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 was the sole dweller of the three innermost courtyards.
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。
My friends, calling this place too ghastly, seldom dared to come to see me in the evening whereas I myself found it quite agreeable.
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。
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.
几年以后，我搬到西郊来住，照例四点起床，坐在窗前工作。
Several years later when I moved to the western suburbs, I kept my habit of rising at four to begin work at the window.
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。
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.
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。
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.
我仍然是乐不可支，心也仿佛飞上了天空。
At this, I would be beside myself with joy and feel as if my heart was also flying high up into the skies.
过了10年，我又搬了家。
Ten years after, I moved again.
但是门前却有一片青碧的荷塘。
There was, however, a lotus pond of limpid blue in front of my door.
刚搬来的几年，池塘里还有荷花。
In the first few years after I moved there, lotus flowers continued to blossom on the surface of the pond.
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。
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.
难道我欣赏黎明前的北京仅仅由于上述的原因吗？
Is it exclusively due to the above mentioned that I've developed a liking for predawn Beijing?
三十几年以来，我成了一个"开会迷"。
For 30 years, I've been bogged down in the mire of meetings.
说老实话，积三十年之经验，我真有点怕开会了。
To tell you the truth, with the experience accumulated over the 30 years, I am now scared of meetings.
在白天，一整天说不定什么时候就会接到开会的通知。
In the daytime, there is no telling when I may be served a notice for attending a meeting.
即使不开会，这种惴惴不安的心情总摆脱不掉。
Even when no meeting is to take place, I feel restless all the same.
因此，我起床在桌子旁边一坐，仿佛有什么尽是条件反射的东西，立刻就起了作用，我心里安安静静，一下子进入角色，拿起笔来，"文思"（如果也算是文思的话）如泉水喷涌， 记忆力也像刚磨过的刀子，锐不可当。
As soon as I sit at my desk before dawn, something similar to the conditioned reflex will begin to function within me: instantly I'll pick up my pen to play my proper part with perfect peace of mind.
因此，我爱北京，特别爱黎明前的北京。
In short, I love Beijing, especially predawn Beijing.
文学批评无用论
On the Futility of Literary Criticism Ji Xianlin
读最近一期的《文学评论》， 里面有几篇关于"红学"的文章，引起了我的注意。
In the latest issue of the Literary Review, several articles on Redology have attracted my attention.
有的作者从困境中找出路。
Some of the authors are introspective as well as critical; some try to find a way out of the academic predicament; some sign with regret that Redology is faced with a crisis; and so on and so forth.
文章的论点都非常精彩，很有启发。
The argument set forth in the articles are very interesting and enlightening.
但是，我却忽然想到了一个怪问题：这样的"红学"有用处吗？
Nevertheless, a strange question has occurred to me: is this kind of Redology of any use at all?
对红学家本身，对于在大学里和研究所里从事文学理论研究的人，当然有用。
It is of course useful to the Redologists themselves as well as to those engaged in the study of literary theory at universities and research institutes.