Far and near, high and low around the pool were trees, most of them willows. These trees had the pool entirely hemmed in, the only small clearings left being those by the path, apparently intended for the moon. All the trees were somber as dense smoke, but among them you could make out the luxuriant willows, while faintly above the tree-tops loomed distant hills - their general outline only. And between the trees appeared one or two street lamps, listless as the eyes of someone drowsy. The liveliest sounds at this hour were the cicadas chirruping on the trees and the frogs croaking in the pool; but this animation was theirs alone, I had no part in it.

　　荷塘的四面，遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)近近，高高低低都是樹，而楊柳最多。這些樹將一片荷塘重重圍住;只在小路一旁，漏著幾段空隙，像是特為月光留下的。樹色一例是陰陰的，乍看像一團(tuán)煙霧;但楊柳的豐姿，便在煙霧里也辨得出。樹梢上隱隱約約的是一帶遠(yuǎn)山，只有些大意罷了。樹縫里也漏著一兩點(diǎn)路燈光，沒精打采的，是渴睡人的眼。這時(shí)候最熱鬧的，要數(shù)樹上的蟬聲與水里的蛙聲;但熱鬧是它們的，我什么也沒有。

　　Then lotus-gathering flashed into my mind. This was an old custom south of the Yangtse, which apparently originated very early and was most popular in the period of the Six Kingdoms,* as we see from the songs of the time. The lotus were picked by girls in small boats, who sang haunting songs as they padded. They turned out in force, we may be sure, and there were spectators too, for that was a cheerful festival and a romantic one. We have a good account of it in a poem by Emperor Yuan of the Liang dynasty called Lotus Gatherers:

　　忽然想起采蓮的事情來了。采蓮是江南的舊俗，似乎很早就有，而六朝時(shí)為盛;從詩歌里可以約略知道。采蓮的是少年的女子，她們是蕩著小船，唱著艷歌去的。采蓮人不用說很多，還有看采蓮的人。那是一個(gè)熱鬧的季節(jié)，也是一個(gè)風(fēng)流的季節(jié)。梁元帝《采蓮賦》里說得好：

　　Deft boys and pretty girls

　　Reach an understanding while boating;

　　Their prows veer slowly,

　　But the winecups pass quickly;

　　Their oars are entangled,

　　As they cut through the duckweed,

　　And girls with slender waists

　　Turn to gaze behind them.

　　Now spring and summer meet,

　　Leaves are tender, flowers fresh;

　　With smiles they protect their silks,

　　Drawing in their skirts, afraid lest the boat upset.

　　于是妖童媛女，

　　蕩舟心許;

　　鷁首徐回，

　　兼?zhèn)饔鸨?

　　欋將移而藻掛，

　　船欲動(dòng)而萍開。

　　爾其纖腰束素，

　　遷延顧步;

　　夏始春余，

　　葉嫩花初，

　　恐沾裳而淺笑，

　　畏傾船而斂裾。

　　There we have a picture of these merry excursions. This must have been a delightful event, and it is a great pity we cannot enjoy it today.

　　可見當(dāng)時(shí)嬉游的光景了。這真是有趣的事，可惜我們現(xiàn)在早已無福消受了。

　　I also remember some lines from the poem West Islet:

　　于是又記起《西洲曲》里的句子：

　　When they gather lotus at Nantang in autumn

　　The lotus blooms are higher than their heads;

　　They stoop to pick lotus seeds,

　　Seeds as translucent as water.

　　采蓮南塘秋，蓮花過人頭;低頭弄蓮子，蓮子清如水。

　　If any girls were here now to pick the lotus, the flowers would reach above their heads too -- ah, rippling shadows alone are not enough! I was feeling quite homesick for the south, when I suddenly looked up to discover I had reached my own door. Pushing it softly open and tiptoeing in, I found all quiet inside, and my wife fast asleep.

　　今晚若有采蓮人，這兒的蓮花也算得“過人頭”了;只不見一些流水的影子，是不行的。這令我到底惦著江南了。——這樣想著，猛一抬頭，不覺已是自己的門前;輕輕地推門進(jìn)去，什么聲息也沒有，妻已睡熟好久了。