北平的地方那么大,事情那么多,我知道的真觉太少了,虽然我生在那里,一直到廿七岁才离开。
Peiping is so big and multifaceted that very little of it, I believe, is known to me though I was born and brought up there and never went away until I was 27.
以名胜说,我没到过陶然亭,这多可笑!
Just fantasy that I have neglected to visit even Tao Ran Ting, a local scenic attraction!
以此类推,我所知道的那点只是"我的北平",而我的北平大概等于牛的一毛。
It follows that, in contrast with Peiping in its entirety, what little I know about it is probably a mere drop in the ocean.
我说不出。
I can't tell why.
在我想做一件事,讨她老人家喜欢的时候,我独自微微地笑着;
I smile by myself when I think of something I can do to please mother; I feel like caring when I worry about mother's health.
言语是不够表现我的心情的,只有独自微笑或落泪才足以把内心揭露在外面一些来。
Words fail me where silent smiles in tears well express my innermost feelings.
我之爱北平也近乎这个。
The same is true of my love for Peiping.
我所爱的北平不是枝枝节节的一些什么,而是整个儿与我的心灵相粘合的一段历史,一大块地方,多少风景名胜,从雨后什刹海的蜻蜓一直到我梦里的玉泉山的塔影,都积凑到一块,每一小的事件中有个我,我的每一次思念中有个北平,这只有说不出而已。
Numerous scenic spots and historical sites from the Shi Sha Hai Lake with its dragonflies after a rain to the Yu Quan Shan Mountain with the dream pagoda on top -- all merge into a single whole.
真愿成为诗人,把一切好听好看的字都浸在自己的心血里,像杜鹃似的啼出北平的俊伟。
If only I were a poet so that, with all the sweet and beautiful words at my command, I could sing of the grandeur of Peiping in as a longing a note as that of a cuckoo!
我不是诗人!
Alas, I am no poet!
我将永远道不出我的爱,一种像由音乐与图画所引起的爱。
I shall never be able to express my love -- the kind of love as inspired by music or painting.
这不但是辜负了北平,也对不住我自己,因为我的最初的知识与印象都得自北平,它是在我的血里,我的性格与脾气里,有许多地方是这古城所赐给的。
That is quite a letdown to both Peiping and myself, for it is to this ancient city that I owe what I have within me, including my only knowledge and impressions as well as much of my character and temperament.
我不能爱上海与天津,因为我心中有个北平。
With Peiping processing my heart, I can never become attached to either Shanghai or Tianjin.
可是我说不出来!
I can't tell why.
伦敦,巴黎,罗马与堪司坦丁堡,曾被称为欧洲的四大"历史的都城"。
London, Paris, Rome and Constantinople known as the four major "historic capitals" of Europe.
巴黎与罗马只是到过而已;
I know something about London; I have been to Paris and Rome only briefly I have never visited Constantinople at all.
就伦敦,巴黎,罗马来说,巴黎更近似北平--虽然"近似"两字都拉扯得很远--不过,假使让我"家住巴黎",我一定会和没有家一样地感到寂苦。
Nevertheless, if I should make my home in Paris, I would feel very lonely as if I had no home at all.
巴黎,据我看,还太热闹。
As far as I know, Paris is too much of a bustling town.
自然,那里也有空旷静寂的地方,可是又未免太旷;
It does have quiet open spaces, but they smack of mere expanses of vacancy.
面向着积水滩,背后是城墙,坐在石上看水中的小蝌蚪或苇叶上的嫩蜻蜓,我可以快乐的坐一天,心中完全安适,无所求也无可怕,像小儿安睡在摇篮里。
I can spend a whole day enjoying myself sitting on a rock to observe tiny tadpoles in the water or tender dragonflies on reeds while facing me lies Ji Shui Tan Pond and right behind me rises the high city wall.
是的,北平也有热闹的地方,但是它和太极拳相似,动中有静。
There are also bustling places in Peiping, to be sure, but like the traditional Chinese shadow boxing Tai Ji Quan, the city retains its stillness in the midst of motion.
论说巴黎的布置已比伦敦罗马匀调地多了,可是比上北平还差点事儿。
Though Paris has a better layout than London a room, nevertheless cannot compare with Peiping.
北平在认为之中显出自然,几乎是什么地方既不挤得慌,又不太僻静:最小的胡同里的房子也有院子与树 最空旷的地方也离买卖街与住宅区不远。
The city as a whole is not too crowded nor to secluded., Even houses tucked away in very small lanes have their own courtyards and trees.
每一个层楼,每一个牌楼,都可以从老远就看见。
Each gate tower of the city wall and each pailou (decorated archway) can be seen from afar.