【 – 小学作文】
篇一:《夏校文章》
Briefly describe your academic and personal goals and explain how these will be further achieved by studying in the University of Pennsylvania's Summer High School Program. Feel free to discuss the particular program or courses to which you are applying as well as other aspects of summer study at Penn.
As the well-known American author Henry Adams said, “All experience is an arch, to build upon.” The experience from the past shaped who I am, what I did, and what I will do. All the things I have done let me, or drives me to take steps to where I am now.
Last summer, a few friends and I initiated a Street Interview named Crazy Talk. We randomly picked out pedestrians in Shanghai for their own ideas about some heated social events. Since then, we have did 5 episodes in total and the most successful one received about 50 thousand views on the which only had 2 thousand views. After the legalization of the homosexual marriage in America, we decided to go up to the streets, and see how citizens in China would view this action. We spent one afternoon and interviews various people of different ages, sexes, races and nationalities. Interestingly, as we predicted, most people showed either support or neutrality towards homosexual marriage, and only few people revealed a little antagonism towards it. Afterwards, we posted the video online, and people around us began to watch and commented it with their points. Shockingly, just someone in our school, with harsh words, commented that homosexual marriage is against the tradition and the trend of supporting it in the video is a kind of failure of traditional education. I was shocked. Actually, I didn’t have too many opinions, but at least, I didn’t deny it.
Homosexual people and others are all Homo sapiens, but why there are so much differences between them? Why they can’t receive equal treatment? I picked Geography and Economics in grade 11, and I think these two courses let me have a further concern on the problems I got before. In Take the USA as an example, the disparities in wealth distribution are so large that few richest people hold the most part of the nation’s wealth, and women always receive lower salaries when doing similar jobs compared with men. Two events mentioned above shaped my goals today. Maybe it’s too ambitious to say that I want to eliminate disparities completely, but at least, I hope the study in the University of Pennsylvania could provide me a wider view on these problems, and learn the ways to view and examine these problems more deeply than ever before.
Select a few of your non-academic or extra-curricular experiences and explain how these supplement your academic and personal growth.
“It takes a large amount of time and energy. Why do you choose to join it during the busiest grade 11?”
“I don’t know. Maybe I just like these things.”
To be honest, I don’t know why I chose to join the Student Council at the beginning of grade 11. “I just like these parties and activities. I feel cool when I am the organizer of each school activity and the spotlight of the school. I like posting the amazing pictures of activities on Instagram and being proud of adding words like “yoo this is our school’s party and it’s organized by us! ” That’s all the words I could remember during election. So, to be cool, I join in the Student Council of Pinghe, which is responsible for every high school activity including Halloween Party, Jumbo Party, the annual and biggest one, etc.
Actually, it’s quite challenging to work as a member of Student Council, and the biggest trouble is the arrangement of time. I need to balance the time I invest in Student Council and study. As an IB student, I need to be confronted with lots of exams, oral tests and essays while getting prepared for tests such as TOEFL, SAT, etc. I still remember the time before Jumbo Party when I had to stay awake to one or two clockin the morning, editing the videos for the party and practicing my SAT critical reading simultaneously. It’s the love for what I did that supported me during that tough time. Looking back to what we achieved, I was quite proud of Student Council. In the past half-year, we organized two parties. The biggest difference between us and other commercial organizers is that we don’t measure success by calculating the profit (actually we don’t charge any) or PH Student Council is really special and unique. Unlike other Chinese school’s student groups, which is called Secretary of Youth League branch, and mainly performswe don't limit the freedom of students. What we aim to do is let students enjoy their campus life while they could also learn something from it, and what the most important purpose is to make PH students feel proud of being part of Pinghe and understand what school spirit means. We organize the Jumbo Party to let everyone know that we are all PHers and Halloween Party to show our gratefulness to foreign teachers. We don’t chargeanythingbut we don’t ask for that as well. After all the experiences, if being asked again why I chose to join it, I would say that I love to bring happiness to my friends and I hope everyone in my school can love the school and its spirits.
If English is not your native language, please describe your English educational background and experience.
