When the wind stops

By Charlotte Zolotow

The great bright yellow sun had shone all day, and now the day was coming to an end. The light in the sky changed from blue to pink to a strange dusky purple. The sun sank lower into the long glowing clouds. The little boy was sorry to see the day end.

 明晃晃的太阳照了一整天，现在，天渐渐晚了。天光从蓝色慢慢变成粉红色，然后又变成奇特的灰紫色，太阳渐渐西沉，掉进四合的晚霞中。

He and his friend had played in the garden. When they were tired of playing, they lay down in the grass and felt the sun on them, warm and soft, like a sleepy cat resting.

There had been icy lemonade in the afternoon, which they drank under the pear tree.

And the little boy’s father read him a story on the porch before he went to bed.

Now his mother came to say good night.

“Why does the day have to end?” He asked her.

“So night can begin,” she said, ”look.” She pointed out the window where, high in the darkening sky, behind the branches of the pear tree, the little boy could see a pale silver of moon.

“That’s the night beginning,” his mother said, resting her hand on his shoulder, “the night with the moon and stars and darkness for you to dream in.”

 现在，他妈妈来向他说晚安了。

“为什么白天会不见呢？”他问妈妈。

“这样，夜晚才能到这里来呀。”妈妈说，“你看。”她指指窗外，在夜空下，梨树梢后，她看到一湾银白色的月亮。

 “晚上就是这样开始的，”妈妈将手放在他肩膀上告诉他，“有月亮、星星和夜色的晚上能让你入梦。”

“But where does the sun go when the day ends?” the little boy asked.

“the day doesn’t end,” said his mother, “it begins somewhere else. The sun will be shinning there, when night begins here. Nothing ends.”

“Nothing?” the little boy asked.

“Nothing,” his mother said. “It begins in another place or in a different way.”

“可是，白天就这样不见了，太阳岛哪里去了呢？”小男孩问。

“白天并没有不见，他只是到别的地方去了。我们这里是晚上，别的地方就是白天。太阳会在那个地方升起，没有什么东西会永远消失的。”

“都是样样吗？”小男孩问。

“是啊，”妈妈说，“它只是换了个地方，或者换了个样子。”

The little boy lay in bed, and his mother sat beside him.

“Where does the wind go when it stops?” he asked.

“It blows away to make the tree dance somewhere else.”

“Where does the dandelion fluff go when it blows away?”

“It carries the seed of new dandelions to someone’s lawn.”

“Where does the mountain go after the top?”

“Down to where it becomes the valley.”

小男孩躺在床上，妈妈在床边坐着。

“那么，风停了以后，又到哪里去了呢？”小男孩问。 

“Where do waves go when they break on the sand?”

“Sucked back to the sea into new waves.”

 “风停下来时，它其实是吹到别的地方，让那儿的书跳舞去了。”

“那蒲公英的绒毛被风吹到哪里去了呢？”

“带着新的花籽飞到别家院子的草地上去了。”

“山到了山顶以后，又到哪里去了呢？”

“下了坡，变成山谷啊。”

“Where does the rain go when the storm is over?”

“Into clouds to make other storms.”

“And where do clouds go when they move across the sky?”

“To make shade somewhere else.”

“And the leaves in the forest when they turn color and fall?”

“Into the ground to become part of new trees with new leaves.”

“But when the leaves fall, that is the end of something!” the little boy said, “It is the end of autumn.”

“Yes,” his mother said, “The end of autumn is when the winter begins.”

“And the end of winter…?” the little boy asked.

“The end of winter, when the snow melts and the birds come back, is the beginning of spring.” His mother said. The little boy smiled.

“It really does go on and on,” he said. “Nothing ends.”

“这个世界就是这样循环着，没有什么会不见了。”

He looked out at the sky. The sun was gone completely. The lovely pin clouds has disappeared. The sky was dark and purple-black. High above the branches of the pear tree shone, clearly now, a thin new moon.

“Today is over,” his mother said. “It’s time for sleep, and tomorrow morning, when you wake, the moon will be beginning a night far away, and the sun will be here to begin a new day.”

第一次读这个小故事的时候，不是很明白，也不懂为什么这样的文章就是经典的，不就是孩子与父母的对话吗！直到偶尔在《读者》上读到了对这篇文章的中文解读，才豁然开朗，拍手叫绝。非常简洁抒情的散文却揭示了最深刻的道理，没有什么会永远消失，只不过是以其他形式存在！仔细想想，难道不是吗？

我很喜欢，但愿有缘读到这篇文章的你也能喜欢！