Listen to this articleThe Distance of Winter
《冬天的距离》
When the ground beneath a gingko is gold,
等到一地银杏满地金黄，
I know cold-faced autumn absolutely cannot be held.
才知道冷面的秋，决绝不可挽留。
The words of wind brush by, an exchange of heat and cold,
风的语言擦身而过，寒暄，
Leaving behind a translucent space.
留下透明空间。
I begin to know—
我开始明白——
Already it is the distance of winter.
那已经是冬天的距离。
There is a fog rising from the haze behind my eyes
有雾自迷蒙眼底升起
In the distant gloom, so near
在遥远的灰暗，那么接近
And coldly pretty,
而且凄然美丽，
Despair big with contradiction and expectation
充满矛盾的绝望与期盼
Lingering in the desolation of autumn and the provocation of spring;
徘徊在秋的清冷与春的挑逗；
There’s a dampness, not last night’s feeling of spring,
有一种潮湿，不是昨夜春情，
But the great gray sea of winter.
而是冬天灰色的大海。
That is a billowing poignant refusal,
那是一种澎湃的心酸拒绝，
Just as if amid the endless years
就像在漫长的岁月里
Trying to stop the unstoppable
去抵挡那些无法抵挡
Seasons that breezily arrive then drift away.
漫然而来，飘然而去的季节。
You ask me how to let winter keep its pure identity,
你问我如何让冬天名分保持清白，
I reply, with a pale face, a twinkling frost on my temples
我回答以苍白容颜，星霜鬓发，
And a leopard of Hemingway
还有在奇里门札罗山巅，皑白冰雪
At Kilimanjaro, pure white ice and snow!
一只海明威的豹！
That is another kind of persistence and transparency,
那是另一种透明与坚持，
Another type of winter distance,
另一种冬天的距离，
Silent, and far beyond reach.
沉默，并且遥不可及。
