ff14怎么在其他电脑保留设置 《能言马与男孩》第2期:沙斯塔出奔(2)

《能言马与男孩》第2期:沙斯塔出奔(2)  

"And now
O my host
" said the Tarkaan
"I have a mind to buy that boy of yours."
"O my master
" replied the fisherman (and Shasta knew by the wheedling tone the greedy look that was probably ing into his face as he said it)
"what price could induce your servant
poor though he is
to sell into slavery his only child and his own flesh? Has not one of the poets said
`Natural affection is stronger than soup and offspring more precious than carbuncles?"'
"It is even so
" replied the guest dryly. "But another poet has likewise said
"He who attempts to deceive the judicious is already baring his own back for the scourge." Do not load your aged mouth with falsehoods. This boy is manifestly no son of yours
for your cheek is as dark as mine but the boy is fair and white like the accursed but beautiful barbarians who inhabit the remote North."
“尽管如此，”客人冷冰冰地答道，“另一位诗人说过这样的话：‘企图欺骗明智审慎者的人，已经暴露出他的背脊，快要挨鞭苔了。’你年迈的嘴巴可别谎话连篇。这孩子显然不是你的亲生儿子，因为你的面颊跟我的面颊一样漆黑、而这孩子的面颊生得漂亮雪白，就像住在遥远北方的、受到指责却很美丽的野蛮人一样。”
"How well it was said
" answered the fisherman
"that Swords can be kept off with shields but the Eye of Wisdom pierces through every defence! Know then
O my formidable guest
that because of my extreme poverty I have never married and have no child. But in that same year in which the Tisroc (may he live for ever) began his august and beneficent reign
on a night when the moon was at her full
it pleased the gods to deprive me of my sleep. Therefore I arose from my bed in this hovel and went forth to the beach to refresh myself with looking upon the water and the moon and breathing the cool air. And presently I heard a noise as of oars ing to me across the water and then
as it were
a weak cry. And shortly after
the tide brought to the land a little boat in which there was nothing but a man lean with extreme hunger and thirst who seemed to have died but a few moments before (for he was still warm)
and an empty water—skin
and a child
still living. "Doubtless
" said I
"these unfortunates have escapedfrom the wreck of a great ship
but by the admirable designs of the gods
the elder has starved himself to keep the child alive and has perished in sight of land." Accordingly
remembering how the gods never fail to reward those who befriend the destitute
and being moved by passion (for your servant is a man of tender heart) —"
"Leave out all these idle words in your own praise
" interrupted the Tarkaan. "It is enough to know that you took the child — and have had ten times the worth of his daily bread out of him in labour
as anyone can see. And now tell me at once what price you put on him
for I am wearied with your loquacity."
"You yourself have wisely said
" answered Arsheesh
"that the boy's labour has been to me of inestimable value. This must be taken into account in fixing the price. For if I sell the boy I must undoubtedly either buy or hire another to do his work."
"I'll give you fifteen crescents for him
" said the Tarkaan.
"Fifteen!" cried Arsheesh in a voice that was something beeen a whine and a scream. "Fifteen! For the prop of my old age and the delight of my eyes! Do not mock my grey beard
Tarkaan though you be. My price is seventy."
At this point Shasta got up and tiptoed away. He had heard all he wanted
for he had open listened when men were bargaining in the village and knew how it was done. He was quite certain that Arsheesh would sell him in the end for something much more than fifteen crescents and much less than seventy
but that he and the Tarkaan would take hours in getting to an agreement.
You must not imagine that Shasta felt at all as you and I would feel if we had just overheard our parents talking about selling us for slaves. For one thing
his life was already little better than slavery; for all he knew
the lordly stranger on the great horse might be kinder to him than Arsheesh. For another
the story about his own discovery in the boat had filled him with excitement and with a sense of relief. He had often been uneasy because
try as he might
he had never been able to love the fisherman
and he knew that a boy ought to love his father. And now
apparently
he was no relation to Arsheesh at all. That took a great weight off his mind. "Why
I might be anyone!" he thought. "I might be the son of a Tarkaan myself — or the son of the Tisroc (may he live for ever) or of a god!"