Night
佚名 / Anonymous
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 on the billowy sea of grass. I cannot see the red and blue f？lowers， 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 public walk with trees， like a fathomless， black gulf， into whose silent darkness the spirit plunges， and f？loats 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 f？ire， — 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 f？inds 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 bocks of white marble.
夜幕籠罩著村莊。樹梢上升起一彎月牙，幾乎看不到星星。在夜無邊的黑暗裏，空氣濕涼，凝成露珠。我坐在打開的窗戶邊，欣賞夜色，傾聽夜裏唯一的夏風之聲。大樹的影子，像一隻隻錨定在綠草海洋裏的黑色船隻。盡管看不到紅色或藍色的花朵，但我知道那裏有鮮花盛開。草地的遠處，銀色的查爾斯河隱約閃現。木橋上傳來馬蹄聲，之後，便是一片寂靜，隻有夏夜風持續的呼呼聲。有時，我分不清到底是風聲還是鄰近的海聲。村莊的時鍾敲響了，我覺得自己並不孤單。