里论外几-
SH15翻译：故都的秋（郁达夫）
Translation: Old Capital"s Autumn (Yu Dafu)
(translated by: alexcwlin; edited by Adam Lam)
秋天，无论在什么地方的秋天，总是好的；
Autumn, wherever it may be, is always a welcome sight.
可是啊，北国的秋，却特别地来得清，来得静，来得悲凉。
In the northern part of China, however, autumn arrives especially with an air of freshness, peacefulness, and melancholy.
我的不远千里，要从杭州赶上青岛，更要从青岛赶上北平来的理由，也不过想饱尝一尝这“秋”，这故都的秋味。
The reason why I have taken the trouble to travel for a thousand miles from Hangzhou through Qingdao to Beiping is to savor, to my heart"s content, a taste of the Old Capital"s fall.
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江南，秋当然也是有的；
Of course there is autumn in the south.
但草木雕得慢，空气来得润，天的颜色显得淡，并且又时常多雨而少风；
But compared to the north, vegetation withers slower, air is moister, and sky-color is dimmer; often there is more rain and less wind.
一个人夹在苏州上海杭州，或厦门香港广州的市民中间，浑浑沌沌地过去，只能感到一点点清凉，
In muddling along among the locals of Suzhou, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Xiamen, Hong Kong and Guangzhou, I could only feel a tiny bit of coolness and freshness.
秋的味，秋的色，秋的意境与姿态，总看不饱，尝不透，赏玩不到十足。
The flavor, color, temperament and mold of autumn can never be satiated, relished or enjoyed to the fullest extent.
秋并不是名花，也并不是美酒，
Autumn is not exquisite flower or well-aged wine.
那一种半开，半醉的状态，在领略秋的过程上，是不合适的。
Half-opened flower and half-drunk feeling could be delightful, but a similar half-hearted manner in appreciating autumn is unfitting.
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不逢北国之秋，已将近十余年了。
It has been over ten years since I last saw autumn in the north.
在南方每年到了秋天，总要想起陶然亭的芦花，钓鱼台的柳影，西山的虫唱，玉泉的夜月，潭柘寺的钟声。
Every year in the south when autumn comes, I can"t help but think of the reed catkins in Taoranting Park, the shades of willows in Diaoyutai Island, the chirping of crickets in Western Hills, the nighttime moon in Yuquan Spring, and the chiming of Tanzhe Temple bells.
在北平即使不出门去罢，就是在皇城人海之中，租人家一椽破屋来住着，早晨起来，泡一碗浓茶、向院子一坐，你也能看得到很高很高的碧绿的天色，听得到青天下驯鸽的飞声。
Let"s say in Beiping you are living amongst a sea of Imperial City people in a run-down rental house. Without going outside to the street, you could wake up in the morning, brew a cup of strong tea, sit in the courtyard, and be able to enjoy a clear blue sky while listening to sounds of flying domesticated pigeons.
从槐树叶底，朝东细数着一丝一丝漏下来的日光，
You could look eastward underneath Pagoda leaves and count the beams of sunlight leaking through the top.
或在破壁腰中，静对着象喇叭似的牵牛花（朝荣）的蓝朵，自然而然地也能够感觉到十分的秋意。
Or you could simply stand quietly in front of the blue trumpet-shaped petunia-hybrid (morning glory) flowers halfway up a cracked wall, and naturally feel the strong flavor of autumn.
说到了牵牛花，我以为以蓝色或白色者为佳，紫黑色次之，淡红色最下。
Speaking of morning glory flowers, I consider blue-colored and white-colored ones to be top-ranked, dark-purple-colored ones to be second-ranked, and pale-red-colored ones to be in last place.
最好，还要在牵牛花底，教长着几根疏疏落落的尖细且长的秋草，使作陪衬。
Preferably a few long and slender blades of grass should be sparsely grown at the bottom of the morning glories for decoration.
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北国的槐树，也是一种能使人联想起秋来的点缀。
Pagoda trees in northern China are pleasant adornments of autumn and their presence reminds us of the fall season.
象花而又不是花的那一种落蕊，早晨起来，会铺得满地。脚踏上去，声音也没有，气味也没有，只能感出一点点极微细极柔软的触觉。
In waking up early morning, you will find the ground is covered with flower-like fallen pistils. When you step on them, they are soundless, odourless, and exceptionally soft to the touch.
扫街的在树影下一阵扫后，灰土上留下来的一条条扫帚的丝纹，
Under shade of trees, a street cleaner has finished sweeping and left behind lines of broom marks in the dirt.
