Stars on a Snowy Night

The thermometer had dropped to 18 degrees below zero, but still chose to sleep in the porch as usual. In the evening, the most familiar sight to me would be the stars in the sky. Though they were a mere sprinkle of twinkling dots, yet I had become so accustomed to them that their occasional absence would bring me loneliness and ennui.

It had been snowing all night, not a single star in sight. My roommate and I, each wrapped in a quilt, were seated far apart in a different corner of the porch, facing each other and chatting away.

She exclaimed pointing to something afar, “Look, Venus is rising!” I looked up and saw nothing but a lamp round the bend in a mountain path. I beamed and said pointing to a tiny lamplight on the opposite mountain, “It’s Jupiter over there!”

More and more lights came into sight as we kept pointing here and there. Lights from hurricane lamps flickering about in the pine forest created the scene of a star-studded sky. With the distinction between sky and forest obscured by snowflakes, the numerous lamp-lights now easily passed for as many stars.

Completely lost in a make-believe world, I seemed to see all the lamplights drifting from the ground. With the illusory stars hanging still overhead, I was spared the effort of tracing their positions when I woke up from my dreams in the dead of night.

Thus I found consolation even on a lonely snowy night!

《雨雪时候的星辰》-冰心

寒暑表降到冰点下十八度的时候，我们也是在廊下睡觉。每夜最熟识的就是天上的星辰了。也不过是点点闪烁的光明，而相看惯了，偶然不见，也有些想望与无聊。
连夜雨雪，一点星光都看不见。荷和我拥衾对坐，在廊子的两角，遥遥谈话。
荷指着说：“你看维纳斯(Venus)升起来了！”我抬头望时，却是山路转折处的路灯。我怡然一笑，也指着对山的一星灯火说：“那边是丘比特(Jupiter)呢！”
愈指愈多。松林中射来零乱的风灯，都成了满天星宿。真的，雪花隙里，看不出来天空和森林的界限，将繁灯当作繁星，简直是抵得过。
一念至诚的将假作真，灯光似乎都从地上飘起。这幻成的星光，都不移动，不必半夜梦醒时，再去追寻他们的位置。
于是雨雪寂寞之夜，也有了慰安了！

注释：
《雨雪时候的星辰》是冰心的早期抒情散文。文章赞美自然，想象精细，文笔清新，充满诗情画意。
①题目《雨雪时候的星辰》翻译为Stars on a Snowy Night。“雨雪”作“下雪”解，“雨”在此是动词，读音为yù。
② “无聊” 翻译为ennui,是英语常用文学语言，意即a feeling of boredom caused by a lack of excitement or activity。
③ “一点星光都看不见” 译为not a single star in sight,是句中独立主格，和not a single star being in sight同。又译文用s押头韵，night和sight压韵脚，有音韵美。
④ “荷和我……” 译为My roommate and I...，其中用My roommate(同寝之友)代替专门名词He(荷)，以免外国读者把He读解为男性第三人称的代词。
⑤ “荷指着说……” 译为She said pointing her finger at...，因英语to point one&`&s finger at有“指责”的含义。
⑥ “我抬头望时” 不宜逐字死译为I raised my head to take a look 。译为I liked up即可。
⑦ “山路转折处” 译为round the bend in a mountain path。注意bend后面跟介词in，属习惯用法。
“将繁灯当作繁星，简直是抵得过” 译为the numerous lamp-lights now easily passed for as many stars，其中短语to pass for 的意思是“被看作”，“被当作”等。

《雨雪时候的星辰》是冰心的早期抒情散文。文章赞美自然,想象精细,文笔清新,充满诗情画意。在《雨雪时候的星辰》中，作者写自己和病友在疗养院里，每晚都要凝视着天上熟识的星辰。然而连夜的雨雪，使她们一点星光都看不见了。向着漆黑的夜空寻找，她们终于看到了山径上和松林中的点点灯火，就暂且把这些零乱的灯光当做天上的星星凝望，“于是雨雪寂寞之夜，也有了慰安了!”