Monsieur Ibrahim
AND THE FLOWERS OF THE KORAN
陪我走到世界尽头（节选）
文字难度：★★☆
爱，
可以改变一切。
微笑，
就可以看见幸福。
十一岁的少年摩摩，被父母抛弃，只能用自己的方式“长大”，直到伊博罕先生出现，彻底改变了他的人生。伊博罕先生是摩摩家楼下的杂货店老板，他跟摩摩谈心，带他去旅行，去认识世界，一点点柔软了摩摩的怨恨，让他学会了爱与宽恕，了解了生命的意义。
故事简单却深刻，淡雅而温暖，充满了爱与智慧，但愿所有的孩子在迷茫的成长期都能遇到这样一位长者，在他的指引下行走世界，体味人生。
At last, summer arrived and we took to the road.
终于，夏天来了，我们上路咯！
Thousands of miles. We crossed all of Europe by the southern route. Windows open. We were going to the Middle East. It was an unbelievable discovery to see how interesting the universe became as soon as you traveled with Monsieur Ibrahim.
我们从南部穿越整个欧洲，开了数千英里。车窗大开，我们往中东驶去。真是令人难以置信，一跟伊博罕先生旅行，就发现世界变得如此有趣。
Since I was clutching the steering wheel and concentrating on the road, he would describe the landscapes, sky, clouds, villages, and people to me. Monsieur Ibrahim’s chatter, his voice as thin as cigarette paper, the flavor of his accent, the images, exclamations, and surprises, followed by the most 1)diabolical tricks, all that is what the road from Paris to Istanbul means to me. I did not see Europe, I heard it.
因为由我来掌方向盘开车，我必须专心于路况，所以由伊博罕先生跟我描述风光景色、天空云彩、城镇与居民的样貌。伊博罕先生那娓娓道来的话语，那像卷烟纸一般吹弹欲破的嗓音，那种津津有味的语调、景色描叙、惊叹语气，再加上一些辛辣的玩笑，对我来说，从巴黎到伊斯坦堡这一路的印象就是这样了。欧洲之旅我并不是用看的，而是用听的。
“Oh, now, Momo, we’ve reached the 2)affluent—look, there are garbage cans.”
“噢，摩摩，我们现在来到有钱人住的地方了——你看看，因为那里有垃圾桶。”
“Garbage cans, so what?”
“那又怎样。垃圾桶代表什么？”
“When you want to know whether you’re in a rich or poor area, you should look at the garbage cans. If you see garbage cans but no trash, it’s wealthy. If you see trash next to the garbage cans, then it’s neither rich nor poor—it’s a tourist district. If you see trash without any garbage cans, then it’s poor. And if the people live in the trash, then it’s very, very poor, indeed. Here we’re in a rich area.”
“假如你想知道自己所处的区域是富裕还是贫穷，只要看看垃圾桶就可以了。假如有垃圾桶，但没有垃圾，这就是富有的地区；假如有垃圾桶，旁边还堆有垃圾，那这里既不富也不穷，这是旅游景区；但假如你看到垃圾，却没有看到垃圾桶，那就是个贫穷的地区；而假如居民住在垃圾堆里，那就是非常非常贫穷的地区了。而这里，是富有的。”
“Well sure, it’s Switzerland.”
“当然咯，这里可是瑞士耶！”
“Oh no, Momo, not the highway. All the highway is good for is to tell you to keep moving, there’s nothing to see. That’s for idiots who want to go as fast as possible from one point to another. We’re not doing geometry here, we’re traveling. Find me some pretty little roads that show us all there is to see.”
“噢，不要，摩摩，不要上高速公路，高速公路只是让人不断前行，没有景色可以欣赏。高速公路是为了那些想要以极快的速度从这一点到达另一点的白痴所建造的。我们又不是在这里做几何，我们是在旅行，找些景色万千的优美小径来开吧。”
“You can tell it’s not you who is doing the driving, Monsieur Ibrahim.”
“谁都知道开车的是我，又不是你，伊博罕先生。”
“Listen, Momo, if you don’t want to see anything, then you take a plane, like everyone else.”
“听好，摩摩，假如你什么都不想看，那你就像大伙一样搭飞机吧。”
“Is it poor here, Monsieur Ibrahim?”
“伊博罕先生，这里是个贫穷地区吧？”
“Yes, this is Albania.”
