserved for you."
"No, that's not what I mean. I'm talking about transforming lead into gold."
The alchemist fell as silent as the desert, and answered the boy only after they had stopped to eat.
"Everything in the universe evolved," he said. "And, for wise men, gold is the metal that evolved the furthest. Don't ask me why; I don't know why. I just know that the Tradition is always right.
"Men have never understood the words of the wise. So gold, instead of being seen as a symbol of evolution, became the basis for conflict."
"There are many languages spoken by things," the boy said. "There was a time when, for me, a camel's whinnying was nothing more than whinnying. Then it became a signal of danger. And, finally, it became just a whinny again."
But then he stopped. The alchemist probably already knew all that.
"I have known true alchemists," the alchemist continued. "They locked themselves in their laboratories, and tried to evolve, as gold had. And they found the Philosopher's Stone, because they understood that when something evolves, everything around that thing evolves as well.
"Others stumbled upon the stone by accident. They already had the gift, and their souls were readier for such things than the souls of others. But they don't count. They're quite rare.
"And then there were the others, who were interested only in gold. They never found the secret. They forgot that lead, copper, and iron have their own destinies to fulfill. And anyone who interferes with the destiny of another thing never will discover his own."
The alchemist's words echoed out like a curse. He reached over and picked up a shell from the ground.
"This desert was once a sea," he said. "I noticed that," the boy answered.
The alchemist told the boy to place the shell over his ear. He had done that many times when he was a child, and had heard the sound of the sea.
"The sea has lived on in this shell, because that's its destiny. And it will never cease doing so until the desert is once again covered by water."
They mounted their horses, and rode out in the direction of the Pyramids of Egypt.
The Alchemist 译文 （65）
万法归一，男孩想道。然后，两个骑兵从他们背后冲上来，就像沙漠有意向他证明炼金术士说的没错一样。
“停止前进！”其中一个骑兵说，“你们来到了到部落战争的地区。”
“我并没有打算走太远，”炼金术士回答，直视着骑兵的眼睛。他们沉默对视了好一会，然后骑兵答应男孩和炼金术士可以继续前进。
男孩入迷地观察刚才的眼神交汇。
“你刚才用眼睛控制了那两位战士”男孩说。
“你的眼睛可以表现出内心的力量。”炼金术士回答。
那倒是真的，男孩想。他注意到了，在营队前面的那一群武装族人当中，有一个人一直在密切注视着跟他们说话的那两个战士。虽然隔得太远了，看不清楚那人的脸孔，但是男孩却可以很肯定他的眼睛正在注视着他们。
当他们终于越过一整座高山的山脊，炼金术士说，现在他们距离金字塔只有两天的路程了。
“如果我们就快要分手了，”男孩说，“是否可以教我炼金术？”
“你早就会炼金术了。那就是洞悉天地之心的方法，透过它你会发现为你准备好的宝藏。”
“不，我不是说这个。我是说怎么将锡转变成金的方法。”
炼金术士沉默着，如同沙漠一般。他一直到他们停下来吃饭的时候，才回答道：“宇宙万物都是演变进化的，”他说，“但是对于智者而言，金子是最可以被提炼的金属。不要问我为什么，我也不知道为什么。我只知道传统总是对的。
人类从来不曾了解过智者真正的意思，于是，金子没被当作升华的象征，反而变成人类冲突的根本。”
“万物说的语言意味着很多意思，”男孩说，“对我来说，骆驼的嘶鸣曾经只是单纯的嘶鸣而已，然后它变成危险的象征，最后它又变回嘶鸣。”
他停顿下来，也许这一切炼金术士早就知道了。
“我认得一些真正的炼金术士，”炼金术士说，“他们把自己关在炼金房里，极尽可能地提炼金子。他们也发现了哲人石，因为他们知道，当你提炼一样东西的时候，它周围的东西，也会跟着被升华出来。
另外一些人偶然间拥有哲人石。他们老早就拥有这项礼物了，他们的心也比多数人更能接受这样的事。但是他们不算，这种人很少见。
还有其它多数人，他们感兴趣的只是金子，他们从来没发现炼金术的真谛，他们也不想知道锡、铜、铁都有它们自己的天命。可是任何人只要是阻碍了别人或其它事物的天命，也就无法发现自己的天命。”
炼金术士的话，在沙漠中回响着，好像一句诅咒。他俯下身来，捡起沙地上一枚贝壳。
“沙漠曾经是海。” 炼金术士说。
“我注意到了。”男孩回答。
炼金术士要男孩把贝壳放在耳边。男孩在年幼时候也曾经这么做过无数遍，从贝壳里听过海的声音。
“海就活在这个贝壳里，这是贝壳的天命。贝壳会不断地重复着海的声音，直到有一天，沙漠又被大海所覆盖。”
他们跃上马，向着埃及金字塔的方向行进。
大家还在听
