The First Snow
The first snow came. How beautiful it was, falling so silently all day long, all night long, on the mountains, on the meadows, on the roofs of the living, on the graves of the dead! All white save the river, that marked its course by a winding black line across the landscape; and the leafless trees, that against the leaden sky now revealed more fully the wonderful beauty and intricacies of their branches. What silence, too, came with the snow, and what seclusion! Every sound was muffled, every noise changed to something soft and musical. No more tramping hoofs, no more rattling wheels! Only the chiming of sleigh-bells, beating as swift and merrily as the hearts of children.
初雪
初雪飄臨。多么美啊!它整日整夜那么靜靜地飄著,落在山嶺上,落在草地上,落在世人的屋頂上,落在死才的墳?zāi)股?!在一片白茫茫之中,只有河流在美麗的畫面上劃出一道曲曲彎彎的黑線;還有那葉兒落凈的樹木,映襯著鉛灰色的天空,此刻更顯得枝丫交錯(cuò),姿態(tài)萬千。初雪飄落時(shí),是何等的寧謐,何等的幽靜!一切聲響都趨沉寂,一切噪音都化作柔和的音樂。再也聽不見馬蹄得得,再也聽不見車輪轔轔!唯有雪橇的鈴鐺,奏和諧的樂聲,那明快歡樂的節(jié)拍猶如孩子們心房的搏動(dòng)。