In my mind, my English learning experience is just like a dichotomy: help to build my English abilities today. The most beginning part is simple, like other language beginners in China. During primary and secondary school, I just followed the traditional Chinese education, and everything was related to grammar, recitation and vocabulary. Also, I took standard tests such as TOEFL and SAT as well. Both of them provided me the fundamental skills of English. They told me how to understand words and sentences, how to communicate with others and what was the most significant, as the designers’score in exams. For a long time, I believe that if I could get good marks in all the exams, I could master this language. What I need to do is just recite every word as teachers instructed, remember every details of the grammar and perform nicely in the exam room.
However, I was wrong. The knowledge of vocabulary and grammar is just the fur of English. What English truly means, is not the denotation of it, but the connotation. During secondary school, my English teacher always asked us to “read between lines”. That seemed like a boring cliche to me at all at that time. “I know, just read more carefully and repeatedly.” It takes me a long time until I finally realize that the pivot of this maxim is not “read” but “between lines”. Admittedly, in each book we have read, there is only empty space between lines. At that point, I realize that the importance of a book is not the words themselves. It can be understood just by keeping reading for hundred of times. The meaning of a book is the feeling of your imagination. The words provide the basis of a world that you could build upon the content of book by your imagination. The space between lines, unlike others’ words, is not the content implied by the author, but a complete empty space for your imagination to fulfill. When I read Never Let Me Go, I
guess that the whole school is a factory for organs. When I read Lord of the Flies, I believe that the plane crash is a conspiracy.
There are no black or white of our imagination. There are a thousand Hamlets in a thousand people's eyes. English is not a tool for exam, but the point through which we could know a completely different culture.
1.1 Homestay寄宿家庭
篇二:《英语文章分析赏析》
英语修辞手法 分析大全
一、明喻（simile）是以两种具有相同特征的事物和现象进行对比，表明本体和喻体之间的相似关系，两者都在对比中出现。常用比喻词like, as, as if, as though等，例如：
1、This elephant is like a snake as anybody can see.
这头象和任何人见到的一样像一条蛇。
2、He looked as if he had just stepped out of my book of fairytales and had passed me like a spirit.
他看上去好像刚从我的童话故事书中走出来，像幽灵一样从我身旁走过去。
3、It has long leaves that sway in the wind like slim fingers reaching to touch something.
它那长长的叶子在风中摆动，好像伸出纤细的手指去触摸什么东西似的。
二、隐喻（metaphor）这种比喻不通过比喻词进行，而是直接将用事物当作乙事物来描写，甲乙两事物之间的联系和相似之处是暗含的。
1、German guns and German planes rained down bombs, shells and bullets…
德国人的枪炮和飞机将炸弹、炮弹和子弹像暴雨一样倾泻下来。
2、The diamond department was the heart and center of the store.
钻石部是商店的心脏和核心。
三、提喻（synecdoche）又称举隅法，主要特点是局部代表全体，或以全体喻指部分，或以抽象代具体，或以具体代抽象。例如：
1、The Great Wall was made not only of stones and earth, but of the flesh and blood of millions of men.
长城不仅是用石头和土建造的，而且是用几百万人的血和肉建成的。
句中的“the flesh and blood”喻为“the great sacrifice”（巨大的牺牲）
2、“…saying that it was the most beautiful tongue in the world,…”
……他说这是世界上最美的语言。
这里用具体的“tongue”代替抽象的“language”。
4、Many eyes turned to a tall,20—year black girl on the U.S. team.
很多人将眼光投向美国队一个高高的20岁的黑姑娘。
这里的“many eyes”代替了“many persons”。
四、拟人（personification）这种修辞方法是把人类的特点、特性加于外界事物之上，使之人格化，以物拟人，以达到彼此交融，合二为一。
1、She may have tens of thousand of babies in one summer.(From“ Watching Ants”)
一个夏天她可能生育成千上万个孩子。
这里用“she”和“babies”把蜜蜂比作人类妇女的生育。
2、My only worry was that January would find me hunting for a job again.
我唯一担心的是，到了一月份我又得去找工作。
英语里常把“年”“月”“日”人格化，赋以生命，使人们读起来亲切生动。
五、夸张（hyperbole）这是运用丰富的想象，过激的言词，渲染和装饰客观事物，以达到强调的效果。
1、My blood froze.
