站一个至高点看上海，上海的弄堂是壮观的景象。
LOOKED DOWN UPON from the highest point in the city, Shanghai's longtang—her vast neighborhoods inside enclosed alleys—are a magnificent sight.
它是这城市背景一样的东西。
The longtang are the backdrop of this city.
街道和楼房凸现在它之上，是一些点和线，而它则是中国画中称为皴法的那类笔触，是将空白填满的。
Streets and buildings emerge around them in a series of dots and lines, like the subtle brushstrokes that bring life to the empty expanses of white paper in a traditional Chinese landscape painting.
当天黑下来，灯亮起来的时分，这些点和线都是有光的，在那光后面，大片大片的暗，便是上海的弄堂了。
As day turns into night and the city lights up, these dots and lines begin to glimmer.
However, underneath the glitter lies an immense blanket of darkness—these are the longtang of Shanghai.
那暗看上去几乎是波涛汹涌，几乎要将那几点几线的光推着走似的。
The darkness looks almost to be a series of furious waves that threaten to wash away the glowing dots and lines.
它是有体积的，而点和线却是浮在面上的，是为划分这个体积而存在的，是文章里标点一类的东西，断行断句的。
It has volume, whereas all those lines and dots float on the surface—they are there only to differentiate the areas of this dark mass, like punctuation marks whose job it is to break up an essay into sentences and paragraphs.
那暗是像深渊一样，扔一座山下去，也悄无声息地沉了底。
The darkness is like an abyss—even a mountain falling in would be swallowed whole and sink silently to the bottom.
那暗里还像是藏着许多礁石，一不小心就会翻了船的。
Countless reefs lurk beneath this swelling ocean of darkness, where one false move could capsize a ship.
上海的几点几线的光，全是叫那暗托住的，一托便是几十年。
The darkness buoys up Shanghai's handful of illuminated lines and dots, supporting them decade after decade.
这东方巴黎的璀璨，是以那暗作底铺陈开，一铺便是几十年。
Against this decades-old backdrop of darkness, the Paris of the Orient unfolds her splendor.
如今，什么都好像旧了似的，一点一点露出了真迹。
Today, everything looks worn out, exposing bit by bit what lies underneath.
晨曦一点一点亮起，灯光一点一点熄灭。
One strand at a time, the first rays of the morning sun shine through just as, one by one, the city lights go out.
先是有薄薄的雾，光是平直的光，勾出轮廓，细工笔似的。
Everything begins from a cover of light fog, through which a horizontal ray of light crafts an outline as if drawing it out with a fine brush.
最先跳出来的是老式弄堂房顶的老虎天窗，它们在晨雾里有一种精致乖巧的模样，那木框窗扇是细雕细作的；那屋披上的瓦是细工细排的；窗台上花盆里的月季花也是细心细养的。
First to appear are the dormer windows protruding from the rooftop tingzijian of those traditional longtang buildings, showing themselves off with a certain self-conscious delicacy; the wooden shutters are carefully delineated, the handmade rooftop tiles are arranged with precision, even the potted roses on the windowsills have been cared for painstakingly.
然后晒台也出来了，有隔夜的衣衫，滞着不动的，像画上的衣衫；晒台矮墙上的水泥脱落了，露出锈红色的砖，也像是画上的，一笔一划都清晰的。
Next to emerge are the balconies; here articles of clothing hung out to dry the night before cling motionless like a scene out of a painting.
The cement on the balustrade peels away to reveal the rusty red bricks beneath—this too looks as if painted in a picture, each brushstroke appearing clear and distinct.
再接着，山墙上的裂纹也现出了，还有点点绿苔，有触手的凉意似的。
After that come the cracked gable walls, lined with traces of green moss that look cold and clammy to the touch.
第一缕阳光是在山墙上的，这是很美的图画，几乎是绚烂的，又有些荒凉；是新鲜的，又是有年头的。
The first rays of light shining on the gable walls create a stunning picture, a gorgeous portrait, bearing just a hint of desolation, fresh and new yet not without a past.
这时候，弄底的水泥地还在晨雾里头，后弄要比前弄的雾更重一些。
At this moment the cement pavement of the longtang is still enveloped in fog, which lingers thick in the back alleys.
新式里弄的铁栏杆的阳台上也有了阳光，在落地的长窗上折出了反光。
But on the iron-railed balconies of the newer longtang apartments the sunlight is already striking the glass panes on the French doors, which refract the light.
这是比较锐利的一笔，带有揭开帷幕，划开夜与昼的意思。
This stroke is a relatively sharp one, and seems to pull back the curtain that separates day from night.
雾终被阳光驱散了，什么都加重了颜色，绿苔原来是黑的，窗框的木头也是发黑的，阳台的黑铁栏杆却是生了黄锈，山墙的裂缝里倒长出绿色的草，飞在天空里的白鸽成片灰鸽。
The sunlight finally drives away the fog, washing everything in its path with a palette of strong color.
The moss turns out to be not green but a dark raven hue, the wooden window frames start to blacken, and the iron railing on the balcony becomes a rusted yellow.
One can see blades of green grass growing from between the cracks in the gables, and the white pigeons turn gray as they soar up into the sky.
上海的弄堂是形形种种，声色各异的。
Shanghai's longtang come in many different forms, each with colors and sounds of its own.
它们有时候是那样，有时候是这样，莫衷一是的模样。
Unable to decide on any one appearance, they remain fickle, sometimes looking like this, sometimes looking like that.
其实它们是万变不离其宗，形变神不变的，它们是倒过来倒过去最终说的还是那一桩事，千人手面，又万众一心的。
Actually, despite their constant fluctuations, they always remain the same—the shape may shift but the spirit is unchanged.
Back and forth they go, but in the end it's the same old story, like an army of a thousand united by a single goal.