Chapter 5 Chapter 4 of "The Shepherd Boy's Fantastic Journey"

These books are so weird.They mentioned quicksilver and salt and dragons and kings, none of which he understood. However, these books seem to repeatedly state a concept: everything exists to show only one thing. In one of the alchemy books, he found that the most important content of the whole book only occupied a few short lines, and those few lines were copied from the surface of a piece of emerald ore. "That's the Emerald Monument," said the Englishman, proud that he could teach the boy something. "Well, then why do we need so many books?" the boy asked. "That's why we can understand these lines!" replied the Englishman, though he obviously didn't quite believe what he said.

The boy was most interested in one of the books, which described several famous alchemists.These alchemists have spent their entire lives refining metals in their alchemy rooms; they firmly believe that if they continue to smelt a piece of metal, the metal will sublimate its various attributes, and finally only the heart of heaven and earth remains.This heart of heaven and earth will help them understand everything between heaven and earth, because it is the common language of all things in the universe.Alchemists called the final extracted thing "Yuan Jing"-this is a semi-liquid and semi-solid substance.

"Can't you learn the language just by watching people and omens?" asked the boy. "You really like to simplify everything." The British replied angrily. "Alchemy is a rigorous discipline. Every step must be carried out according to the process instructed by the instructor." The boy then understood that the liquid part of the "Essence of Essence" is the "Eternal Life Lotion", which can cure all diseases and also allow alchemists to maintain immortality; and the solid part is the "Philosopher's Stone". "The Philosopher's Stone is hard to come by," said the Englishman, "and the alchemists spent years in their alchemy chambers, watching the flames of burning metal. As they spent so long by the fire, at last They gradually detach themselves from the mundane. They find that purifying the metal eventually purifies themselves.”

The boy thought of the crystal merchant.The merchant once said that it was a good thing for the boy to wipe those crystals clean, so that he could free himself from negative thoughts.The boy believed more and more that alchemy could actually be learned from everyday life. " Philosopher's stone also has a magical property. The British said, "As long as a small piece of stone chips can refine a large piece of metal into gold." " Hearing this, the boy became more interested in alchemy.With some patience, he thought, he could turn everything into gold.He studied the stories of many successful alchemists: Helvetius, Elias, Fulcanelli, and Geber, among others.Their stories are very magical: each of them finally fulfilled their destiny.They travel, converse with wise men, perform miracles before skeptical crowds, and they all possess philosopher's stone and elixir of life.But when the boy next wanted to know how to complete the "Yuan Jing", he began to feel at a loss.There are only diagrams, coded instructions, and obscure text in the book.

"Why do they complicate things so much?" he asked the Englishman one evening.He noticed that the Englishman was restless and kept trying to get his book back. 0; take it back. "So people who are supposed to know what the book is about," he said. "If you think about it, if everybody came running and tried to turn tin into gold, what would happen? Gold wouldn't be valuable anymore. .Only those who persevere to the end and are willing to delve deeper can complete the essence. That's why I came to this desert. I want to find a real alchemist and ask him to help me crack these codes."

" When were these books written? ' asked the boy. "Hundreds of years ago." "There was no printing at that time," the boy argued. "Not everyone had the opportunity to know what alchemy is, so why did they use these strange words with so many illustrations?" The Englishman did not answer him directly.For the past few days, he said, he had taken the trouble to watch the caravan go, but he hadn't learned anything new.The only thing he noticed was that people were talking more and more about the war. Then one day, the boy returned the book to the Englishman. "Have you learned anything?" asked the Englishman, eager to know anything.He needs someone to talk to so that he doesn't keep thinking about the possibility of war.

"I have learned that there is a heart in this world. Anyone who understands this heart can also understand the language of all things. I have learned that many alchemists have fulfilled their destiny and finally discovered the heart of heaven and earth. , philosopher's stone, and longevity dew. But more importantly, I know that these things are actually very simple, so simple that they can be written on the surface of an emerald slab." The British were disappointed.So many years of research, those magical symbols, strange words, and equipment in the laboratory... nothing seemed to attract the boy's attention.His heart is probably too simple to understand this, the Englishman thought.

