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"Do you want to go to work for me?" the merchant asked.
“你愿意为我干活吗？”水晶商人问。
"I can work for the rest of today," the boy answered.
“今天可以。”男孩回答说，
"I'll work all night, until dawn, and I'll clean every piece of crystal in your shop.
“天亮前，我会把店里所有的水晶都擦干净。
In return, I need money to get to Egypt tomorrow."
作为交换，我需要盘缠，明天我得赶到埃及。”
The merchant laughed.
水晶商人笑了。
"Even if you cleaned my crystal for an entire year ...
“哪怕你一整年都给我擦水晶，
even if you earned a good commission selling every piece, you would still have to borrow money to get to Egypt.
哪怕你从每一件卖出去的商品中都能挣到可观的佣金，仍必须借一笔钱才能去埃及。
There are thousands of kilometers of desert between here and there."
从丹吉尔到金字塔，要穿过几千公里的沙漠呢。”
There was a moment of silence so profound that it seemed the city was asleep.
一时间，周围一片寂静，似乎整个城市都静止不动了。
No sound from the bazaars, no arguments among the merchants, no men climbing to the towers to chant.
集市里的货摊、商人们的吵闹、爬到清真寺塔尖上的诵经的人，全都不复存在了。
No hope, no adventure, no old kings or personal legends, no treasure, and no Pyramids.
希望和冒险、老迈的王和天命、宝藏和金字塔，全都不复存在了。
It was as if the world had fallen silent because the boy's soul had.
仿佛整个世界都停滞了，因为男孩的心已经死了。
He sat there, staring blankly through the door of the café, wishing that he had died, and that everything would end forever at that moment.
只有透过酒吧小门投向外面的失神目光，只有寻死的强烈愿望，只有让一切都在这一刻永远结束的强烈愿望。
The merchant looked anxiously at the boy.
水晶商人惊恐地看着男孩。
All the joy he had seen that morning had suddenly disappeared.
上午在男孩身上见到的快乐，突然之间不见踪影。
"I can give you the money you need to get back to your country, my son," said the crystal merchant.
“孩子，我可以给你回家的钱。”水晶商人说。
The boy said nothing. He got up, adjusted his clothing, and picked up his pouch.
男孩仍旧沉默着。随后，他站起身来，整理了一下衣服，拿起他的褡裢。
"I'll work for you," he said.
“先生，我将为您打工。”他说。
And after another long silence, he added, "I need money to buy some sheep."
又沉默了一阵之后，他说道：“我需要钱，好去买些羊。”
