Chapter XII
第十二章
After my first visit to Boston, I spent almost every winter in the North. Once I went on a visit to a New England village with its frozen lakes and vast snow fields. It was then that I had opportunities such as had never been mine to enter into the treasures of the snow.
在我第一次访问了波士顿后,几乎每一个冬天我都在北方度过。我曾经去过新英格兰地区的一个村庄,那里的冻湖和广袤的雪原令我印象深刻。如果没有身临其境,我是永远也体会不到与雪融为一体的美妙感受的。
I recall my surprise on discovering that a mysterious hand had stripped the trees and bushes, leaving only here and there a wrinkled leaf. The birds had flown, and their empty nests in the bare trees were filled with snow. Winter was on hill and field. The earth seemed benumbed by his icy touch, and the very spirits of the trees had withdrawn to their roots, and there, curled up in the dark, lay fast asleep. All life seemed to have ebbed away, and even when the sun shone the day was Shrunk and cold, As if her veins were sapless and old, And she rose up decrepitly For a last dim look at earth and sea. The withered grass and the bushes were transformed into a forest of icicles.
我惊奇地发现,冬天的大树和灌木会遭受一只神秘的自然之手的摧残,枝条上只剩下一些皱巴巴的叶子。鸟儿全都飞走了,枯枝败叶间的鸟巢里装满了雪。山头和田野里也是一派冬天的气象,在冰雪的触摸下,大地也被冻得僵硬麻木了。树木的灵魂纷纷退缩到根部,它们蜷曲在幽暗的地下进入梦乡。所有的生物似乎都退到幕后,甚至连白天的阳光也变得短暂而寒冷,如同她那老迈而枯萎的血脉,她要同衰老拼死一搏,为了再看一眼她心中的大地和海洋。干枯的草丛和灌木也都变成了一片挂满冰凌的森林。
Then came a day when the chill air portended a snowstorm. We rushed out-of-doors to feel the first few tiny flakes descending. Hour by hour the flakes dropped silently, softly from their airy height to the earth, and the country became more and more level.
随后而来的是一股强冷空气,这预示着暴风雪的来临。我们冲出屋外,去迎接最先降落的小雪片。一个小时又一个小时过去了,雪片悄无声息地坠落,广袤的原野变得白茫茫一片。