He took his books back and put them back in the bag. "Go back and watch the caravan!" he said to the boy. "I didn't learn anything from that either!" The boy went back and stared at the wordless desert, and the sand splashed by the hooves of the beasts. "Every man has his way of learning," he said to himself, "his way is different from mine, and mine is different from his. But we are all seeking our destiny, and I respect him for that. " The caravan began to travel day and night.Masked Bedouins are showing up more and more often, and the camel driver - who has become the boy's best friend by now - explains to the boy that two tribes are fighting and the caravan needs a little Luck, to reach the oasis.

The animals were tired, and the people were talking less and less and more and more silently.The silence became the worst part of the night, and whenever there was a neighing of a camel - which used to be nothing more than a neighing of a camel - now everyone was horrified when they heard it, because it might be something A warning sign of a raid.However, the camel driver didn't seem to care much about the war. "I'm alive now," he said to the boy one night, when there was neither moon nor fire, and they were eating a bunch of dates together, " When I eat, I only think about eating, and if I'm moving, I only focus on moving.If I have to fight, it doesn't matter which day I die.

Because I don't need to rely on my past wealth to live.I only care about the present.If you can live in the present moment, you will live happily.You can see that there is always life in the desert, and there are always stars in the sky, and that the tribes are fighting because that is part of life.Life will be a feast for you, a grand celebration, because life is in every moment we live. " Two nights later, when he was about to lie down to sleep, the boy's eyes searched for the stars they followed every night.The horizon seemed lower than it used to be, he thought, because he could almost see the stars hanging in the desert.

"That's an oasis," said the camel driver. "Oh, then why don't we go there now?" the boy asked. "Because we must sleep." When the sun rose in the east, the boy woke up.There, in front of him, where he had seen the little star last night, was an endless row of date palms across the desert. " Here we are! said the Briton, who also always gets up early. But the boy is silent on words.He was at ease enjoying the stillness of the desert and contentedly admiring the trees.He still has a long way to go to reach the pyramids, and this morning will be nothing more than a memory.But in this very moment—the feast the camel driver spoke of—he wanted to live in the present, just as he lived in his past, in the dream of his future.Though the sight of the date palms will someday be a mere memory, right now it signifies shade, water, and shelter from the flames of war.Where yesterday the neighing of camels meant danger, now a row of date palms sings of miracles. The world speaks many languages, the boy thought. Time flies, and so do the caravans, thought the alchemist as he watched hundreds arrive at this oasis.People yelled at the newcomers, the sand clouded the sun in the desert, and the children in the oasis were excited and excited about the arrival of the crowd.The alchemist watched the elders of the tribe go forward to welcome the caravan leader, and talked to him for a long time. But for alchemists, none of this matters.He had seen enough people coming and going.He had seen kings and beggars walk across the desert.The wind changed the dunes from time to time, but it was the same sand he had seen since childhood.He had always liked the pleasure of the travelers at the sight of the green date palms, just after they had seen the yellow sand and the blue sky for two weeks.Maybe that's why God made the desert so they could appreciate date palms, he thought. He decided to focus on more practical matters.He knew that he had to teach someone in this caravan something secret.He didn't know who it was yet, but his practiced eyes would recognize it when it appeared.He wanted this person to be as good as his former students. I don't understand why these things have to be said in words, he thought. The secrets of God are easily communicated to all the creatures he has