陈士成看过县考的榜，回到家里的时候，已经是下午了。
It was well past noon by the time Chen Shicheng was back from seeing the results for the county-level civil service examinations,
他去得本很早，一见榜，便先在这上面寻陈字。
He had set out early and begun searching for the surname Chen the instant he saw the list.
陈字也不少，似乎也都争先恐后的跳进他眼睛里来，然而接着的却全不是士成这两个字。
There were a good many Chens at that, and each one leaped into his eyes as though intent upon getting there before the others.
Not one, however, was followed by "Shicheng.”
他于是重新再在十二张榜的圆图⑵里细细地搜寻，看的人全已散尽了，而陈士成在榜上终于没有见，单站在试院的照壁的面前。
Again, and with great care, he searched through circle after circle of names on the twelve pages of the list, but even when the last of the candidates who had come to see the list finally drifted away, he still had not found it.
There he stood before the short stretch of wall on which the pages were posted-alone.
凉风虽然拂拂的吹动他斑白的短发，初冬的太阳却还是很温和的来晒他。
A cool wind was ruffling his short greying hair and the early winter sun shone warmly on him, yet he felt dizzy as if from a touch of the sun.
但他似乎被太阳晒得头晕了，脸色越加变成灰白，从劳乏的红肿的两眼里，发出古怪的闪光。
Dazzled by its bright-ness, his exhausted, puffy eyes glinted strangely within his ashen face.
这时他其实早已不看到什么墙上的榜文了，只见有许多乌黑的圆圈，在眼前泛泛的游走。
The list now swam before him, a shoal of black circles.
隽了秀才，上省去乡试，一径联捷上去，……绅士们既然千方百计的来攀亲，人们又都像看见神明似的敬畏，深悔先前的轻薄，发昏，……赶走了租住在自己破宅门里的杂姓――那是不劳说赶，自己就搬的，――屋宇全新了，门口是旗竿和扁额，……要清高可以做京官，否则不如谋外放。……
He had won his first degree in the country exami-nation and taken his second in the provincial capital, success following success...The local gentry were trying by every means to ally with him by marriage; people were treating him like a god, cursing themselves for their former contempt and blindness.The other families renting his tumble-down house had been driven away ― no need for that, they would move of their own accord ― and the whold place was completely renovat-ed with flagpoles and a placard at the gate...If he wanted to keep his hands clean he could be an official in the capital, otherwise some post in the provinces would prove more lucrative.
他平日安排停当的前程，这时候又像受潮的糖塔一般，刹时倒塌，只剩下一堆碎片了。
Like a tower of barley sugar attacked by rain, his glorious future crumbled about him, leaving only fragments at his feet.
他不自觉的旋转了觉得涣散了身躯，惘惘的走向归家的路。
Feeling as though his very being had similarly disintegrated, Chen wheeled his body around and no longer conscious of his own physical acts, headed off in a daze toward the road leading back to the family compound.
他刚到自己的房门口，七个学童便一齐放开喉咙，吱的念起书来。
The moment he reached his door, seven small boys raised their voices to drone their lesson together.
他大吃一惊，耳朵边似乎敲了一声磬，只见七个头拖了小辫子在眼前幌，幌得满房，黑圈子也夹着跳舞。
He started as if a chime had been struck by his ear, aware of seven heads with seven small queues bobbing in front of him, bobbing all over the room, with black circles dancing between.
他坐下了，他们送上晚课来，脸上都显出小觑他的神色。
As he sat down they handed in their homework, contempt for him manifest on every face.
“回去罢。”他迟疑了片时，这才悲惨的说。
'Off you go,' he managed miserably, after a brief hesitation.
他们胡乱的包了书包，挟着，一溜烟跑走了。
They snatched up their satchels, stuffed them un-der their arms, and were off like a streak of smoke.
陈士成还看见许多小头夹着黑圆圈在眼前跳舞，有时杂乱，有时也摆成异样的阵图，然而渐渐的减少了，模胡了。
A chaos of black heads and black circles continued to dance before his eyes.
In utter disarray at first, they began to cluster together in an orderly pattern.
Then little by little they diminished in number and began to fade away.
他大吃一惊，直跳起来，分明就在耳边的话，回过头去却并没有什么人，仿佛又听得嗡的敲了一声磬，自己的嘴也说道：“这回又完了！”
+Who said that?” He jumped to his feet, the words ringing in his ears, and looked around him: no one in sight. 'Failed again!” the voice repeated, his ears still buzzing.
他忽而举起一只手来，屈指计数着想，十一，十三回，连今年是十六回，竟没有一个考官懂得文章，有眼无珠，也是可怜的事，便不由嘻嘻的失了笑。
He held up his hand, counting on his fingers: eleven, thirteen, sixteen times, counting this year - sixteen times not a single examiner had known a good essay when he saw it.
A pitying laugh escaped him.
然而他愤然了，蓦地从书包布底下抽出誊真的制艺和试帖⑶来，拿着往外走，刚近房门，却看见满眼都明亮，连一群鸡也正在笑他，便禁不住心头突突的狂跳，只好缩回里面了。
Fury succeeded: from the bottom of his bag, he whipped out transcribed examination essays and poems, and made for the door.
But as he approached, the light shone uncomfortably in his eyes again and a flock of chickens cackled with laughter.
He rewith the present-day world.
他又就了坐，眼光格外的闪烁；他目睹着许多东西，然而很模胡，――是倒塌了的糖塔一般的前程躺在他面前，这前程又只是广大起来，阻住了他的一切路。
He sat down, the same curious glitter to his eyes.
Objects -a crowd of them - swam before him: his future lay before him like a crumbled tower of barley sugar, a monumental heap blocking his way forward.
别家的炊烟早消歇了，碗筷也洗过了，而陈士成还不去做饭。
The neighbours' kitchen fires were long since out, their bowls and chopsticks washed, but Chen Shciheng had not started cooking a meal.
寓在这里的杂姓是知道老例的，凡遇到县考的年头，看见发榜后的这样的眼光，不如及早关了门，不要多管事。
His tenants knew from years of experience that after he had seen the results of the country examinations their best course was to close their doors early and mind their own busi-ness.
最先就绝了人声，接着是陆续的熄了灯火，独有月亮，却缓缓的出现在寒夜的空中。
Quiet descended, then out went the lights - one by one - as the moon glided alone out into the cold night.
空中青碧到如一片海，略有些浮云，仿佛有谁将粉笔洗在笔洗里似的摇曳。
The sky hung over him in an ocean of blue, the occasional cloud drifting across its surface, like pieces of chalk dipped into inky water.