“没错，这里是阿尔巴尼亚。”
“And there?”
“那……那里呢？”
“Stop the car. You smell this? It smells of happiness, this is Greece. People don’t move, they take the time to watch us pass by, they breathe. You see, Momo, all my life I worked hard, but I worked slowly, taking my time. I didn’t just want to ring up numbers or watch the customers 3)parade in and out, no. Slowness, that’s the secret of happiness. What do you want to do later on?”
“把车子停下来，你感觉到了吗？这里弥漫着幸福的味道。这里是希腊，人们都是静止不动的，他们花时间来看着我们经过，他们缓缓呼吸。你瞧，摩摩，我终其一生都很努力工作，但我也好好利用我的时间慢慢地工作。是我不想赚大钱吗？还是我不想看到顾客大排长龙呢？不是，都不是的。‘缓慢行动’才是幸福的秘诀。以后你想要做什么？”
“Don’t know, Monsieur Ibrahim. Yes, I do. I’ll work in import-export.”
“我不知道耶，伊博罕先生。噢，我知道了。或许我会做进出口贸易。”
Now I’d scored a point. I had found the magic word. Monsieur Ibrahim couldn’t stop talking about import-export. It was a serious word and yet adventurous, a word that evoked journeys, ships, pac-kages, big turnovers, a word as heavy as the syllables that it rolled over—import-export!
关于这一点，我赢了一分，我找到了一个神奇的字眼。“进出口贸易”这个字眼让伊博罕先生兴奋地停不了嘴，这是一个严肃且充满冒险意味的词，一个令人联想到许多旅行、船只、包裹，还有巨大营业额的字。“进出口贸易”这个词的词义的蕴含丰富，就像它的音节念起来令人感到饶舌一样——“进出口贸易”！
“Let me introduce my son Momo to you, who will be in import-export one day.”
“我要跟您介绍我的儿子摩摩，他将来会做个进出口贸易商。”
We had plenty of games. He had me go into religious places 4)blindfolded so that I would guess the religion by its scent.
我们玩了许许多多的游戏，他把我的眼睛蒙上，然后带我走进一些宗教的建筑物中，让我由气味去猜猜这是哪一派宗教。
“It smells like candles here. It’s 5)Catholic.”
“这里闻得到大蜡烛的味道，这是天主教。”
“Yes, it is 6)Saint Anthony.”
“对，这里是圣安东尼教堂。”
“This is 7)incense. It’s 8)orthodox.”
“这个闻起来像熏香的味道，这是东正教。”
“You’re right, it’s 9)Saint Sophia.”
“没错，这是圣索菲亚教堂。”
“And here it smells like feet. It’s Muslim. But I mean, really, it stinks too much …”
“这里闻起来像是臭脚丫的味道。这里是穆斯林的地头。不过我的意思是，这里闻起来真的太臭了……”
“What! It’s the 10)Blue Mosque! A place that smells of human bodies isn’t good enough for you? Is that because your feet never smell? A place of prayer that smells of men, is made for men, with men inside, that’s disgusting to you? You really have some very Parisian ideas, don’t you! I find the smell of socks comforting. I remind myself that I am no better than my neighbor. I smell myself, I smell us, and so I already feel better!”
“什么！这里是蓝色清真寺！难道一个散发着身体气味的地方，对你来说不够好吗？难道你自己的脚丫从来都没有味道吗？一个会发出人们味道的祈祷之地，就是为了人们所建立的，为了让人们待在里面所建造的，这样一个地方让你感到恶心吗？你还真是有点巴黎佬的想法啊，不是吗！对我来说，这种袜子的味道让我很有安全感。我告诉自己，我并不比我的邻居优越，我闻到我的味道，我闻到我们大家的味道，于是我感觉更舒服了！”
In the evening in the village squares, I tried to talk to the girls a bit. I did my utmost but it wasn’t going terribly well, while Monsieur Ibrahim did nothing but drink his 11)anise 12)Suze and smile with that sweet and calm look of his and, well, within an hour he always had lots of people around him.
晚上的时候，在一些村落的广场上，我试着跟女孩子们搭讪。我尽了最大的努力，但是却不太行得通。而此刻伊博罕先生只是微笑着喝着茴香烈酒，脸上带着温柔沉稳的笑容。咦，奇怪了，一个小时后，他的身边总是围满了人。
“You move too much, Momo. If you want to have friends, you shouldn’t budge.”