看起来既觉得细腻，又觉得清闲，潜意识下并且还觉得有点儿落寞，
Images of the lines convey a sense of meticulousness, leisureliness, but also lonesomeness in the subconscious mind.
古人所说的梧桐一叶而天下知秋的遥想，大约也就在这些深沈的地方。
The old saying how the first fallen leaf from parasol tree heralds the arrival of autumn to the world could have happened in this deliberation-provoking spot.
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秋蝉的衰弱的残声，更是北国的特产；
Feeble and fading sound of cicadas is typical of northern country.
因为北平处处全长着树，屋子又低，所以无论在什么地方，都听得见它们的啼唱。
Their chirping is ubiquitous wherever you are in Beiping because trees are everywhere and houses are built low.
在南方是非要上郊外或山上去才听得到的。
In the south, however, you can"t hear the sound unless you are in the countryside or up the mountain.
这秋蝉的嘶叫，在北平可和蟋蟀耗子一样，
In Beiping, forlorn-crying of cicadas are as common as noises from crickets and mice.
简直象是家家户户都养在家里的家虫。
Cicadas are practically domestic pet-insects in every household.
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还有秋雨哩，
And then there is the autumn rain.
北方的秋雨，也似乎比南方的下得奇，下得有味，下得更象样。
Rain in the north, compared to those in the south, is more peculiar, more tasteful and more up-to-par.
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在灰沈沈的天底下，忽而来一阵凉风，便息列索落地下起雨来了。
Under the grey gloomy sky, a gust of chilly wind comes from nowhere and brings along scattered shower.
一层雨过，云渐渐地卷向了西去，天又青了，太阳又露出脸来了；
After a spell of drizzle, the clouds slowly move eastward letting out the blue sky, and the sun once again shows its face.
著着很厚的青布单衣或夹袄曲都市闲人，咬着烟管，在雨后的斜桥影里，上桥头树底下去一立，
Under the slanting shadow of a bridge after a rain shower, nothing-better-to-do city-folks, wearing turquoise heavyweight single-layer garments or fleece-lined vests, stand around tree shades by the bridge front with pipes dangling from their mouths.
遇见熟人，便会用了缓慢悠闲的声调，微叹着互答着的说：
When they run into acquaintances, they would moan to one another in an unhurried and laid-back tone.
“唉，天可真凉了——”（这了字念得很高，拖得很长。）
“Oh my, the weather is so cooool” (This word is pronounced in a high-pitched and long dragged-out manner.)
“可不是么？一层秋雨一层凉了！”
“Isn"t that so? A bout of autumn rain brings a bout of cooling!”
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北方人念阵字，总老象是层字，平平仄仄起来，
Northerners, in pronouncing pinyin “zhen” on the character meaning “bout”, always sounds like “ceng" meaning “layer”.
这念错的歧韵，倒来得正好。
But amongst the rhyming in pinyin pronunciation, this mispronounced vowel sounds just fine.
ardim-
* 回复内容中包含的链接未经审核，可能存在风险，暂不予完整展示！Autumn in Peiping
Autumn, wherever it is, always has something to recommend itself. In North China, however, it is particularly limpid, serene and melancholy. To enjoy its atmosphere to the full in the onetime capital, I have, therefore, made light of travelling a long distance from Hangzhou to Qingdao, and thence to Peiping.
There is of course autumn in the South too, but over there plants wither slowly, the air is moist, the sky pallid, and it is more often rainy than windy. While muddling along all by myself among theurban dwellers of Suzhou, Shanghai, Xianmen, Hong Kong or Guangzhou, I feel nothing but a little chill in the air, without ever relishing to my heartu2019s content the flavour, colour, mood and style of the season. Unlike famous flowers which are most attractive when half opening, good wine which is most tempting when one is half drunk, autumn, however, is best appreciated in itsentirety.
It is more than a decade since I last saw autumn in North. When I am in the South, the arrival of each autumn will put me in mind of Peipingu2019s Tao Ran Ting with its reed catkins, Diao Yu Tai with its shady willow trees, Western Hills with their chirping insects, Yu Quan Shan Mountain on a moonlight evening and Tan Zhe Si with its reverbrating bell. Suppose you put up in a humblerented house inside the bustling imperial city, you can, on getting up at dawn, sit in yourcourtyard sipping a cup of strong tea, leisurely watch the high azure skies and listen to pigeons circling overhead. Saunter eastward under locust trees to closely observe streaks of sunlight filtering through their foliage, or quietly watch the trumpet-shaped blue flowers of morning glories climbing half way up a dilapidated wall, and an intense feeling of autumn will of itself well up inside you. As to morning glories, I like their blue or white flowers best, dark purple ones second best, and pink ones third best. It will be most desirable to have them set off by some tall thin grass planted underneath here and there.
