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On the third day, the chief met with his officers.
第三天，指挥官把他手下的重要军官都召集在一起。
He called the alchemist to the meeting and said, "Let's go see the boy who turns himself into the wind."
“咱们去看看那个能把自己变成风的男孩。”指挥官对炼金术士说。
"Let's," the alchemist answered.
“好吧。”炼金术士回答。
The boy took them to the cliff where he had been on the previous day. He told them all to be seated.
男孩把他们领到前一天他去过的地方，请他们全都坐下。
"It's going to take a while," the boy said.
“要花费点时间。”男孩说。
"We're in no hurry," the chief answered. "We are men of the desert."
“我们不急。”指挥官回答，“我们是沙漠里的人。”
The boy looked out at the horizon. There were mountains in the distance.
男孩开始观望前方的地平线。远处有绵延起伏的山岭。
And there were dunes, rocks, and plants that insisted on living where survival seemed impossible.
还有沙丘、岩石，还有顽强生长着的匍匐植物。
There was the desert that he had wandered for so many months; despite all that time, he knew only a small part of it.
眼前就是沙漠，他已经在沙漠里走过了几个月，即便如此，他也只了解其中很小的一部分。
Within that small part, he had found an Englishman, caravans, tribal wars, and an oasis with fifty thousand palm trees and three hundred wells.
他遇见了一个英国人，商队和部落之间的斗争，还有一片有着五万棵椰枣树和三百眼水井的绿洲。
"What do you want here today?" the desert asked him. "Didn't you spend enough time looking at me yesterday?"
“今天你想干什么？”沙漠问道，“昨天我们不是对望很久了吗？”
"Somewhere you are holding the person I love," the boy said. "So, when I look out over your sands, I am also looking at her.
“你把我爱的人留在了你这里。”男孩说，“所以当我看到沙子时，也就看到了她。
I want to return to her, and I need your help so that I can turn myself into the wind."
我想回到她的身边，我需要你的帮助，好把自己变成风。”
"What is love?" the desert asked.
“爱是什么？”沙漠问。
"Love is the falcon's flight over your sands.
“爱就是猎鹰在沙地上空飞翔。
Because for him, you are a green field, from which he always returns with game.
对猎鹰来说，你就是一片绿地，它永远不会无功而返。
He knows your rocks, your dunes, and your mountains, and you are generous to him."
它熟悉你的那些沙丘、岩石和山岭，你对它十分慷慨。”
"The falcon's beak carries bits of me, myself," the desert said.
“猎鹰叼走了我身上的东西，”沙漠说。
"For years, I care for his game, feeding it with the little water that I have, and then I show him where the game is.
“我年复一年地养育它们的猎物，用我不多的水喂养它们，告诉它们食物在哪儿。
And, one day, as I enjoy the fact that his game thrives on my surface, the falcon dives out of the sky, and takes away what I've created."
有一天，当我正要感受它的猎物在沙粒上抚弄的感觉时，它却从天而降，把我喂养的东西叼走。”
"But that's why you created the game in the first place," the boy answered.
“可你正是为此目的才养育猎物，”男孩说。
"To nourish the falcon. And the falcon then nourishes man.
“是为了喂养猎鹰。猎鹰给人带去食物。
And, eventually, man will nourish your sands, where the game will once again flourish. That's how the world goes."
而人总有一天也会喂养你的沙粒，猎物将重新在那里衍生。世界就是这样运转的。”
"So is that what love is?"
“这就是爱吗？”
"Yes, that's what love is. It's what makes the game become the falcon, the falcon become man, and man, in his turn, the desert.
“这就是爱。是爱使猎物转化成猎鹰，使猎鹰转化成人，使人转化成沙漠。
It's what turns lead into gold, and makes the gold return to the earth."
是爱使铅块变成金子，而金子又重新藏身于地下。”
"I don't understand what you're talking about," the desert said.
“我不明白你说的话。”沙漠说。
"But you can at least understand that somewhere in your sands there is a woman waiting for me.
“那么你要明白，在沙漠的某个地方，有个女人在等我。
And that's why I have to turn myself into the wind."
为了这个原因，我必须变成风。”
