北京的名胜古迹，北京的妙处，我应该说是了解的；其他老北京当然也了解。
So I can well call myself a long-timer of Beijing.
但是有一点，我相信绝大多数的老北京并不了解，这就是黎明时分以前的北京。
Like all other long-timers of the city, I'm supposed to be very familiar with its scenic spots and historical sites, nay, its superb attractions.
多少年来，我养成了一个习惯：每天早晨四点在黎明以前起床工作。
But I believe there is one thing lying unknown to most of the long-time residents -- the predawn hours of Beijing.
我不出去跑步或散步，而是一下床就干活儿。
For many years, I have been in the habit of getting up before daybreak to start work at four.
因此我对黎明前的北京的了解是在屋子里感觉到的。
Instead of going out for a jog or walk, I'll set about my work as soon as I am out of bed.
我以前在什么报上读过一篇文章，讲黎明时分天安门广场上的清洁工人。
As a result, it is from inside my study that I've got the feeling of predawn Beijing.
那情景必然是非常动人的，可惜我从未能见到，只是心向往之而已。
Years ago, I hit upon a newspaper article about street cleaners in Tiananmen Square at daybreak.
四十年前，我住在城里在明朝曾经是特务机关的东厂里面。
It must have been a very moving scene, what a pity I haven't seen it with my own eyes.
几座深深的大院子，在最里面三个院子里只住着我一个人。
I can only picture it in my mind longingly. 40 years ago, I lived downtown in Dongchang, a compound which had housed the secret service of the Ming Dynasty.
朋友们都说这地方阴森可怕，晚上很少有人敢来找我，我则怡然自得。
There were inside it several deep spacious courtyards one leading into another.
每当夏夜，我起床以后，立刻就闻到院子里那些高大的马缨花树散发出来的阵阵幽香， 这些香气破窗而入，我于此时神清气爽，乐不可支，连手中那一支笨拙的笔也仿佛生了花。
I was the sole dweller of the three innermost courtyards.
几年以后，我搬到西郊来住，照例四点起床，坐在窗前工作。
My friends, calling this place too ghastly, seldom dared to come to see me in the evening whereas I myself found it quite agreeable.
白天透过窗子能够看到北京展览馆那金光闪闪的高塔的尖顶，此时当然看不到了。
In summer, the moment I got out of bed before daybreak, I would smell the delicate fragrance of the giant silk trees coming from outside my window.
但是，我知道，即使我看不见它，它仍然在那里挺然耸入天空，仿佛想带给人以希望，以上进的劲头。
Thereupon, I will feel refreshed and joyful, and the clumsy pen in my hand would seem to have become as agile as it could.
我仍然是乐不可支，心也仿佛飞上了天空。
Several years later when I moved to the western suburbs, I kept my habit of rising at four to begin work at the window.
过了年，我又搬了家。
The glittering spire atop the tower of the Beijing Exhibition Center, which I could see in the daytime through my window, will no longer be visible now in the early morning haze.
这新居既没有马缨花，也看不到金色的塔顶。
Nevertheless I knew that, though invisible, it remained there intact, towering to the skies to inspire people with hope and the urge to moving ahead.
但是门前却有一片青碧的荷塘。
At this, I would be beside myself with joy and feel as if my heart was also flying high up into the skies.
刚搬来的几年，池塘里还有荷花。
Ten years after, I moved again.
夏天早晨四四点已经算是黎明十分，在薄暗中透过窗子可以看到接天莲叶，而荷花的香气也幽然袭来，我顾而乐之，大有超出马缨花和金色塔顶之上的意味了。
And the new home of mine, I had no silk trees, nor could I get sight of the glittering spire from afar.
难道我欣赏黎明前的北京仅仅由于上述的原因吗？
There was, however, a lotus pond of limpid blue in front of my door.
不是的。
In the first few years after I moved there, lotus flowers continued to blossom on the surface of the pond.
三十几年以来，我成了一个"开会迷"。
In the summertime, when day broke early at four, a vast stretch of lotus leaves looking skywards outside my window came dimly into sight while the quiet fragrance of the lotus flowers **assailed** my nose.
说老实话，积三十年之经验，我真有点怕开会了。
All that delighted me even more than the silk trees and the glittering spire.