我从北地向东南旅行，绕道访了我的家乡，就到Ｓ城。
Travelling down from the north, I broke my journey south-east with a detour to the part of the country I'd grown up in.
Along the way, I found myself stopping off in S—,
这城离我的故乡不过三十里，坐了小船，小半天可到，我曾在这里的学校里当过一年的教员。
a town some ten miles - less than half a day's travel by small boat - from the old family home, and where I'd once taught for a year.
深冬雪后，风景凄清，懒散和怀旧的心绪联结起来，我竟暂寓在S城的洛思旅馆里了；这旅馆是先前所没有的。
In the depth of winter after snow the landscape was bleak; but a combination of indolence and nostalgia made me put up briefly in the Luo Si Hotel, a new hotel since my time.
城圈本不大，寻访了几个以为可以会见的旧同事，一个也不在，早不知散到那里去了，经过学校的门口，也改换了名称和模样，于我很生疏。
The town was small.
I looked for several old colleagues I thought I might find, but not one of them was there.
They had long since gone their different waysAnd when I passed the gate of the school that too had changed its name and appearance, making me feel quite a stranger.
不到两个时辰，我的意兴早已索然，颇悔此来为多事了。
Within four hours, my sentimental enthusiasm had evaporated, and I was rather regretting this unnecessary diversion.
我所住的旅馆是租房不卖饭的，饭菜必须另外叫来，但又无味，入口如嚼泥土。
The hotel I was in let rooms but did not serve meals, which had to be ordered from outside, but these were about as unpalatable as mud.
窗外只有渍痕班驳的墙壁，帖着枯死的莓苔；上面是铅色的天，白皑皑的绝无精采，而且微雪又飞舞起来了。
Outside my window, withered moss clung to a stain-mottled wall above which there was nothing to relieve the monotonous pallor of the leaden sky, a pallor emphasized by the light snow that had begun dancing in the wind.
我午餐本没有饱，又没有可以消遣的事情，便很自然的想到先前有一家很熟识的小酒楼，叫一石居的，算来离旅馆并不远。
Since I hadn't eaten enough lunch and had nothing to occupy my time, my thoughts turned quite naturally to the Gallon, a little two-storied wineshop where my face had once been a familiar one.It occurred to me that this new hotel couldn't be far from it.
我于是立即锁了房门，出街向那酒楼去。
I immediately locked my door and set out to find it.
其实也无非想姑且逃避客中的无聊，并不专为买醉。
It wasn't that I wanted to get intoxicated, but simply that I wanted to escape, if only for a moment, that awful nothing-to-do feeling that so often besets the traveler.
一石居是在的，狭小阴湿的店面和破旧的招牌都依旧；但从掌柜以至堂倌却已没有一个熟人，我在这一石居中也完全成了生客。
Outside, the tavern looked much as it had always done: the same narrow, drab, damp facade; the same shabby sign.
But inside, I recognized no one, neither the bar manager nor the waiters: I was a stranger in my old haunt.
然而我终于跨上那走熟的屋角的扶梯去了，由此径到小楼上。
Yet I found myself climbing once more up those familiar old bannistered stairs in the corner.
上面也依然是五张小板桌；独有原是木棂的后窗却换嵌了玻璃。
The narrow first-floor room was cramped, as ever, with five small tables; the only change was to the back window, its old wooden lattice newly inlaid with glass.
十个油豆腐，辣酱要多！”
and ten bean-curd fritters, with plenty of chilli sauce!”
我一面说给跟我上来的堂棺听，一面向后窗走，就在靠窗的一张桌旁坐下了。
Saying this to the waiter who had followed me up, I made straight for the table under the back window.
楼上“空空如也”，任我拣得最好的坐位：可以眺望楼下的废园。
The fact that the place was empty enabled me to pick the best seat, one with a view of the deserted garden below.
这园大概是不属于酒家的，我先前也曾眺望过许多回，有时也在雪天里。
Most likely this did not belong to the tavern.
I had looked out at it many times in the past, sometimes too in snowy weather.
但现在从惯于北方的眼睛看来，却很值得惊异了：几株老梅竟斗雪开着满树的繁花，仿佛毫不以深冬为意；倒塌的亭子边还有一株山茶树，从晴绿的密叶里显出十几朵红花来，赫赫的在雪中明得如火，愤怒而且傲慢，如蔑视游人的甘心于远行。
But now, to forgetful eyes that had become accustomed to the scenery of north China, there were things in that courtyard well worth marveling at.Several old plum trees were doggedly blossoming in the midst of the snow as though oblivious to the rigors of winter, and next to a pavilion that had long since collapsed, a camellia showed more than a dozen red blooms against thick, dark green leaves.Fire-bright against the snow, it stood there in all its grandeur, passionate and proud, seeming to scorn the wanderer's willingness to have ventured so far from home.
我这时又忽地想到这里积雪的滋润，著物不去，晶莹有光，不比朔雪的粉一般干，大风一吹，便飞得满空如烟雾。……
I was reminded again of the nourishing moisture of southern snow - clinging lustrously to anything it touches - so unlike the dry snow of the north, filling the air with powdery mist at the slightest touch of wind.
“客人，酒。……”
“Your wine, sir ...”
堂棺懒懒的说着，放下杯，筷，酒壶和碗碟，酒到了。
said the waiter slowly as he arranged cup, chopsticks, winepot, bowl, and saucer.
我转脸向了板桌，排好器具，斟出酒来。
I turned back to the table, arranged everything to my liking, and poured the wine.
觉得北方固不是我的旧乡，但南来又只能算一个客子，无论那边的干雪怎样纷飞，这里的柔雪又怎样的依恋，于我都没有什么关系了。
It occurred to me that while it was true the north wasn't my home, the south wasn't my home anymore either, for I was treated as a guest here too.No matter how the dry snow of the north scattered in the wind, no matter how the moist snow of the south clung to things-none of that had anything to do with me.
我略带些哀愁，然而很舒服的呷一口酒。
I medicated my melancholy with a sip of wine.