The early snows fall soft and white and seem to heal the landscape. There are as yet no tracks through the drifts, no muddied slush in the roads. The wind sweeps snow into the scars of our harvest-time haste, smoothing the brow of hill, hiding furrow¹ and cog and trash in the yard. Snow muffles² the shriek³ of metal and the rasp of motion. It covers our flintier purposes and brings a redeeming⁴ silence, as if a curtain has fallen on the strivings of a year, and now we may stop, look inward, and rediscover the amber⁵ warmth of family and conversation.

轻盈、洁白的雪花纷纷扬扬，这场初雪似乎在抚慰大地。至今积雪上还没有任何足迹，道路上也没有踏脏的雪泥。朔风扫过，白雪覆盖了人们丰收农忙之后的痕迹——它抚平了山脊，藏匿了院内的车辙和轮齿，让杂物都无影无踪。大雪还消减了金属摩擦发出的刺耳声和机器运转时的嘈杂声，它在埋没我们坚韧决心的同时，又弥补般地降临了一种静谧，宛如一年的努力落下帷幕，就此告一段落。——现在我们也许应该驻足，审视内心，重新感受亲人团聚的温馨。

At such times, locked away inside wall and woolen⁶, lulled⁷ by the sedatives⁸ of wood-smoke and candlelight, we recall the competing claims of nature. We see the branch and bark of trees, rather than the sugar-scented green of their leaves. We look out the window and admire the elegance⁹ of ice crystal, the bravely patient tree leaning leafless into the wind, the dramatic shadows of the stooping sun. We look at the structure of things, the geometry of branch and snowflake, family and deed.

在这样的时节里，我们紧闭房门，裹上毛衣，沐浴在木材燃烧和烛光带来的祥和之中，回想大自然中的两种悖论。我们看到的是树木的枝杈和树皮，而不是芬芳扑鼻的绿叶；我们望着窗外，惊叹冰晶的美不胜收，钦佩光秃秃的树枝始终迎风而立，赞美落日的身影楚楚动人；我们观察着事物的结构、树枝与雪花的形状，还有家庭、事业……Even before the first snow, we view the world differently in winter. We watch the lawn settle into the sleep of frost and the last crumpled¹⁰ leaf quiver on the oak, and feel the change. At night the skies are cold and clear, and stars shine like the dreams of serpents. The hillsides turn brown and gray; the edges of stalk and blade stand out starkly¹¹. Dark clouds settle on the mountain ridges¹². Storms rumble¹³ in like freight trains. Rain rattles¹⁴ the roof and thutters at the window.

其实在冬天，在下第一场雪之前，我们看世界的感觉就不同。我们注意到草地早已习惯在霜冻中沉睡，最后一片打着卷儿的橡树叶在枝头颤抖，并体会到了季节的变更。晚空清冷而明朗，繁星闪烁，就像魔鬼打起了盹。山坡被染成了棕灰色，叶子与叶柄的边缘显得格外醒目。山脊上乌云云集，暴风雪就像货车一样隆隆作响。雨点不停地冲刷着房顶，敲打着窗户。

Then comes the snow, and we once again wonder at how it transforms the familiar objects of our everyday world.

接着，下雪了，我们又一次惊诧于它是如何将我们平常熟知的事物改头换面。

When snowflake drifts the road we head indoors and resign ourselves to the quiet crackle of the wood fire. The example of the woodpile and the well-stocked larder¹⁵ tells us that we can achieve what we dream, and winter brings us long, silent nights to dream on.

当雪花在路面堆积，我们回到屋内，让自己沉迷在炉火轻微的噼啪声中。柴堆和储备良好的食物表明我们可以美美睡上一觉了。而冬日带来的是宁静的漫漫长夜，正好入梦。