Locust trees in the North, as a decorative embellishment of nature, also associate us with autumn. On getting up early in the morning, you will find the ground strewn all over with flower-like pistils fallen from locust trees. Quiet and smellless, they feel tiny and soft underfoot. After a street cleaner has done the sweeping under the shade of the trees, you will discover countless lines left by his broom in the dust, which look so fine and quiet that somehow a feeling of forlornness will begin to creep up on you. The same depth of implication is found in the ancient saying that a single fallen leaf from the wutong tree is more than enough to inform the world of autumnu2019s presence.
The sporadic feeble chirping of cicadas is especially characteristic of autumn in the North. Due to the abundance of trees and the low altitude of dwellings in Peiping, cicadas are audible in every nook and cranny of the city. In the South, however, one cannot hear them unless in suburbs or hills. Because of their ubiquitous shrill noise, these insects in Peiping seem to be living off every household like crickets or mice.
As for autumn rains in the North, they also seem to differ from those in the South, being more appealing, more temperate.
A sudden gust of cool wind under the slaty sky, and raindrops will start pitter-pattering. Soon when the rain is over, the clouds begin gradually to roll towards the west and the sun comes out in the blue sky. Some idle townsfolk, wearing lined or unlined clothing made of thick cloth, will come out pipe in mouth and, loitering under a tree by the end of a bridge, exchange leisurely conversation with acquaintances with a slight touch of regret at the passing of time:
"Oh, real nice and cool."
Fruit trees in the North also make a wonderful sight in autumn. Take jujube tree for example. They grow everywhere - around the corner of a house, at the foot of a wall, by the side of a latrine or outside a kitchen door. It is at the height of autumn that jujubes, shaped like dates or pigeon eggs, make their appearance in a light yellowish-green amongst tiny elliptic leaves. By the time when they have turned ruddy and the leaves fallen, the north-westerly wind will begin to reignsupreme and make a dusty world of the North. Only at the turn of July and August when jujubes, persimmons, grapes are 80-90 percent ripe will the North have the best of autumn - the golden days in a year.
Some literary critics say that Chinese literati, especially poets, are mostly disposed to be decadent, which accounts for predominance of Chinese works singing the praises of autumn. Well, the same is true of foreign poets, isnu2019t it? I havenu2019t read much of foreign poetry and prose, nor do I want to enumerate autumn-related poems and essays in foreign literature. But, if you browse through collected works of English, German, French or Italian poets, or various countriesu2019 anthologies of poetry or prose, you can always comes across a great many literary pieces eulogizing or lamenting autumn. Long pastoral poems or songs about the four seasons byrenowned poets are mostly distinguished by beautiful moving lines on autumn. All that goes to show that all live creatures and sensitive humans alike are prone to the feeling of depth,remoteness, severity and bleakness. Not only poets, even convicts in prison, I suppose, have deep sentiments in autumn in spite of themselves. Autumn treats all humans alike, regardless of nationality, race or class. However, judging from Chinese idiom qiushi (autumn scholar, meaning and aged scholar grieving over frustrations in his life) and frequent selection in textbooks of Ouyang Xiuu2019s On the Autumn Sough and Su Dongpou2019s On the Red Cliff, Chinese men of letters seem to be particularly autumn-minded. But, to know the real flavour of autumn, especiallyChinau2019s autumn, one has to visit the North.
Autumn in the South also has its unique features, such as the moonlit Ershisi Bridge in Yangzhou, the flowing sea tide at the Qiantangjiang River, the mist-shrouded Putuo Mountain and lotuses at the Lizhiwan Bay. But they all lack strong colour and lingering flavour. Southern autumn is to Northern autumn what yellow rice wine is to kaoliang wine, congee to steamed buns, perches to crabs, yellow dogs to camels.
Autumn, I mean Northern autumn, if only it could be made to last forever! I would be more than willing to keep but one-third of my life-span and have two-thirds of it bartered for the prolonged stay of the season!
August 1934, in Beiping.
北境漫步-
Autumn in Peiping
coco-
The autumn of my hometown