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The boy couldn't believe what he was seeing:
男孩简直无法相信他看到的景象：
the oasis, rather than being just a well surrounded by a few palm trees—as he had seen once in a geography book—was much larger than many towns back in Spain.
绿洲根本不像他在一本故事书上读到的那样，只有几棵棕榈树围着一眼水井，而是比好几个西班牙村庄加在一起还要大得多。
There were three hundred wells, fifty thousand date trees, and innumerable colored tents spread among them.
这里有三百口水井，五万株椰枣树，其间散布着许多五颜六色的帐篷。
"It looks like The Thousand and One Nights," said the Englishman, impatient to meet with the alchemist.
“很像《一千零一夜》里的情景。”英国人说。他正迫不及待地要找到那位炼金术士。
They were surrounded by children, curious to look at the animals and people that were arriving.
他们很快便被一群孩子包围了，孩子们好奇地看着牲口和陌生人。
The men of the oasis wanted to know if they had seen any fighting, and the women competed with one another for access to the cloth and precious stones brought by the merchants.
男人们想知道商队是否遇上了战乱，女人们则争着购买商人们带来的布匹和宝石。
The silence of the desert was a distant dream; the travelers in the caravan were talking incessantly, laughing and shouting,
沙漠的寂静完全被打破。人们不停地说啊，笑啊，喊啊，
as if they had emerged from the spiritual world and found themselves once again in the world of people. They were relieved and happy.
仿佛刚刚走出一个幽灵世界，重新回到人间，那么幸福和快乐。
They had been taking careful precautions in the desert, but the camel driver explained to the boy that oases were always considered to be neutral territories,
那位前一天晚上还小心谨慎的赶驼人对男孩解释说，沙漠中的绿洲向来被视为中立地区，
because the majority of the inhabitants were women and children.
因为绿洲的大部分居民是妇女和儿童。
There were oases throughout the desert, but the tribesmen fought in the desert, leaving the oases as places of refuge.
战争的双方都有绿洲，士兵在沙漠中打仗，留下绿洲作为避难所。
With some difficulty, the leader of the caravan brought all his people together and gave them his instructions.
商队首领颇费了一番气力才把所有人召集在一起，随后便开始发布指令。
The group was to remain there at the oasis until the conflict between the tribes was over.
他们将在绿洲驻扎下来，直到部落间的战争结束。
Since they were visitors, they would have to share living space with those who lived there, and would be given the best accommodations.
由于是客人，所以要与绿洲的居民分享帐篷，居民们将把最好的位置留给他们。
That was the law of hospitality.
这是沙漠里的好客原则。
Then he asked that everyone, including his own sentinels, hand over their arms to the men appointed by the tribal chieftains.
接下来头领要求所有人，包括他的贴身卫士，都把武器交给各部落头领指定的人。