我的血液都凝固了。
2、When I told our father about this,his heart burst.
当我将这件事告诉我们的父亲时，他的心几乎要迸出来。
3、My heart almost stopped beating when I heard my daughter’svoice on the phone.
从电话里一听到我女儿的声音，我的心几乎停止跳动。
六、叠言（rhetorical repetition）这种修辞法是指在特定的语境中，将相同的结构，相同意义词组成句子重叠使用，以增强语气和力量。
1、It must be created by the blood and the work of all of us who believe in the future, who believe in man and his glorious man—made destiny.
它必须用我们这些对于未来，对于人类以及人类自己创造的伟大命运具有信心的人的鲜血和汗水去创造。
2、… Because good technique in medicine and surgery means more
quickly—cured patients, less pain, less discomfort, less death, less disease and less deformity.
因为优良的医疗技术和外科手术意味着更快地治疗病人，更少痛苦，更少不安，更少死亡，更少疾病，和更少残废。
七、借代（metonymy）是指两种不同事物并不相似，但又密不可分，因而常用其中一种事物名称代替另一种。
1、Several years later, word came that Napoleonyh himself was coming to inspect them…
几年以后，他们听说拿破仑要亲自来视察他们。
“word”在这里代替了“news, information”（消息、信息）
2、Al spoke with his eyes,“yes”.
艾尔用眼睛说，“是的”。
“说”应该是嘴的功能，这里实际上是用眼神表达了“说话的意思”。
八、双关语（pun）是以一个词或词组，用巧妙的办法同时把互不关联的两种含义结合起来，以取得一种诙谐有趣的效果。
Napoleon was astonished.”Either you are mad, or I am,”he declared. “Both，sir!”cried the Swede proudly.
“Both”一词一语双关，既指拿破仑和这位士兵都是疯子，又指这位战士参加过拿破仑指挥的两次战役。
九、拟声（onomatcpocia）是摹仿自然界中非语言的声音，其发音和所描写的事物的声音很相似，使语言显得生动，富有表现力。
1、On the root of the school house some pigeons were softly cooing.
在学校房屋的屋顶上一些鸽子正轻轻地咕咕叫着。
2、She brought me into touch with everything that could be reached or
felt——sunlight, the rustling of silk, the noises of insects, the creaking of a door, the voice of a loved one.
她使我接触到所有够得着的或者感觉得到的东西，如阳光呀，丝绸摆动时的沙沙声呀，昆虫的叫声呀，开门的吱嗄声呀，亲人的说话声呀。
十、讽刺（irony）是指用含蓄的褒义词语来表示其反面的意义，从而达到使本义更加幽默，更加讽刺的效 果。
Well, of course, I knew that gentlemen like you carry only large notes.
啊，当然，我知道像你这样的先生只带大票子。
店员这句话意在讽刺这位穿破衣的顾客：像你这样的人怎么会有大票子呢？名为“gentlemen”实则“beg gar”而已。
十一、通感（synesthesia）是指在某个感官所产生的感觉，转到另一个感官的心理感受。
Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed and some few to be chewed and digested.
有些书是应当尝尝滋味的，有些书是应当吞下去的，有少数书是应当咀嚼和消化的。
书是“尝”不出味道的，也是不能“吃”下去将其“消化”掉的。这里把读书中的精读和泛读，阅读欣赏与吸收知识的感受，用味觉功能和消化功能来表示，心理感受是如此逼真和奇特。
十二、头韵法（alliteration）在文句中有两个以上连结在一起的词或词组，其开头的音节有同样的字母或声音，以增强语言的节奏感。
How and why he had come to Princeton, New Jersey is a story of struggle, success, and sadness.
