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| 有些批評家說，中國的文人學士，尤其是詩人，都帶著很濃厚的頹廢的色彩，所以中國的詩文里，贊頌秋的文字的特別的多。但外國的詩人，又何嘗不然？我雖則外國詩文念的不多，也不想開出帳來，做一篇秋的詩歌散文鈔，但你若去一翻英德法意等詩人的集子，或各國的詩文的Anthology來，總能夠看到許多并于秋的歌頌和悲啼。各著名的大詩人的長篇田園詩或四季詩里，也總以關于秋的部分。寫得最出色而最有味。足見有感覺的動物，有情趣的人類，對于秋，總是一樣地特別能引起深沉，幽遠、嚴厲、蕭索的感觸來的。不單是詩人，就是被關閉在牢獄里的囚犯，到了秋天，我想也一定能感到一種不能自已的深情，秋之于人，何嘗有國別，更何嘗有人種階級的區別呢？不過在中國，文字里有一個“秋士”的成語，讀本里又有著很普遍的歐陽子的《秋聲》與蘇東坡的《赤壁賦》等，就覺得中國的文人，與秋和關系特別深了，可是這秋的深味，尤其是中國的秋的深味，非要在北方，才感受得到底。 |
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, isn't it? I haven't 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 countries' 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 by renowned 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 Xiu's On the Autumn Sough and Su Dongpo's On the Red Cliff, Chinese men of letters seem to be particularly autumn-minded. But, to know the real flavour of autumn, especially China's autumn, one has to visit the North. |
| 南國之秋，當然也是有它的特異的地方的，比如廿四橋的明月，錢塘江的秋潮，普陀山的涼霧，荔枝灣的殘荷等等，可是色彩不濃，回味不永。比起北國的秋來，正像是黃酒之與白干，稀飯之與饃饃，鱸魚之與大蟹，黃犬之與駱駝。 |
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. |
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秋天，這北國的秋天，若留得住的話，我愿把壽命的三分之二折去，換得一個三分之一的零頭。
一九三四年八月，在北平
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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! |
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