Night

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 coolness 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 onthe 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 neighboring sea.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 publicwalk 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, now foreshortened, and now lengthening away into the darkness 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 the park shut with a jangling clang. There are footsteps and loud voices; a tumult; a drunken brawl; an 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 rooftops 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 like blocks of white marble. 

夜幕已经笼罩着乡间。一轮红月正从树林后面徐徐升起，天上几乎见不到星星。在这苍茫夜色中，寒气与露水降下来了。我坐在敞开的窗前欣赏着这夜色，耳边只听见那夏天的风声。

虽然我见不到红色和蓝色的花朵，但是我知道它们在哪儿。远处的草地上，银色的查尔斯河闪闪发光。木桥那边传来了踢嗒踢嗒的马啼声。接着，万物俱寂，只留下夏夜不断的风声。有时，我丝毫辨别不出它究竟是风声，还是邻近的海涛声。村子里的时钟敲起来了，于是我觉得并不孤单。城市的夜晚是那样的不同啊! 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，仿佛你用它作为外衣裹住了你的身子。阳台下面是栽着树木的人行道，像一条深不可测的黑色的海湾，飘忽的精灵就投入了这漆黑沉静的海湾，拥抱着某个所爱的精灵随波荡漾而去。

长长的街道上，街灯依然到处亮着。人们从灯下走过，托拽着各种各样奇形怪状的影子，影子时而缩短，时而伸长，最后消失在黑暗之中；同时，一个新的影子又突然出现在那个行路人的身后，这影子好似风车上的翼板一样，转到他身体的前方去了。公园的铁门当啷一声关上，耳边可以听到脚步声和响亮的说话声；一阵喧闹；一阵酒醉后的吵嚷声；一阵火灾的报警声；接着，寂静如初。于是，城市终于沉睡，我们终于能够看到夜的景色。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.月光破碎,东一块,西一块,撒落在各个广场上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。