Paulo Coelho

Chapter 10 Striking up a conversation

When he was finally able to concentrate on what he was reading， he liked the book better; the burial was on a snowy day， and he welcomed the feeling of being cold.

As he read on， an old man sat down at his side and tried to strike up a conversation.

“What are they doing？” the old man asked， pointing at the people in the plaza.

“Working，” the boy answered dryly， making it look as if he wanted to concentrate on his reading. Actually， he was thinking about shearing （剪羊毛） his sheep in front of the merchants daughter， so that she could see that he was someone who was capable of doing difficult things. He had already imagined the scene many times; the girl became fascinated every time he explained that the sheep had to be sheared from back to front. He also tried to remember some good stories to relate as he sheared the sheep. Most of them he had read in books， but he would tell them as if they had been from his personal experience. She would never know the difference， because she didnt know how to read.

Meanwhile， the old man persisted in his attempt to strike up a conversation. He said that he was tired and thirsty， and asked if he might have a sip of the boys wine. The boy offered his bottle， hoping that the old man would leave him alone. But the old man wanted to talk， and he asked the boy what book he was reading. The boy was tempted to be rude， and move to another bench， but his father had taught him to be respectful of the elderly. So he held out the book to the man—for two reasons： first， that he， himself， wasnt sure how to pronounce the title; and second， that if the old man didnt know how to read， he would probably feel ashamed.

“Hmm...” said the old man， looking at all sides of the book， as if it was a strange object. “This is an important book， but its really irritating （令人煩惱的）.”

The boy was shocked. The old man knew how to read， and had already read the book. And if the book was irritating， as the old man had said， the boy still had time to change it for another.

What words could be used to describe the merchants daughter and the old man from this chapter？

離開老婦人之后，牧羊少年又遇到了誰？他愿意和遇到的人聊天嗎？為什么？商人的女兒又是一個什么樣的人呢？