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。