created. He could only explain this: since the esoteric meaning is created out of a pure life which cannot be captured in pictures or words, the esoteric meaning has to be conveyed in this way.Because people are so fascinated by pictures and words that they forget the language of the universe in the end. The boy could not believe what he saw: the oasis was not just a spring surrounded by palm trees—as he had seen it in a geography book—in fact, this oasis was much bigger than the ones in Spain. Many towns are going to be bigger.In this oasis, there are 300 springs, 50,000 date palm trees, and countless colorful tents stationed in it. "Philosophy looks like it," said the Englishman, impatient to find the alchemist. Many local children surrounded them, staring curiously at these newcomers and livestock.The men also ran over to ask them if they had encountered war; while the women compared each other with the cloth and gems brought by the merchants.The quiet desert has now become a distant dream, and the people in the caravan began to talk, laugh, and shout endlessly, as if they had stepped out of a spiritual world and entered the human world again.They are relaxed and happy. It's strange that when they were in the desert, they were still on guard.However, the camel driver had also explained to the boy that the oasis was always regarded as a neutral area, probably because most of the oasis lived with women and children.Although there are many oases everywhere in the desert, men must go to the desert if they want to fight, so that the oasis can be maintained as a safe haven. The leader of the caravan finally gathered all the people in the caravan.He told everyone that the caravan will stay in Philosophy for a period of time, and will not continue on the road until the end of the tribal war.Therefore, the people in the caravan must live with the people in the oasis, and the people in the oasis will do their best to accommodate the people in the caravan.Then he asked everyone in the caravan, including his own guards, to hand over their weapons to the tribal elders in the oasis. "This is the rule when fighting," the leader explained to everyone, "The oasis cannot shelter legions or troops." To the boy's surprise, the Englishman also took a pistol from his pouch, and handed it to the arms collector. "Why do you have a pistol?" "It allows me to trust people," said the Briton. The boy remembered his treasure.As he got closer to fulfilling his dream, things seemed to get more difficult.It seems that the old king's "beginner's luck" is less and less effective.During the pursuit of his dream, he seems to be constantly being tested whether he has the courage to continue.So he can neither hesitate nor lose patience.If he rushes too fast, he will lose sight of the signs and omens that God has left on his way. God has placed them in my path.He was surprised he thought so.Until just a moment ago, he'd thought omens were something of this world, like eating or sleeping, or like finding love or finding a job.It never occurred to him that the omens were the language of God, instructing him what to do. "Don't be impatient," he repeated to himself, "it's like the camel driver said: 'Eat when it's time to eat. Go when it's time to go.'" On the first night, everyone was sleepy from exhaustion, including the British.The boy was assigned to a tent quite far from his friends, which also slept five other young people about his own age.They were all from the desert, and they kept coaxing him to tell stories about the big cities. The boy told them the story of what happened when he was shepherding the sheep.The next morning, when he was about to talk about his crystal store experience, the Englishman walked into the tent. "I've been looking for you all morning." He called the boy out of the tent and said, "I want you to help me find out where the alchemist lives." At first they tried to find it themselves; An alchemist should live a different life from other residents of the oasis, and there should be a stove that is always burning in his tent, so they looked for it in every corner of the oasis based on this feature.But this oasis is actually bigger than they imagined. Philosophy has thousands of tents! "We've wasted all day!" said the Englishman, who was sitting with