Night

                                    Nathanial Hawthorne

Night has fallen over the country. Through the trees rises the red moon, and the stars are scarcely seen. In the vast shadow of night the collness and the dews descend. I sit at the open window to enjoy them; and hear only the voice of the summer wind. Like black hulks, the shadows of the great trees ride at anchor on the billowy sea of grass. I cannot see the red and blue flowers, but I know that they are there. Far away in the meadow gleams the silver Charles. The tramp of horses’ hoofs sounds from the wooden bridge. Then all is still save the continuous wind of the summer night. Sometimes I know not if it be the wind or the sound of the neighbouring see. The village clock strikes: and I feel that I am not alone.

How different it is in the city! It is late, and the crowd is gone. You step out upon the balcony, and lie in the very bosom of the cool, dewy night as if you folded her garments about you. Beneath lies the public walk with trees, like a fathomless, black gulf, into whose silent darkness the spirit plunges, and floats away with some beloved spirit clasped in its embrace. The lamps are still burning up and down the long street. People go by with grotesque shadows, not foreshortened, and now lengthening away into the darknes and vanishing, while a new one springs up behind the walker, and seems to pass him revolving like the sail of a windmill. The iron gates of he park shut with a jangling clang. There are footsteps and loud voices; --a tumult; --a drunken brawl; --alarm of fire; --then silence again. And now at length the city is asleep, and we can see the night. The belated moon looks over the roofs, and finds no one to welcome her: The moonlight is broken. It lies here and there in the squares, and the opening of the streets—angular bike blocks of whites marble.

                                      夜

           纳撤尼尔·霍桑 （编译：王科军）

夜幕笼罩着乡间。一轮红月正从森林后面冉冉升起。天上几乎看不到星星。在这苍茫的夜色中，寒气与露水降临了。我坐在敞开的窗子前欣赏着这夜色，耳边只听到那夏风的声音。大树的阴影像黑色的大船停泊在波浪起伏的茫茫绿海上，虽然我见不到红色和蓝色的花朵，但我知道它们在那儿。在远处的草地上，银色的查尔斯河闪闪发光，木桥那边传来了哒哒的马蹄声。接着，一片寂静，留下的只是那夏夜不断的风声。有时，我根本辨别不出它究竟是风声，还是邻近的海浪声。村子里的时钟敲起来了，于是我觉得并不孤独。

城市的夜晚可是多么不同！夜深了，人群已经散去。你走到阳台上，躺在凉爽和露水弥漫的夜幕中，仿佛你用它作为外套披在了你的身上。阳台下面是栽着树木的人行道，像一条深不可测的黑色海湾，飘忽的精灵就投入了沉寂夜色之中，拥抱着某些可爱的精灵飘游而去。漫长的大街上，街灯仍然到处亮着。人们从灯下走过，拖着各种各样奇形怪状的影子，影子时长时短，最后消失在黑暗中；同时，一个新的影子又突然出现在那个行路人的身后，这影子似乎像风车上的翼板一样，转到他前面去了。公园的铁门咣啷一声关上了。耳边可以听见脚步声和响亮的说话声，一阵喧闹，一阵醉后争吵，一阵警笛，然后，又归于寂静。于是，城市终于沉睡，我们终于能看到夜的景色。姗姗来迟的月亮从屋顶后面探出脸来，发觉没有人在欢迎她。破碎的月光这一块那一块地撒落在各个广场和各条大街的开阔处，像一块块白色的大理石一样棱角分明。