他如何和为什么来到新泽西州的普林斯顿是一个充满奋斗、成功和令人伤心的一段经历。
篇三:《Ole and Trufa 两片树叶的爱情(中英双语散文)》
Ole and Trufa 两片树叶的爱情（中英双语散文） 这是一座很大很茂密的森林，长满生有各种各样叶子的树。通常，每年的这个时候天气很冷了，甚至下雪了，可是这个十一月比较暖和，如果不是满林子的落叶——桔黄的，酒红的，金黄的，还有杂色的——也许以为还是夏天呢。这些落叶有些在白天，有些在夜里被雨打落，被风吹落，如今它们在森林的地面上形成了一条厚厚的落叶毯子。尽管已干枯，落叶仍散发出好闻的香味。阳光透过树枝照耀着它们，落叶上爬动着在秋天的暴风雨中不知怎么存活下来的虫子、苍蝇。落叶底下也为蟋蟀们提供了藏身之所，田鼠和许多其它生物也在大地上找寻庇护。
THE FOREST was large and thickly overgrown with all kinds of leaf-bearing trees. Usually, it is cold this time of year and it even happens that it snow, but this November was relatively warm. You might have thought it was summer except that the whole forest was strewn with fallen leaves－some yellow as saffron, some red as wine, some the color of gold and some of mixed color. The leaves had been torn down by the rain, by the wind, some by day, some at night, and they now formed a deep carpet over the forest floor. Although their juices had run dry, the leaves still exuded a pleasant aroma. The sun shone down on them through the living branches, and worms and flies which had somehow survived the autumn storms crawled over them. The space beneath the leaves provided hiding places for crickets, field mice and many other creatures who sought protection in the earth.
在一棵其它叶子都落了的树梢上，还有两片挂在一根细枝上：这是奥立和特鲁法。奥立和特鲁法也不知道为什么他们在所有的雨、寒夜和风中幸存了下来。没有人知道为什么有的树叶会飘落下来而有的树叶依旧长在树上？可是奥立和特鲁法认为答案在于他们深深地爱着对方。奥立比特鲁法年长几天，外形略大于特鲁法，可是特鲁法更漂亮精致。每当刮风下雨或开始下冰雹时，一片树叶并不能为另一片做些什么。然而每到这个时候，奥立都鼓励特鲁法。在最恶劣的暴风雨里，雷鸣电闪，狂风不仅刮落树叶，甚至刮断整根树枝，奥立央求着特鲁法：“坚持，特鲁法！尽你的全力坚持住！”
有时在寒冷的暴风雨之夜，特鲁法会抱怨：“我的时间到了，奥立，可是你要坚持住！” “为了什么理由呢？”奥立问。“没有你我的生命毫无意义，如果你掉下去，我将跟你一起掉下去！”
“不，奥立，别这样！一片树叶只要能留在树上就不应该松手往下掉。”
“这全得靠你是否留下来陪我。”奥立回答。“白天我看着你爱慕你的美丽，夜里感觉着你的芬芳。只我一片树叶留在树上？决不！”
特鲁法说：“奥立，你的话真让我高兴，可是你说得不对。你很清楚我不漂亮了，看我多皱，变得多枯萎了啊！我唯一剩下的就是——我爱你。”
奥立说：“那不就够了吗？爱是所有力量中最高尚、最美好的。只要我们在这里彼此相爱，就没有风，没有雨或暴风雪能毁灭我们。告诉你，特鲁法，我从来没有像现在这么爱你。” “为什么，奥立？为什么，我已经完全枯黄了。”
“谁说绿色漂亮黄色就不漂亮了？所有的色彩都同样漂亮。”
At times during cold and stormy nights, Trufa would complain: “My time had come, Ole, but you hand on!”
“What for?” Ole asked. “Without you, my life is senseless. If you fall, I’ll fall with you.”
“NO, Ole, don’t do it! So long as a leaf can stay up it mustn’t let go.”
“It all depends if you stay with me,” Ole replied. “By day I look at you and admire your beauty. At night I sense your fragrance. Be the only leaf on a tree? No never!”
“Ole, your words are so sweet but they’re not true,” Trufa said. “You know very well that I’m no longer pretty. Look how wrinkled I am, how shriveled I’ve become! Only one thing is still left me－my love for you.”
“Isn’t that enough? Of all our powers love the highest, the finest,” Ole said. “So long as we love each other we remain here, and no wind, rain or storm can destroy us. I’ll tell you something, Trufa－I never loved you as much as I love you now.” “Why, Ole? Why? I’m all yellow.”
“Who says green is pretty and yellow is not? All colors are equally handsome.”