the boy near a spring. "Maybe we'd better ask someone," suggested the boy. The Englishman hesitated because he didn't want to tell others why he came to this oasis.But he finally agreed.Since the boy spoke better Arabic, he went up to ask a woman who happened to come to the spring to draw water. The woman said she had never heard of such a person and ran away nervously.But just before she ran away, she advised the boy not to wear The women in black speak because they are married women and the boys have to follow the tradition. The Englishman was disappointed, his journey looked to be fruitless.The boy is also very sad, after all his friend is pursuing his destiny!When a person pursues his destiny with all his heart, the whole universe will unite to help him fulfill it-this is what the old king said, and it can never be wrong. "I've never heard the name alchemist before," said the boy, "and maybe there are people here too." The Englishman's eyes lit up, "That's right! Maybe the people here don't know what an alchemist is. Let's go find the man who heals people." Several more women in black came to draw water from the spring, but the boy did not come forward to ask questions, although the Englishman kept urging him.Then a man passes by. "Do you know anyone around here who can heal people?" the boy asked. "Allah heals us of all our diseases," said the man, obviously frightened by the two strangers. "The man you are looking for is a witch doctor." He chanted a few verses from the Koran and hurried away . Another man appeared.This time the man was older and was still carrying a bucket.The boy stepped forward to ask him again. "What do you want with such a man?" asked the Arab. "Because my friend has spent months traveling around just to find him," the boy said. "If there is such a person living in this oasis, he must be a man with high magic power," the old man said after thinking for a while, "even the elders of the tribe don't say that they can meet him if they want to. You are still here After the war is over, follow the caravan and leave as soon as possible! Don't try to get involved in the life of the oasis." The old man left after speaking.But the British were ecstatic that they had found the right place! At last a young woman came, not in black.She carried a water bottle on her shoulders and wore a veil on her head, but her face was not covered by a veil.The boy stepped forward, intending to ask her about alchemists. For a moment, time seemed to stand still, but the heart of heaven and earth seemed to be churning violently in his heart.When he looked into her dark eyes, when he saw her lips half-smile, he understood the most important part of the whole language of the universe--a language that every heart in the world can understand--that It is love.That is something older than human existence, something farther than the desert.It is its power that makes two pairs of eyes meet, and makes two meet at this fountain.She smiled, no doubt that was the omen - apparently she was expecting his arrival without even knowing who he was. This is the purest language of the universe.No explanation is needed, just as the entire universe sails to the end of time without any explanation.The boy felt with all his heart that he was in the moment of meeting the only woman in his life.Although no words were exchanged, he knew she felt the same way.He has no greater certainty in this world than this.His parents and grandparents had told him that he had to wait until he was in love and really knew another person before marrying and getting settled.However, those who feel this way may not understand the language of the universe.Because, when you know the language, you can easily understand that there is someone waiting for you in the world, whether in the desert or in the big city.And when these two people who are waiting for each other, when their eyes meet, their past and future become irrelevant.Only that moment, and that incredible affirmation, make it clear that everything under the sun has already been written by one hand.It is the hand that evokes love, and it is the hand that creates the other half of each person's soul.Without such love, one's dreams become meaningless. Maktub, the boy thought. The Englishman shook the boy, "Quick, ask her." The boy