第十六回 犹豫之旅

Paulo Coelho

离开老人后，牧羊少年对老人的看法发生了怎样的变化？ 他为什么没有告诉面包店的主人老人曾经对他说的话？ 据此推断，男孩有什么样的性格特征？ 他又为什么没有去非洲？ 对此，他的心情如何？

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The boy began again to read his book, but he was no longer able to concentrate. He was tense and upset, because he knew that the old man was right.

He went over to the bakery and bought a loaf of bread, thinking about whether or not he should tell the baker what the old man had said about him. Sometimes it's better to leave things as they are, he thought to himself, and decided to say nothing. If he were to say anything, the baker would spend three days thinking about giving it all up, even though he had gotten used to the way things were. The boy could certainly resist causing that kind of anxiety for the baker.So he began to wander through the city, and found himself at the gates.

There was a small building there, with a window at which people bought tickets to Africa.And he knew that Egypt was in Africa.

“Can I help you?” asked the man behind the window.

“Maybe tomorrow,” said the boy, moving away.

If he sold just one of his sheep, he'd have enough to get to the other shore of the strait.The idea frightened him.

“Another dreamer,” said the ticket seller to his assistant, watching the boy walk away. “He doesn't have enough money to travel.”

While standing at the ticket window, the boy had remembered his flock, and decided he should go back to be a shepherd. In two years he had learned everything about shepherding: he knew how to shear sheep, how to care for pregnant ewes, and how to protect the sheep from wolves. He knew all the fields and pastures of Andalusia. And he knew what was the fair price for every one of his animals.

He decided to return to his friend's stable by the longest route possible. As he walked past the city's castle, he interrupted his return, and climbed the stone ramp that led to the top of the wall. From there, he could see Africa in the distance. Someone had once told him that it was from there that the Moors had come, to occupy all of Spain.

Reading Check

What characteristic can we infer about the the boy from his dealing with the baker?

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