精美英文欣赏:The first snow 初雪

The first snow came. How beautiful it was, falling so silently all day long, all night long, on the mountains, on the meadows, on the roofs of the living, on the graves of the dead! All with save the river, that marked its course by a winding¹ black line across the landscape; and the leafless trees, that against the leaden sky now revealed more fully² the wonderful beauty and intricacies of their branches. What silence, too, came with the snow, and what seclusion³!

Every sound was muffled⁴, every noise changed to something soft and musical. No more tramping hoofs⁵, no more rattling⁶ wheels! Only the chiming of sleigh-bells, beating as swift and merrily as the hearts of children.
初雪

初雪飘临。多么美啊！它整日整夜那么静静地飘着，落在山岭上，落在草地上，落在世人的屋顶上，落在死才的坟墓上！在一片白茫茫之中，只有河流在美丽的画面上划出一道曲曲弯弯的黑线；还有那叶儿落净的树木，映衬着铅灰色的天空，此刻更显得枝丫交错，姿态万千。初雪飘落时，是何等的宁谧，何等的幽静！一切声响都趋沉寂，一切噪音都化作柔和的音乐。再也听不见马蹄得得，再也听不见车轮辚辚！唯有雪橇的铃铛，奏和谐的乐声，那明快欢乐的节拍犹如孩子们心房的搏动。
(1) the living:活着的人；the dead:死去的人。形容词（有时是分词）前面加上定冠词 the 表示具有某一特性的一类人。

(2) all white=All was white, 省略句

(3) save：除……以外，介词

(4) marked its course：标示出它所经过的路线

(5) against the leaden sky：在铅灰色天空的衬托下。

(6) intricacies：这里指树枝的缠结交错。

(7) was muffled：（声音）被压抑而变得低沉

(8) beating…as the hearts of children=beating…as the hearts of children beat,默这个被省略的 beat确作"（心脏的）搏动"解，前面那个 beating别指铃儿的碰击。
 

1 winding   

n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈

参考例句：

• A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
• The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。

2 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

3 seclusion   

n.隐遁，隔离

参考例句：

• She liked to sunbathe in the seclusion of her own garden.她喜欢在自己僻静的花园里晒日光浴。
• I live very much in seclusion these days.这些天我过着几乎与世隔绝的生活。

4 muffled   

adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己）

参考例句：

• muffled voices from the next room 从隔壁房间里传来的沉闷声音
• There was a muffled explosion somewhere on their right. 在他们的右面什么地方有一声沉闷的爆炸声。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 hoofs   

n.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The stamp of the horse's hoofs on the wooden floor was loud. 马蹄踏在木头地板上的声音很响。 来自辞典例句
• The noise of hoofs called him back to the other window. 马蹄声把他又唤回那扇窗子口。 来自辞典例句

6 rattling   

adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词

参考例句：

• This book is a rattling good read. 这是一本非常好的读物。
• At that same instant,a deafening explosion set the windows rattling. 正在这时，一声震耳欲聋的爆炸突然袭来，把窗玻璃震得当当地响。