approached the girl, and when she smiled, he smiled too. "What's your name?" he asked. "Fatima," the girl said, her eyes averted. "There are some women in my country with that name too." "This is the name of the Prophet's daughter," said Fatima, "and the aggressors carried this name all over the world." The beautiful girl was speaking of aggression with pride on her face. The Englishman poked him, and the boy asked her if she knew of anyone who could heal. "He who knows all the secrets of the world," she said, "talks to the spirits of the desert." Elves are gods of good and evil.The girl pointed to the man and said that was where the strange man lived.Then she filled the water and left. The British later left to find the alchemist as well.The boy sat by the spring for a long time, remembering that one day in Taiwan, the Levantine wind also brought the girl's fragrance.It dawned on him that he was in love with her even before he knew she existed.He knows that his love for her will give him the ability to find every treasure in the world. The next morning the boy went to the spring again, hoping to meet the girl again, but was surprised to see the Englishman there, looking out over the desert. "I waited all afternoon and night," he said, "until the first star in the sky rose. I told him what I was looking for, and He asked me if I had ever refined tin into gold.I told him that I came here to learn this.He told me I had to try to do it.He just said to me: 'Do it'. " The boy didn't say anything.The poor Englishman had gone to so much trouble only to have the alchemist tell him to do what he had done countless times before. "Then do it!" he said to the Englishman. "I'm going to do that. I want to start now." When the British left, Fatima came and filled her water bottle. "I'm here to tell you something, I want to marry you, I love you." The girl's water bottle dropped and the water spilled out. "I will come here every day to wait for you. I crossed the entire desert to find my treasure near the pyramids. I thought this war was a disaster, but now I think it is a good thing, because it made me meet you. " "The war will end someday," said the girl. The boy looked around at the date palms, and he reminded himself that he had been a shepherd once, so he could be a shepherd again.Fatima is much more important than his treasure. "The tribe is always looking for treasure," the girl said, as if she had read his mind. "And tribal women are always proud of their men." She filled up the water again and left. Every day the boy goes to the spring to meet Fatima.He told her about his life as a shepherd, how he had met the king, and about the crystal shop.They gradually become friends, and for the boy, apart from the fifteen minutes with Fatima, every day seems endlessly long.After he lived in this oasis for about a month, the caravan leader gathered all the members for a meeting. "We're not sure when this war is going to end, so our formation cannot continue," he said. "This war may last a long time, maybe years, and the two sides are evenly matched, and neither side is willing to give up the war." .It's not a war of good and evil, it's a war of power. And when this kind of war breaks out, it always takes longer than other types of war. Because the Arabs are on both sides at the same time." Everyone went back to where they lived, and the boy walked to meet Fatima that afternoon.He told her about the meeting that morning. "The day after we met," Fatima said, "you told me you loved me. Then you taught me about the language of the universe, and about the heart of heaven and earth. So I have become a part of you." The boy listened to her voice and thought that her voice was more beautiful than the wind blowing the date palms. "I have been waiting for you in this oasis for a long time. I have forgotten my past, the traditions I have always followed, and all the other things that desert men expect women to do. Since childhood, I have longed for the desert to bring Give me an amazing gift. And now I have my gift, and it is you." The boy tried to hold her hand, but Fatima's hand held her pitcher. "You told me about your dream, about the old king, and about your treasure. You also told me about the omen. So now I fear nothing, because it was the omen that brought you