奥立刚说完这些话，特鲁法这几个月里一直害怕的事发生了——一阵风刮来从细枝上拉扯松了奥立。特鲁法开始颤抖、晃动，似乎她很快也要被刮落了，可是她牢牢抓住了。她看到奥立掉了下去在空中摇晃着，她用叶子的语言大声喊：“奥立，回来！回来啊，奥立！”
可是她甚至话都没能说完，奥立就从视野里消失了。他跟地上的其它落叶混合在一起，而特鲁法孤伶伶地留在了树上。
And just as Ole spoke these words, that which Trufa had feared all these months happened－a wind came up and tore Ole loose from the twig. Trufa began to tremble and flutter until it seemed that she, too, would soon be torn away, but she held fast. She saw Ole fall and sway in the air, and she called to him in leafy language: “Ole! Come back! Ole! Ole!”
But before she could even finish, Ole vanished from sight. He blended in with the other leaves on the ground, and Trufa was left all alone on the tree.{夏天的散文英文}.
只要天还没黑，特鲁法不管怎样还能设法忍受悲痛。可是天渐渐黑冷下来，并开始下起刺骨的雨，她绝望了。不知怎么地她觉得所有树叶不幸的责任要怪树，要怪长有巨大树枝的树干。树叶掉了，而树干仍旧高大牢固地扎根在大地上，没有风雨或冰雹能掀翻它。这些对树有什么要紧呢，它有可能永远存活下去，可是成为一片树叶呢？在特鲁法看来，树干就像上帝，它用树叶覆盖自己几个月，然后又抖落它们；在树干高兴的时候就用树的汁液滋养树叶，而后又渴死它们。特鲁法请求树把奥立还给她，让夏天再一次来临，可是树没有注意到它的祈求。
So long as it was still day, Trufa managed somehow to endure her grief. But when it grew dark and cold and a piercing rain began to fall, she sank into despair. Somehow she felt that the blame for all the leafy misfortunes lay with the tree, the trunk with all its mighty limbs. Leaves fell, but the trunk stood tall, thick and firmly rooted in the ground. No wind, rain or hail could upset it. What did it matter to a tree, which probably lived forever, what become of a leaf? To Trufa, the trunk was a kind of god. It covered itself with leaves for a few months, then it shook them off. It nourished them with its sap for as long as it pleased, then it let them die of thirst. Trufa pleaded with the tree to give her back her Ole, to make it summer again, but the tree didn’t heed her prayers.{夏天的散文英文}.
特鲁法从没想到一个夜晚能像今晚这么长——这么黑暗，这么严寒。她呼唤着奥立，希望能听到一声回答，可是奥立沉默着，没有给出一点他存在的迹象。
特鲁法对树说道：“既然你从我身边带走了奥立，把我也一起带走吧。”
可是甚至这个祈求树也没有注意。
Trufa didn’t think a night could be so long as this one—so dark, so frosty. She spoke to Ole and hoped for an answer, but Ole was silent and gave no sign of his presence.
Trufa said to the tree: “Since you’ve taken Ole from me, take me too.”
But even this prayer the tree didn’t acknowledge.
片刻后，特鲁法打瞌睡了。这不是睡，而是让人不适的衰弱无力。醒来后，她吃惊地发现她不挂在树上了，睡着时风已把她刮了下来。这给了她不同于伴着日出醒来的感觉，她所有的害怕和焦虑此刻都消失了。这次醒来给了她前所未有的意识。她知道现在她不只是一片依赖
于风的一时兴致的树叶了，她成为宇宙的一部分。通过某些神秘的力量，特鲁法了解了自身分子，原子，质子和电子的奇迹，她所代表的巨大能量以及她是其中一部分的神圣计划。
After a while, Trufa dozed off. This wasn’t sleep but a strange languor. Trufa awoke and to her amazement found that she was no longer handing on the tree. The wind had blown her down while she was asleep. This was different from the way she used to feel when she awoke on the tree with the sunrise. All her fears and anxieties had now vanished. The awakening also brought with it an awareness she had never felt before. She knew now that she wasn’t just a leaf that depended on every whim of the wind, but that she was part of the universe. Through some mysterious force, Trufa understood the miracle of her molecules, atoms, protons and electrons－the enormous energy she represented and the divine plan of which she was a part.
