They ordered him to be silent.
Upon the Old Men he turned his back and his eyes sought those who but a short time before had been his comrades.
他把脊背转向老者,两眼搜寻着不久以前还与他志同道合的人。
“Listen to me,” he implored.
“Listen to me and be rejoiced.
I have come back from beyond the mountains.
My feet have trod a fresh soil.
My hands have felt the touch of other races.
My eyes have seen wondrous sights.
“When I was a child, my world was the garden of my father.
“To the west and to the east, to the south and to the north lay the ranges from the Beginning of Time.
“早在创世的时候,花园东面、南面、西面和北面的疆界就定下来了。
“When I asked what they were hiding, there was a hush and a hasty shaking of heads.
“只要我问疆界那边藏着什么,大家就不住地摇头,一片嘘声。
When I insisted, I was taken to the rocks and shown the bleached bones of those who had dared to defy the Gods.
可我偏要刨根问底,于是他们把我带到这块岩石上,让我看那些敢于蔑视上帝的人的嶙嶙白骨。
“When I cried out and said,It is a lie! The Gods love those who are brave!
The Men Who Knew came and read to me from their sacred books.
The Law, they explained, had ordained all things of Heaven and Earth.
The Valley was ours to have and to hold.
The animals and the flowers, the fruit and the fishes were ours, to do our bidding.
野兽和花朵,果实和鱼虾,都是我们的,按我们的旨意行事。
But the mountains were of the Gods.
What lay beyond was to remain unknown until the End of Time.
“So they spoke, and they lied.
They lied to me, even as they have lied to you.
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