to me. I have become Be part of you, part of what you call destiny. That's why I want you to keep moving toward your goals.If you must wait until the war is over to start, wait; but if you can start before then, keep chasing your dreams.The wind will change the dunes, but the desert will never change, just like our love. " "Maktub," she said, "if I were really a part of you, you would always come back to me." The boy was very sad after leaving her that day.He thought of the married shepherds he knew who always had a hard time convincing their wives to let them go away.Love, so that they have to stay with the person they love.When they met the next day, he told Fatima about it. "The desert takes our men away from us, and they don't always come back," she said. "We all know that, and we're used to it. Those who don't come back become part of the cloud, animals hiding in the canyons. A part of them, became water, gushed out from the ground. They became a part of everything.... They became the heart of heaven and earth. I am a woman of the desert, and I am proud of it.I want my man to float around, free as the wind blows over the dunes.And if one day I have to, I'll also be glad that he becomes part of the clouds and animals and water in the desert. " The boy went to visit the British.He wanted to tell him about Fatimah.But he was surprised to see that the English had built a furnace outside his tent.It was a strange furnace with a transparent plate on the top and firewood around it.When the Englishman looks up at the desert, his eyes are brighter than when he read a book. "This is the first stage," he said, "I have to break down the sulfur. In order to do it successfully, I must not be afraid of failure. I used to let my fear get in the way of pursuing the essence. Now I have To start doing things that should have been done ten years ago. But I'm glad at least I didn't wait twenty years." He continued to heat, and the boy stayed there until the desert faded to pink in the setting sun.He had an urge to go to the desert, to see if its silence contained the answer he was looking for. He swayed about, but never took his eyes off the date palms.He listened to the wind, felt the stones under his feet.Occasionally he would pick up a shell or two, which told him that this desert had once been an ocean.He sits on a rock and lets himself be hypnotized by the horizon.He tried to tell whether love was instinct or possession, but couldn't.But Fatima was a woman of the desert, so if anything could help him understand Fatima, it was the desert. As he sat there thinking, he suddenly felt a tremor in his head.Looking up, there is a pair of eagles flying high in the sky.He watched the eagles flying with the wind. Although their flight paths seemed to be irregular, the boy felt something special, but he couldn't grasp what it meant at the moment.Maybe these desert birds could teach him the meaning of a love that doesn't possess. He felt a little sleepy.He wanted to stay awake, but he just fell asleep. "I'm learning the language of the universe, the whole universe has meaning...even the flight of the eagles," he said to himself.The whole person is immersed in the joy of being in love.When you're in love, you're more sensitive to everything, he thought. Suddenly, an eagle rushed down into the sky, as if it was attacking something.One moment he was watching the eagle rushing down, and then a scene jumped out before his eyes: a soldier, holding a sword, rushed into the oasis.The image disappeared quickly, but he was already deeply shocked.He would have heard of mirages, and had seen some with his own eyes.The mirage is people's strong desire to turn the desert sand into a real thing. But of course he wouldn't imagine a soldier invading the oasis. He tried to forget the sight and return to the meditation just now.He tried to focus on the pink light and the stone, but something in him kept him from doing so. "Always face the omens." The old king once said so.The boy recalls the hallucinated image and realizes that this is what is about to happen. He stood up and walked back towards the date palms.He felt again that everything around him was telling him that the desert was safe, but the oasis was in danger. The camel driver sat under a palm tree and watched the sunset.He