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They were strange books. They spoke about mercury, salt, dragons, and kings, and he didn't understand any of it.
那些书很奇特，讲的都是关于汞、盐、龙和王者什么的，男孩根本看不懂。
But there was one idea that seemed to repeat itself throughout all the books: all things are the manifestation of one thing only.
尽管如此，他发现，似乎所有书里都在重复着一种观念：万物皆为一物的表现。
In one of the books he learned that the most important text in the literature of alchemy contained only a few lines, and had been inscribed on the surface of an emerald.
在其中一本书里，男孩读到有关炼金术最重要的文字，只有寥寥几行，据说写在一块普通的翡翠板上。
"It's the Emerald Tablet," said the Englishman, proud that he might teach something to the boy.
“那就是翡翠板。”英国人说，能教给男孩一些东西令他感到骄傲。
"Well, then, why do we need all these books?" the boy asked.
“那还要这么多书干吗？”
"So that we can understand those few lines," the Englishman answered, without appearing really to believe what he had said.
“为了理解那几行文字。”英国人说，但对于自己的回答并不十分有把握。
The book that most interested the boy told the stories of the famous alchemists.
有一本书是男孩最感兴趣的，讲的是著名炼金术士们的故事。
They were men who had dedicated their entire lives to the purification of metals in their laboratories;
他们一辈子都在实验室里提炼金属。
they believed that, if a metal were heated for many years, it would free itself of all its individual properties, and what was left would be the Soul of the World.
他们相信，一种金属经过成年累月的冶炼，最后就会摆脱自身固有的全部特性，只剩下世界之魂。
This Soul of the World allowed them to understand anything on the face of the earth, because it was the language with which all things communicated.
这唯一剩下的东西，可以使炼金术士理解世上的一切，因为它是万物用以相互沟通的方式。
They called that discovery the Master Work—it was part liquid and part solid.
炼金术士把这种东西称作元精，它由液体和固体构成。
"Can't you just observe men and omens in order to understand the language?" the boy asked.
“难道通过观察人类和所有的预兆，还不足以发现万物精华吗？”男孩问道。
"You have a mania for simplifying everything," answered the Englishman, irritated.
“你有一种把一切东西都简单化的癖好。”英国人有些恼火地回答，
"Alchemy is a serious discipline. Every step has to be followed exactly as it was followed by the masters."
“炼金术是一项严肃的工作，每一个步骤都必须严格地按照师父所教的方法进行。”