奥立就躺在她身旁，他们怀着前所未有的爱问候对方。这不是依赖机会或反复无常的爱，这爱跟宇宙本身一样巨大和永恒。在四月至十一月间他们日日夜夜恐惧的结果却不是死亡而是解救。一阵和风把奥立和特鲁法带到空中，他们在只有解放自己进入永恒才能领悟到的无限幸福里冲入云宵。
Next to her lay Ole, and they greeted each other with a love they hadn’t been aware of before. This wasn’t a love that depended on chance or caprice, but a love as mighty and eternal as the universe itself. That which they had feared all the days and nights between April and November turned out to be not death but redemption. A breeze came and lifted Ole and Trufa in the air and they soared with the bliss known only by those who have freed themselves and have joined with eternity.
On the tip of a tree which had lost all its other leaves, two still remained hanging from one twig: Ole and Trufa. For some reason unknown to them, Ole and Trufa had survived all the rains, all the cold nights and winds. Who knows the reason one leaf falls and another remains? But Ole and Trufa believed the answer lay in the great love they bore one another. Ole was slightly bigger than Turfa and a few days older, but Trufa was prettier and more delicate. One leaf can do little for another when the wind blows, the rain pours, or the hail begins to fall. Still, Ole encouraged Ttufa at every opportunity. During the worst storms, when the thunder clapped, the lightning flashed and the wind tore off not only leaves but even whole branches, Ole pleaded with Trufa: “Hang on, Trufa! Hand on with all your might!”
篇四:《2016翻译硕士复习资料：英译中国现代散文选(21)》
2016翻译硕士复习资料：英译中国现代散文选（21）
养 花
老舍
我爱花，所以也爱养花(1)。我可还没成为养花专家，因为没有工夫去作研究与试验。我只把养花当作生活中的一种乐趣，花开的大小好坏都不计较，只要开花我就高兴。在我的小院中，到夏天，满是花草，小猫儿们只好上房去玩耍(2)，地上没有它们的运动场。
花虽多，但无奇花异草。珍贵的花草不易养活，看着一棵好花生病欲死是件难过的事。我不愿时时落泪。北京的气候，对养花来说，不算很好。冬天冷，春天多风，夏天不是干旱就是大雨倾盆;秋天最好，可是忽然会闹霜冻。在这种气候里，想把南方的好花养活，我还没有那么大的本事。因此，我只养些好种易活、自己会奋斗的花草(3)。
不过，尽管花草自己会奋斗(4)，我若置之不理，任其自生自灭(5)，它们多数还是会死了的。我得天天照管它们，像好朋友似的关切他们。一来二去(6)，我摸着一些门道：有的喜阴，就别放在太阳地里，有的喜干，就别多浇水。这是个乐趣，摸住门道，花草养活了，而且三年五载(7)老活着、开花，多么有意思呀!不是乱吹，这就是知识呀!多得些知识，一定不是坏事。
我不是有腿病吗，不但不利于行，也不利于久坐。我不知道花草们受我的照顾，感谢我不感谢;我可得感谢它们。在我工作的时候，我总是写了几十个字，就到院中去看看，浇浇这棵，搬搬那盆，然后回到屋中再写一点，然后再出去，如此循环(8)，把脑力劳动与体力劳动结合到一起，有益身心(9)，胜于吃药。要是赶上狂风暴雨或天气突变哪，就得全家动员(10)，抢救花草，十分紧张(11)。几百盆花，都要很快地抢到屋里去，使人腰酸腿疼，热汗直流。第二天，天气好转，又得把花儿都搬出去，就又一次腰酸腿疼，热汗直流。可是，这多么有意思!不劳动，连棵花儿也养不活，这难道不是真理么?
送牛奶的同志，进门就夸“好香”!这使我们全家都感到骄傲。赶到昙花开放的时候，约几位朋友来看看，更有秉烛夜游的神气(12)——昙花总在夜里放蕊。花儿分根了，一棵分为数棵，就赠给朋友们一些;看着友人拿走自己的劳动果实，心里自然特别喜欢。
当然，也有伤心的时候，今年夏天这有这么一回。三百株菊秧还在地上(没有移入盆中的时候)，下了暴雨。邻家的墙倒了下来，菊秧被砸死者约三十多种，一百多棵!全家都几天没有笑容!
