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The boy had been working for the crystal merchant for almost a month, and he could see that it wasn't exactly the kind of job that would make him happy.
圣地亚哥为水晶店老板干活已经将近一个月了，这并不是他喜欢的工作。
The merchant spent the entire day mumbling behind the counter, telling the boy to be careful with the pieces and not to break anything.
老板整天在柜台后面絮絮叨叨，要求他小心摆弄那些水晶，千万别打碎一件。
But he stayed with the job because the merchant, although he was an old grouch, treated him fairly;
不过，男孩还是继续干下去了。因为店主虽然脾气不好，但为人还算公正，
the boy received a good commission for each piece he sold, and had already been able to put some money aside.
每卖出一件商品，男孩就能拿到一笔不菲的佣金。如今他已经积攒下一些钱。
That morning he had done some calculating: if he continued to work every day as he had been, he would need a whole year to be able to buy some sheep.
一天上午，他算了算账，如果照现在这样继续干下去，还需要整整一年才能买羊。
"I'd like to build a display case for the crystal," the boy said to the merchant.
“我想做一个水晶陈列架。”男孩对老板说，
"We could place it outside, and attract those people who pass at the bottom of the hill."
“可以把陈列架放在店外，吸引从山坡下面经过的人。”
"I've never had one before," the merchant answered. "People will pass by and bump into it, and pieces will be broken."
“以前我从未做过陈列架。”老板回答说，“行人路过时会碰到陈列架，水晶会摔碎的。”
"Well, when I took my sheep through the fields some of them might have died if we had come upon a snake.
“过去我在田野里放羊的时候，碰到蛇，羊就有可能被咬死。
But that's the way life is with sheep and with shepherds."
不过，这种事情是牧羊人和羊群生活中的一部分。”
The merchant turned to a customer who wanted three crystal glasses.
水晶店老板接待了一位要买三件水晶器皿的顾客。
He was selling better than ever ... as if time had turned back to the old days when the street had been one of Tangier's major attractions.
现在，店里生意兴隆，比以往任何时候都好。仿佛时光倒流，又回到了从前，这里成了丹吉尔人气最旺的街市之一。
"Business has really improved," he said to the boy, after the customer had left.
“现在生意已经相当好了。”那位顾客走后，老板对男孩说，
"I'm doing much better, and soon you'll be able to return to your sheep. Why ask more out of life?"
“赚的钱可以让我生活得更好，也能让你在不久之后买一群羊。这就足够了，何必苛求呢？”
"Because we have to respond to omens," the boy said, almost without meaning to;
“因为我们得按预兆行事。”男孩几乎是下意识地脱口而出，
then he regretted what he had said, because the merchant had never met the king.
说完便后悔了，因为水晶店老板可从来没遇到过什么撒冷王。
"It's called the principle of favorability, beginner's luck. Because life wants you to achieve your personal legend," the old king had said.
“这叫作‘良好的开端’，‘新手的运气’。因为生活希望你去体验自己的天命。”老人曾这样说过。
But the merchant understood what the boy had said.
尽管如此，店老板却明白男孩说的话。
The boy's very presence in the shop was an omen, and, as time passed and money was pouring into the cash drawer, he had no regrets about having hired the boy.
男孩出现在他店里这件事本身就是一个预兆。日子一天天过去，钱柜里的钱越来越多。雇用了一个西班牙人，老板一点也不后悔，
The boy was being paid more money than he deserved, because the merchant, thinking that sales wouldn't amount to much, had offered the boy a high commission rate.
即便男孩现在挣的钱比他应该挣的要多。当初老板一直认为，雇了男孩，生意不会有什么变化，于是答应给男孩较高的佣金。
He had assumed he would soon return to his sheep.
直觉告诉他，男孩很快就会回去放羊。
