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"He lives at the Al-Fayoum oasis," his friend had said. "And people say that he is two hundred years old, and is able to transform any metal into gold."
“那人住在法尤姆绿洲。”他的朋友说，“人们都说他有两百岁了，还说他能把任何金属变成黄金。”
The Englishman could not contain his excitement.
英国人兴奋得难以自持。
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.
他立即取消了所有的日程安排，把所有最重要的书籍找出来，然后直奔非洲。此刻，他正坐在这个牲口棚一样的货栈里。
Outside, a huge caravan was being prepared for a crossing of the Sahara, and was scheduled to pass through Al-Fayoum.
外面有一支庞大的商队正在为穿越撒哈拉沙漠作准备。商队将路过法尤姆绿洲。
I'm going to find that damned alchemist, the Englishman thought. And the odor of the animals became a bit more tolerable.
我必须去找那个该死的炼金术士，英国人心想。牲口散发出的气味也变得稍稍可以忍受了。
A young Arab, also loaded down with baggage, entered, and greeted the Englishman.
一个阿拉伯男孩背着旅行包走进货栈，跟英国人打了个招呼。
"Where are you bound?" asked the young Arab.
“您要去哪儿？”阿拉伯男孩问。
"I'm going into the desert," the man answered, turning back to his reading.
“去沙漠。”英国人回答，然后又埋头看书。
He didn't want any conversation at this point.
这会儿他不愿与人交谈。
What he needed to do was review all he had learned over the years, because the alchemist would certainly put him to the test.
他需要把十年来学到的东西重温一遍，因为炼金术士一定会对他进行某种考核。
The young Arab took out a book and began to read. The book was written in Spanish. That's good, thought the Englishman.
阿拉伯男孩也掏出一本书读起来。那是一本西班牙语的书。这倒不错，英国人想。
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.
他的西班牙语比阿拉伯语讲得好得多，如果这男孩也去法尤姆，没什么要紧事可忙的时候，就可以跟他聊天了。