有喜有忧，有笑有泪，有花有实，有香有色，既须劳动，又长见识，这就是养花的乐趣。
On Growing Flowers
Lao She
I love flowers and hence have taken to growing them. But, short of time to do research and experiment in flower cultivation, I am no gardener at all. I merely take flower cultivation as a pleasure of life. I really don’t care whether or not my flowers will put forth plump and nice-looking
blossom. I’ll be delighted as long as they can blossom. In summer, flowers and plants growing in luxuriance in my small courtyard will leave little open space as a playground for the little cats, so they have to sport about in our rooms instead.
I grow many flowers, but none of them are exotic or rare ones. It is difficult to grow a precious flower species. And I feel bad to see a good flower dying of illness. I don’t want often to shed tears over that. But Beijing’s climate is more or less unfit for the growing of flowers. Freezing in winter, windy in spring, and either too dry or too often visited by rainstorms in summer. While autumn is the best of all, it is often plagued by a sudden frost. In a climate like this, it is far beyond my capacity to grow precious flowers of southern breed. Therefore, I only grow flowers and plants that are hardy and enjoy a high survival rate. Although such flowers are able to weather through by themselves, I, however never ignore them or abandon them to their own fate, for otherwise most of them will probably end up dead. I have to care for them every day as if they were my close friends. Thus, in the course of time, I’ve somehow got the hang of flower cultivation some flowers which are accustomed to growing in the shade should not be too much exposed to the sun. Those which prefer dryness should not be watered too often. It gives me much pleasure to know the right way of handling them. How interesting it is to be able to keep my flowers and plants alive and watch them thrive and bloom year in year out! It is no exaggeration to say that there is much knowledge involved in this! And the more knowledge one acquires, the better it is of course.
As I have some trouble with my leg, I can’t more around easily, nor can I sit too long. I don’t know if the flowers under my care are grateful to me or not. However, I wish for my part to acknowledge my thanks to them. I often leave off sedentary work after writing a few dozen words and go to the courtyard to take a look at the flowers, watering them and moving about the potted ones. Then I’ll return to my room to write a bit more. I’ll go through the same back-and-forth process again and again, thus combining mental with manual labour. This is a better way to keep me fit in mind and body than taking medicine. In case of a violent storm or a sudden change of weather, however, the whole family will have to turn out to salvage the flowers and plants. Everybody will then feel keyed up. By the time when we have managed to move the several hundred potted flowers to the rooms in a hurry, we will be dog-tired and wet with perspiration. The next day, when the weather is fine, we will have another round of being dog-tired and wet with perspiration in taking all the flowers out to the courtyard again. How interesting it is! Isn’t it true that without doing manual labour, we couldn’t even keep a single flower alive?
It filled the whole family with pride whenever the milkman exclaims
on entering our gate, “What a sweet smell!” When the night-blooming cereuses are about to be in flower, we will invite some friends to visit us in the evening to feast their eyes on them—in an atmosphere smacking of nocturnal merry-making under candle lights. When the cereuses have branched out, we will pick some of the flowers and give them as a present to our friends. We are of course especially happy to see them take away our fruits of labour.
Of course, there is a time to feel sad too. Last summer, a rainstorm hit us when 300 chrysanthemum seedlings in the courtyard were about to be transplanted to pots. Suddenly, the wall of our neighbour collapsed and crushed more than 100 seedlings of 30 varieties. The whole family were sad-faced for quiet a few days!
Joy and sorrow, laughter and tears, flowers and fruit, fragrance and colour, manual labour and increased knowledge—all these make up the joy of flower cultivation.
注释：
老舍的《养花》于1956年10月21日发表在《文汇报》上。老舍爱花，写出了养花的乐趣，视花儿为自己生命的一部分，人花合一。文章短小简练，朴素隽永。
(1)“所以也爱养花“译为hence have taken to growing them，其中动词短语to take to的意思是“开始喜欢”。此句也可译为are therefore fond of growing flowers。