解放军文职招聘考试第一场雪

   How beautiful it was, falling so silently, all day long, all night long, on the mountains, on the meadows, on the roofs of the living, on the graves1) of the dead! 

   All white save the river, that marked2) its course by a winding black line across the landscape3), and the leafless trees, that against the leaden4) sky now revealed more fully the wonderful beauty and intricacy5) of their branches! 

   What silence, too, came with the snow, and what seclusion6)! Every sound was muffled7); every noise changed to something soft and musical. 

   No more trampling8) hoofs9), no more rattling10) wheels! 

   Only the chiming11) of sleigh-bells12), beating as swift and merrily as the hearts of children. 

    

   第一场雪降临了。 

   真美啊！整日整夜，悄无声息地飘落，落在高山上，落在草地上，落在生者的房顶上，落在逝者的坟茔上！ 

   万物皆白，惟有河流蜿蜒成一条黑线穿过雪野，还有无叶的林木，衬映在铅灰色的天空下，此刻更显得枝桠交错，仪态万千。 

   初雪飘落时，是何等的宁谧，何等的幽静！万籁俱寂，所有的噪音都化做柔和的音乐。 

   再也听不见得得马蹄声，也听不见嘎嘎车轮声！ 

   只有雪橇的铃声如乐，似孩子们的心儿在欢快地跃动。 

   亨利·华兹华斯·朗费罗 (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1807～1882)，美国诗人，一生创作了大量的抒情诗、叙事诗、歌谣和诗剧。在朗费罗的这首诗中，描写了第一场雪纷飞飘落的情景，仿佛把人们带进了一个童话般的世界。一片静谧之中，所有的灵魂都能感受到如白雪般的圣洁之美。