saw the boy walking back from the other side of the dune. "The army is coming," said the boy. "I have visions." "The desert fills the mind with illusions," the camel driver replied. But the boy told him about the eagle.He had just watched them fly, and then received a message from the Word of the Universe. The camel driver understood what the boy was saying.He understood that anything that happened on the surface of the earth could reveal the ins and outs of everything in the world.We can turn over any page of a book, or look at anyone's hand; we can turn over a card, or watch an eagle in flight...no matter what we observe, we can connect our experience with what we see in the moment .In fact, it is not that the observed things themselves can reveal anything, but that when people observe everything around them, they have the ability to understand the heart of the world. Many people in the desert have the ability to see the heart of the world, because they live with a relaxed attitude.Some people call them prophets and prophets, women and old people are afraid of them, and tribal soldiers dare not talk to them.Imagine, if everyone knew in advance that they would die on the battlefield, who else would want to go to the battlefield?Everyone would rather try the taste of war than charge into battle when they don’t know the outcome; the future has long been written by Allah, and no matter what he writes, it must be for the good of mankind; tribal warriors only live in the present This moment, because there are enough surprises in the present moment, and they have to pay attention to many things at all times; like from which direction will the enemy's sword come?where is his horseWhat must be done next to survive?The camel driver is not a warrior himself, so he will ask the prophet for advice.Some prophets are often right in what they say, and others are wrong.Once the oldest seer he knew (and the most revered) asked him why he was so curious about the future? "Uh... so I can do things," he replied. "And I can correct things that I don't want to happen." "But then they won't be your future," said the seer. "Well, then maybe I should just know what's going to happen in the future so I can prepare." "If it's a good thing, it's a pleasant surprise, isn't it?" said the seer, "and if it's a disaster, doesn't knowing it beforehand make you suffer sooner?" "I wish to know the future because I am human after all," said the camel driver to the seer, "and human beings always live in anticipation of the future." The seer was particularly good at divination with branches; he would throw them on the ground and see the way they fell to interpret the future.But that day, instead of using the branch to help the camel driver, he tied the branch with a piece of cloth and put it back in his bag. "I live by fortunetelling," he said, "I am good at seeing what the branches show, and I know how to use it to gain insight into destiny. Therefore I can read the past and discover long-forgotten things. things, and can also understand the omens that are displayed at the moment. When people come to me and ask me, I'm not trying to decipher the future, I'm guessing.The future belongs to God, and only he can reveal it, and usually only under certain special circumstances.And what should I rely on to guess the future?By the omens we see now.So, the secret of the future is now.If you focus on the present, you will definitely improve the present.And if you can improve the present, the future will be better.Forget about the future, just live each day according to God's teachings, and trust that God will take care of His people.Every day has its own eternity. " The camel driver asked under what circumstances God would let man see his future. "Only when man himself exposes it. God rarely does, and when he does, it is often for one reason: it is meant to be changed." Now that God has revealed a part of the future to this boy, the camel driver thought, why would he choose a boy to be his spokesman? "Go and tell the elders about it," the camel driver, "and tell them the enemy is coming." "They would laugh at me." "They are desert people, and desert people are used to facing omens." "Oh, then maybe they already knew." "They won't know now. They believe that if they have to know