介绍:
The Englishman could not contain his excitement. He canceled all his commitments and pulled together the most important of his books, and now here he was, sitting inside a dusty, smelly warehouse. Outside, a huge caravan was being prepared for a crossing of the Sahara, and was scheduled to pass through Al-Fayoum.
I'm going to find that damned alchemist, the Englishman thought. And the odor of the animals became a bit more tolerable.
A young Arab, also loaded down with baggage, entered, and greeted the Englishman. "Where are you bound?" asked the young Arab.
"I'm going into the desert," the man answered, turning back to his reading. He didn't want any conversation at this point. What he needed to do was review all he had learned over the years, because the alchemist would certainly put him to the test.
The young Arab took out a book and began to read. The book was written in Spanish. That's good, thought the Englishman. He spoke Spanish better than Arabic, and, if this boy was going to Al-Fayoum, there would be someone to talk to when there were no other important things to do.
"That's strange," said the boy, as he tried once again to read the burial scene that began the book. "I've been trying for two years to read this book, and I never get past these first few pages." Even without a king to provide an interruption, he was unable to concentrate.
He still had some doubts about the decision he had made. But he was able to understand one thing: making a decision was only the beginning of things. When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision.
When I decided to seek out my treasure, I never imagined that I'd wind up working in a crystal shop, he thought. And joining this caravan may have been my decision, but where it goes is going to be a mystery to me.
我的译文：
英国人抑制不住的兴奋。他取消了全部承诺，收集起重要的书籍，此刻他来到这里，坐在一个肮脏的、臭气熏天的仓库里。外面，一个大型商队正准备启程穿越撒哈拉沙漠，期间会经过尤姆绿洲。
我要去找那个该死的炼金术士，英国人想到这里，那些动物的臭味似乎变得稍微可以忍受了一些。
一个阿拉伯青年，提着重重的行李走进来，和英国人打了个招呼。
“你要去哪里？”阿拉伯青年问到。
“我准备进沙漠，”英国人回答，接着看他的书。此刻他一点都不想聊天。现在他要回顾一些这些年来学到的知识，因为炼金术士肯定会测试他的。
阿拉伯青年也开始看起书来。这是本西班牙语的书籍。很好，英国人心想。他西班牙语比阿拉伯语说得好。而且，如果这个男孩也去尤姆绿洲，路上没什么事的时候还可以聊聊天。
“好奇怪，”男孩再次看到书中一开始讲述的葬礼场面时说道。“这两年我一直试图看这本书，但怎么也看不下去。”就算没有那个撒冷王中途打断他，他也不能集中精力看下去。
他有些质疑自己的决定。但是他明白一件事：下决心是做一件事的开始。当人们下定了决心，他真的会全力以赴的投入，然后你会被带到一个你在最初决定时做梦也想不到的地方去。
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