英语散文：雨雪时候的心情

 　　寒暑表降到冰点下十八度的时候，我们也是在廊下睡觉。每夜最熟识的就是天上的星辰了。也不过是点点闪烁的光明，而相看惯了，偶然不见，也有些想望与无聊。

　　连夜雨雪，一点星光都看不见。荷和我拥衾对坐，在廊子的两角，遥遥谈话。

　　荷指着说：“你看维纳斯（Venus）升起来了！”我抬头望时，却是山路转折处的路灯。我怡然一笑，也指着对山的一星灯火说：“那边是丘比特（Jupiter）呢！”

　　愈指愈多。松林中射来零乱的风灯，都成了满天星宿。真的，雪花隙里，看不出来天空和森林的界限，将繁灯当作繁星，简直是抵得过。

　　一念至诚的将假作真，灯光似乎都从地上飘起。这幻成的星光，都不移动，不必半夜梦醒时，再去追寻他们的位置。

　　于是雨雪寂寞之夜，也有了慰安了!

　　Stars on a Snowy Night

　　The thermometer had dropped to 18 degrees below zero, but still chose to sleep in the porch as usual. In the evening, the most familiar sight to me would be stars in the sky. Though they were a mere¹ sprinkle of twinkling dots, yet I had become so accustomed to them that their occasional absence would bring me loneliness and ennui².

　　It had been snowing all night, not a single star in sight. My roommate and I, each wrapped in a quilt, were seated far apart in a different corner of the porch, facing each other and chatting away.

　　She exclaimed pointing to something afar, “Look, Venus in rising!” I looked up and saw nothing but a lamp round the bend in a mountain path. I beamed and said pointing to a tiny lamplight on the opposite mountain, “It’s Jupiter over there!”

　　More and more lights came into sight as we kept pointing here and there. Lights from hurricane lamps flickering³ about in the pine forest created the scene of a star-studded sky. With the distinction between sky and forest obscured by snowflakes, the numerous lamp-lights now easily passed for as many stars.

　　Completely lost in a make-believe world, I seemed to see all the lamplights drifting from the ground. With the illusory stars hanging still overhead, I was spared the effort of tracing their positions when I woke up from my dreams in the dead of night.

　　Thus I found consolation⁴ even on a lonely snowy night !

　　注释：

　　《雨雪时候的星辰》是冰心的早期抒情散文。文章赞美自然，想象精细，文笔清新，充满诗情画意。

　　① 题目《雨雪时候的星辰》翻译为Stars on a Snowy Night。“雨雪”作“下雪”解，“雨”在此是动词，读音为yù。

　　② “无聊” 翻译为ennui,是英语常用文学语言，意即a feeling of boredom⁵ caused by a lack of excitement or activity。

　　③ “一点星光都看不见” 译为not a single star in sight,是句中独立主格， 和not a single star being in sight同。又译文用s押头韵，night和sight压韵脚，有音韵美。

　　④ “荷和我……” 译为My roommate and I...，其中用My roommate（同寝之友）代替专门名词He（荷），以免外国读者把He读解为男性第三人称的代词。

　　⑤ “荷指着说……” 译为She said pointing her finger at...，因英语to point one's finger at有“指责”的含义。

　　⑥ “我抬头望时” 不宜逐字死译为I raised my head to take a look 。译为I liked up即可。

　　⑦ “山路转折处” 译为round the bend in a mountain path。注意bend后面跟介词in，属习惯用法。

　　“将繁灯当作繁星，简直是抵得过” 译为the numerous lamp-lights now easily passed for as many stars，其中短语to pass for 的意思是“被看作”，“被当作”等。

1 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

2 ennui   

n.怠倦，无聊

参考例句：

• Since losing his job,he has often experienced a profound sense of ennui.他自从失业以来，常觉百无聊赖。
• Took up a hobby to relieve the ennui of retirement.养成一种嗜好以消除退休后的无聊。

3 flickering   

adj.闪烁的，摇曳的，一闪一闪的

参考例句：

• The crisp autumn wind is flickering away. 清爽的秋风正在吹拂。
• The lights keep flickering. 灯光忽明忽暗。

4 consolation   

n.安慰，慰问

参考例句：

• The children were a great consolation to me at that time.那时孩子们成了我的莫大安慰。
• This news was of little consolation to us.这个消息对我们来说没有什么安慰。

5 boredom   

n.厌烦，厌倦，乏味，无聊

参考例句：

• Unemployment can drive you mad with boredom.失业会让你无聊得发疯。
• A walkman can relieve the boredom of running.跑步时带着随身听就不那么乏味了。