立夏之日，天光甚好。阳光从窗格里钻进来，在砖地上爬行，竟有些烫脚。我坐在桌前，看那光斑一寸寸挪移，恍如一条无声的蛇。On the day of the beginning of summer, the sky is very bright. The sunlight came in through the panes, crawling on the brick floor, and it was a bit hot for the feet. I sat at the table and watched the light move inch by inch, like a silent snake.
街上行人渐多，皆换了单薄衣裳。女人露出臂膊，男人敞着领口，各自显出一截皮肉来。偏有几个顽固的老者，仍裹着夹袄，在人群中蹒跚而行，显得极不协调。我想，大约人老了，血液也流得慢了，故而怕冷。又或者，不过是习惯使然，与冷暖并无干系。There were more and more pedestrians on the street, and they all changed into thin clothes. The woman bared her arms, and the man had an open neckline, each showing a piece of flesh and skin. There were a few stubborn old men, still wrapped in jackets, staggering through the crowd, looking extremely incongruous. I think that when people get old, their blood flows slowly, so they are afraid of cold. Or, it's just a matter of habit and has nothing to do with warmth and coldness
菜市口已有卖西瓜的摊子了。瓜农蹲在路边，用草帽扇风，眼睛却紧盯着过往行人。那西瓜绿得发亮，排在地上，像一排整齐的头颅。买者寥寥，大约是嫌时节尚早。我驻足观看，只见一个妇人携小儿经过，小儿嚷着要买，妇人却道："立夏的瓜，不甜。"便拽着啼哭的孩子去了。瓜农也不恼，只将草帽往脸上一盖，竟自睡去。There are already stalls selling watermelons at the entrance of the vegetable market. The melon farmer squatted on the side of the road, fanning the wind with his straw hat, but his eyes were fixed on passers-by. The watermelon was shiny green and lined up on the ground like a neat row of heads. There are few buyers, and it is about too early to tell. I stopped to watch, and saw a woman passing by with a child, and the child shouted to buy it, but the woman said, "The melon in Lixia is not sweet." And he dragged the weeping child with him. The melon farmer was not annoyed, only put his straw hat on his face, and fell asleep
邻家的小儿女在巷子里追逐嬉戏，额上沁出细密的汗珠。他们不知从哪里捉来几只蜻蜓，用线拴了，任其飞舞。蜻蜓的翅膀在阳光下显出透明的脉络，宛如极薄的琉璃。小儿女的笑声尖锐，刺得人耳膜生疼。忽而一只蜻蜓断了线，歪歪斜斜飞上屋檐，转眼不见了。最大的那个孩子便哭起来，其余几个面面相觑，随即又去追剩下的几只了。The children of the neighborhoods chased and frolicked in the alleys, fine beads of sweat on their foreheads. They caught a few dragonflies out of nowhere, tied them with strings, and let them fly. The wings of the dragonfly show transparent veins in the sunlight, like extremely thin glass. The children's laughter was so sharp that it pierced people's eardrums. Suddenly, a dragonfly broke its string, flew up to the eaves crookedly, and disappeared in a blink of an eye. The eldest child began to cry, and the others looked at each other, and then went after the others.
午后的茶馆里，闲人满座。有摇扇的，有打盹的，更多的是谈天的。话题无非是年成好坏、物价涨落，偶尔夹杂些邻里的丑闻。跑堂的提着长嘴铜壶穿梭其间，额上的汗也顾不得擦。我坐在角落里，听他们高谈阔论，忽有一人道："立夏吃蛋，石头踩烂。"众人便哄笑起来，纷纷从兜里掏出煮熟的鸡蛋，在桌角敲开。蛋壳碎裂的声音此起彼伏，像是某种奇特的仪式。每段中文后添加英文翻译。In the afternoon teahouse, it was full of idlers. There are fans, there are naps, and more are chattering. The topic is nothing more than good or bad years, rising and falling prices, and occasionally some neighborhood scandals. The runner carried a long-spouted copper kettle through the room, and the sweat on his forehead couldn't be wiped away. I sat in the corner, listening to their talk, and suddenly one of them said: "Lixia eats eggs, and stones are rotten." Then the crowd burst into laughter, and took hard-boiled eggs out of their pockets and knocked them on the corners of the table. The sound of eggshells shattering came and went, like some strange ritual. An English translation is added after each paragraph in Chinese