something, Allah will tell them through someone. This has happened many times before, only this time it's you." Boy Thinking of Fatima, he decided to tell the elder about it. The boy approached a huge white tent in the middle of the oasis and said to the guards in front of the tent: "I want to see the elders of the tribe. I bring the omen of the desert." The guard walked into the tent without saying anything, and stayed there for a while.When he came out, he was followed by a young Arab in platinum and gold.The boy told the young Arab what he had seen, and the Arab told him to wait outside before going back into the tent. As night fell, a large group of warriors and merchants came and went from the tent.Then the tent lights all over the oasis went out, one after another, and the oasis gradually became silent, like a desert.Only the lights of the big tent remained on.The boy had been thinking about Fatima all this time, and he still couldn't understand what she had said the last time he saw her. After hours of waiting, the guard came out and summoned the boy into the tent.The boy was taken aback by the sight inside the tent.He never imagined that there would be such a tent in a desert.The ground was covered with the most beautiful carpets he had ever walked on; the tents were hung with gold lamps, each with a candle; and the tribal elders sat in a semicircle on silk embroidered cushions .Servants came and went with golden trays holding spices and tea.还有些仆役们专门忙着添加水烟筒里的炭灰。整座帐篷内充斥着烟与香气。 帐篷内有八位长老，不过男孩立刻就能判断出哪一位最重要：就是穿着白金两色衣服、坐在半圆中央的那位阿拉伯人。在他身边正是男孩稍早交谈的那位年轻的阿拉伯人。 “谁是那个来说预兆的陌生人？”一位长老问，他的眼睛直盯着男孩。 “我就是。”男孩回答。然后他又述说了一遍他所看见的景象。 “为什么沙漠会对一位陌生人揭露出这 样的预兆？它明明知道我们已经在这里住了好几代了。”另外一位长老说。 “因为我的眼睛还未习惯沙漠。”男孩说，“我可以看出那些眼睛习于沙漠景象的人所未看见之事。” 而且因为我知道天地之心，他默想着。 “绿洲是中立地带。没有人会来攻击绿洲。”第三个长老说。 “我只能告诉你我看见了什么，如果你不相信我，那就别去管它。” 那些长老开始讨论起来，他们用一种阿拉伯方言交谈，那是男孩听不懂的腔调，不过当他打算离去时，警卫叫他等一下。男孩警戒起来，预兆告诉他事情不对劲了，他真后悔告诉了骆驼夫关于他看见的景象。 忽然，中间那位长老微微笑着，这让男孩觉得好过一些。这位长老并未加入讨论，事实上，他还未对这件事发表意见。不过男孩已经可以从熟悉的宇宙之语中感觉出，一股平和的电波贯穿帐篷内。现在他的直觉告诉他来对了。 讨论结束，其他所有的长老都安静下来倾听老人说的话。然后老人转过头来对男孩说话，这一次他的表情冷酷而淡漠。 “两千年以前，在一个遥远地方，有一个人因为相信梦中启示，就被丢进一座地牢里，并且被卖身为奴隶，”老人用着男孩能够听懂的腔调对他说，“我们的商人买下这个人，把他带到埃及去。我们都知道任何相信梦中启示的人，也必须能够正确地解梦。” 老人继续说，“当法老梦见七只肥壮的母牛和七只瘦弱的母牛时，我说的这个人帮法老解梦并拯救埃及免于饥荒（注9）。这个人名叫约瑟，他就跟你一样，也是一个陌生土地上的陌生人，说不定也跟你同样年纪。” 他停顿了一下，而他的眼光仍然不怎么友善。 “我们仍然举行传统。传统在那时拯救埃及免于饥荒，变成最富裕的民族。传统也教导人们如何才能横越沙漠，以及小孩如何结婚。传统说绿洲是一处中立的地区，因为打仗的双方都有自己的绿洲，因此彼此都不可以去侵犯。” 没有人插嘴，老人继续说道： “不过传统也告诉我们必须相信沙漠给予的讯息。我们知道的所有事情都是沙漠教我们的。” 老人打了手势，所有人都站起来。The meeting is over.水烟筒熄灭，警卫也留神站立着。男孩正准备离开，老人却再度说： “明天我们会打破绿洲里不许武装的约定。一整天我们都会留神戒备敌人是否来临。当日落以后，所有人 必须再把武器交还给我。每杀十个敌军，你就可以得到一块金子。 可是，军队武装一定是要为了战争，因为武装行动就跟沙漠一样难以控制，如果这次他们没派上用场，那么下一次就很难叫他们动员起来。如果明天日落以前都没有人上战场，那么至少就会有一个人把枪剑对着你。 " 当男孩离开时，整座绿洲仅存满月的月光照耀着。那里离他住的帐篷仅只二十分钟路程，他慢慢走回去。 他被刚发生的事情震慑住了。他已经成功地触及了天地之心，然而他却可能必须用生命作为代价。这真是个恐怖的赌注，话说回来，他也曾经下过一个风险很高的赌注，那就是当他把全部羊卖掉来追寻他的天命时。另外，骆驼夫也说过，明天死并不会比死在其他任何一天更糟。每一天都会有人活着，活着离开这个世间，每件事都是Maktub。 他安静地走着，并不觉得后悔。如果他明天会死，那也是因为神不愿意改变未来。至少在他死前，他已经横越过一个州大陆，曾经在一间水晶商店工作，也了解了沙漠的沉默，还有法谛玛的眼睛。自从很久以前离开家乡后，他已经充实地度过度过了每一天。即使明天就死去，他也已经见识过比其他牧羊人更多的事情了，他为自己觉得骄傲。 突然他听见一声雷鸣，同时他被一阵强风吹倒在地，这是从未有过的事。整个地区被旋进风沙中，连月亮也看不见了。一匹巨大得不可思议的白马奔驰来到他的面前，接着发出一声惊骇的嘶鸣。 待尘沙稍稍落定后，男孩被他看见的景物吓得发抖。一个全身穿着黑袍的人跨骑在白马上，他的左肩上并栖息着一只老鹰。他头上包裹着阿拉伯式头巾，脸上罩着大手帕，只露出眼睛。他以来自沙漠的使者姿态出现，但是他的样子比起一个纯粹的沙漠使者显得更有力量。 陌生骑士从马鞍旁的刀鞘里拔出一把十分巨大的弯刀，刀锋映着月光，熠熠生辉。 “是谁这么大胆，敢去解读老鹰飞翔的意义？”他问，声音大得似乎能够让费奥姆的五万株枣椰树发出回声。 “就是我，”男孩说，这人让他联想起骑在白马上、把异教徒踩在脚底下的圣狄雅各·马他摩洛斯。眼前这个男人看起来就跟马他摩洛斯一模一样，只不过对他而言，男孩才是个异教徒。 “就是我，”男孩重复一次，他底下头，准备接受圆刀一砍，“因为我能够了解天地之心，许多人的生命得以拯救。” 圆刀并未砍下，相反地，陌生骑士把刀一点一点地降下直到刀锋抵住男孩的额头。刀锋刺出了一滴血。 骑士一动也不动，男孩也是。男孩甚至没想到要逃走。在他的心中，产生了一股奇怪的愉悦：他既将因为追求天命以及法谛玛而死。预兆究竟还是正确的。就在此时，他和他的敌人面对面，但死亡丝毫无须恐惧，而天地之心正在等着他，他也即将成为其中的一部分。到了明天，他和敌人也会变成天地之心的一部分。陌生人继续握住刀抵着男孩的额头，“你为什么会解读到老鹰的飞翔？” “我只读到了那些老鹰想告诉我的。它们想要拯救这个绿洲，到了明天，你们全部的人都会死，这个绿洲的人远比你们的人要多。” 圆刀仍抵在原处。“你是谁胆敢来改变阿拉的旨意。” “阿拉创造了军队，也创造出老鹰。阿拉教导我鸟的语言，每一件事都被注写在一只手上。”男孩说，他想起了骆驼夫告诉过他的话。 陌生骑士把刀从男孩的额前收回，男孩立刻松了一口气。不过他还是不能逃走。 “你要小心你的预言，”那个陌生骑士说，“当一件事情已经被注写下来之后，是没有办法改变的。” “但我只是看见了一队士兵，”男孩说，“并没有看见战争的结果。” 陌生骑士好像满意了他这个答案，不过他还是把刀握在手上。“为什么一个陌生人会来到这个陌生的地方？” “我是跟随我的天命而来的，你不一定会了解的。” 陌生人把刀放回刀鞘里，男孩终于放心了。 “我必须要测试你的勇气，”那个陌生人说，“勇气是了解宇宙之语最基本的特质。” 男孩很吃惊，这人正在讲极少数人了解的事。 “你不可以骄傲自满，尽管你已经走到了这里，”他继续说，“你必须爱这片沙漠，但不要完全信任它，因为沙漠会考验所有的人，它考验着你的每一步，并且把那些分心的人毁掉。” 当他说着话时，男孩想起了那位老王。 “如果那些战争真的来了，而到了明天下午你的头还在，就来找我。”陌生人说。 那只曾挥舞着圆刀威胁他的手，如今已然握着一条鞭子。马再度立着后腿，扬起一团尘沙。 当那骑士骑远时，男孩大叫，“你住在哪里？” 握着鞭子的手指向男方。 男孩遇见了练金术士。