Legendary novelist Paulo Coelho 传奇小说家保罗·科埃略

杨佳宾

保羅·科埃略（Paulo Coelho），1947年8月24日出生于巴西，著名作家。他1988年出版的著名小说《牧羊少年奇幻之旅》（The Alchemist），畅销世界，被译成几十种语言，成为20世纪最重要的文学现象之一。他的作品语言富有诗意和哲理，内容涉及宗教、魔法、神秘传说等，带有奇幻色彩。

Paulo Coelho was born on August 24， 1947， in Brazil. He determined early on that he wanted to be a writer but was discouraged by his parents， who saw no future in that profession in Brazil. Coelho's rebellious adolescence forced his parents to commit him to a mental hospital three times， which started when he was 17. “I have forgiven，” Coelho said. “It happens with love， all the time—when you have this love towards someone else， but you want this person to change， to be like you. And then love can be very destructive.”

Coelho dropped out of law school in 1970 and traveled through South America， Mexico， North Africa， and Europe. In 1972 he returned home and began writing pop and rock music lyrics with Raul Seixas， a well-known Brazilian singer and songwriter.

After drifting among several professions， Coelho changed his life's course while on a visit to Spain in 1986 at the age of 39. Coelho walked more than 500 miles along the Road to Santiago de Compostela， a site of Catholic pilgrimage（朝圣之旅）. The walk inspired him to write The Pilgrimage in his native Portuguese. He quit his other jobs and devoted himself full-time to the craft of writing.

In 1987， Coelho wrote a new book， The Alchemis. The novel is about an Andalusian shepherd（牧羊人） boy who follows a mystical trek in which he learns to speak the “Language of the World” and thus receives his heart's desire. The book attracted little attention at first， until a French-language translation suddenly leapt onto bestseller lists in France in the early 1990s. New translations followed， and soon The Alchemist became a worldwide phenomenon. The book has sold， by Coelho's count， roughly 35 million copies， and is now a most popular book in the world by any living author.

Since the publication of The Alchemist， Coelho has produced a new book at a rate of about one every two years. In a somewhat unusual scheduling ritual， he allows himself to begin the writing process for a new book only after he has found a white feather in the January of an odd year. As odd as that may sound， it seems to be working. His 26 books have sold more than 65 million copies in at least 59 languages.

Reading check

1. Why did Coelho's parents prevent him being a writer？

A. Coelho didn't perform well at high school.         B. Coelho's parents didn't love him at all.

C. They had experiences of being ignored.          D. They thought lowly of the profession.

2. What do we know about Coelho from the text？

A. He started writing when he was 17.               B. He did several different jobs in his life.

C. He was also a singer and songwriter.              D. He created more novels in his early life.

3. What contributed to The Alchemist's popularity？

A. It showed wonderful writing skills.

B. It has been translated into 59 languages.

C. A French-language translation became a bestseller.

D. Its author was regarded as the most famous one in the world.

4. How does the author develop the text？

A. By taking time order.                                B. By following space order.

C. By presenting ideas.                                          D. By drawing conclusions.

Language Study

Difficult sentence

The novel was about an Andalusian shepherd boy who follows a mystical trek in which he learns to speak the “Language of the World” and thus receives his heart's desire.

【翻譯】____________________________________________

【点石成金】who引导的是一个定语从句，先行词为an Andalusian shepherd boy;in which引导的

也是一个定语从句，先行词为a mystical trek。