“你太好动了，摩摩，假如你想要拥有朋友，那就别乱动。”
“Monsieur Ibrahim, do you think I’m good-looking?”
“伊博罕先生，您觉得我帅吗？”
“You’re very handsome, Momo.”
“你很帅啊，摩摩。”
“No, that’s not what I mean. Do you think that I’ll be good-looking enough to attract any girl … without having to pay?”
“不是啦，这不是我要问的，您觉得我是不是帅到不需要付钱就能讨好任何一个女孩子？”
“In a few years they will be paying for you!”
“几年之后，将会是她们付钱来追求你了！”
“Still … for now … it’s all rather quiet.”
“但是……就目前来说……市场反应并不热络。”
“Obviously, Momo, have you noticed how you’re going about it? You stare at them as if wanting to say: ‘See how handsome I am.’ Well, of course they laugh. You should look at them as if you want to say: ‘I’ve never seen anyone more beautiful than you.’ For an ordinary man, I mean a man like you and me—not 13)Alain Delon or Marlon Brando—your looks are what you find in the woman.”
“当然咯！摩摩，你知道自己是如何表现的吗？你盯着她们看时，似乎在用一种神情说：‘你们看过像我这么帅的人吗？’如此一来，她们铁定失笑；你得看着她们，带着一种像是在说‘我从来没看过比您更美丽的女孩’的这种神情。就一个寻常的男人来说，我的意思是，像你我一样寻常的男人——不是阿兰·德隆，不是马龙·白兰度那种帅哥——你的帅气就是你在所交往的女孩身上所发现的漂亮。”
We watched the sun slide between the mountains and the sky turn violet. Dad stared at the evening star.
我们看着太阳隐没在群山之间，天空变成紫色。爸爸凝视着夜晚的星空。
“A ladder has been placed before us by which to escape, Momo. First man was mineral, then vegetable, then animal—and he can’t forget the animal part, and often has a tendency to be one again—then he became man, endowed with knowledge, reason, and faith. Can you imagine the distance you’ve already covered, from dust to today? And later, when you have gone beyond your human condition, you will become an angel. You’ll be done with earth. When you dance, you have a foretaste of that.”
“摩摩，我们的面前有一个需要我们去跨越的梯子。人们首先是矿物，然后是植物，再来是动物。而动物这个阶段呢，人类是无法忘怀的，总有想要再成为动物的倾向。之后人类成为充满了知识、理智和信仰的人。你可以想象自己从尘土到现在所经历的漫漫长路吗？再往后，当你度过了人的阶段之后，就会变成天使，你跟地球的关系就结束了；当你跳舞的时候，你会预先体会到变成天使的预感。”
“Maybe. I, for one, don’t remember anything. Do you remember having been a plant, Monsieur Ibrahim?”
“也许吧。但是我呢，不管怎么样，我是什么都想不起来。伊博罕先生，你想得起来您当植物时的情况吗？”
“Well, what do you think I’m doing when I sit there without moving for hours on my stool in the grocery store?”
“噢，当然了！要不然你以为我坐在杂货店的凳子上一连几个小时一动也不动，是在做什么呢？”
作者简介：
艾力克-埃马纽埃尔史密特（Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt）法国知名小说家和剧作家。 1960年出生于法国里昂，曾就读于音乐戏剧学院，拥有法国高等师范学院哲学博士学位。 特别倾心于哲学家狄德罗。 16岁参加学校戏剧社的演出，发现自己的写作天分。
1993年的作品访客（Le visiteur）获得莫里哀三大奖项：戏剧创新奖、最佳剧作奖、最佳舞台奖，奠定剧作家的地位。 此剧作已被译成30多种语言在全世界演出。 2001年所有剧作荣获法兰西学院戏剧奖。
他同时也是一位小说家，1994年以《利己教派》（La secte des egoistes）一书荣获最佳小说奖。 他的作品深受广大读者喜爱，已传至全球30多个国家。 《最后12天的生命之旅》在法国连续好几个月荣登销售排行榜；法国医学院为感谢作者以疾病为灵感而写出这本动人的小说，特别将Jean-Bernard颁给他。
《陪我走到世界尽头》（Monsieur Ibrahim et les Fleurs du Conran）原文为法文，由Mariolijn de Jager翻译成英文，并由Sony Pictures于2003年拍成了电影。