waiting for the breeze-凯发k8官网

waiting for the breeze 祈盼清风

lying in bed, by an open window, and listen.....
窗边静躺，细心聆听······

"no air-conditioning, how can you sleep?" my fiend asks, ¹. i've just revealed that my family had ² to shut the air-conditioner off and trim our electric bill.
“不开空调？能睡得着吗？”听说家人要为了节省电费而把家里的空调关掉时，我的朋友一脸惊愕。

on its first night of our cost-cutting adventure, it's only eighty-five degrees. we're not going to suffer, but the three kids ³ anyway.
在大胆尝试节电的第一天晚上，气温不过华氏85°而已，我们并不觉得难受，但三个孩子却怨声连天。

"it's too hot to sleep." my thirteen-year-old daught moans. "i'm about to die from this heat!" her brother hollers down the hall. "just try it tonight." i tell them. in truth, i'm too tired to argue for long. my face is sweaty, but i lie quietly, listening to the criket ⁴ outside. that remind me of childhood.
“太热了！怎么睡啊！”我十三岁的女儿不停嘀咕着。“热死我啦！”他弟弟的牢骚声也从客厅的另一头传来。我只好说：“今晚就试着忍一忍，好吗？”其实我根本没有余力多做解释。脸上也出汗了。我静静地躺着，聆听着窗外蟋蟀的合奏曲，思绪被牵回到了童年时光。

i think about my grandma, who lived to ninety-two and still supervised my mom's garden until just few weeks before she died. and then i'm back there in her house in the summer heat of my child ⁵. i moved my pillow to the foot of grandma's bed and angled my face toward the open window. i ⁶ the pillow, hunting for the cooller side.
这是我禁不住想起了外婆，她活到了92岁，直到去世前的几个礼拜，她一直都帮助妈妈照料着花园。回到童年炎热的夏天，回到了外婆的小屋，我把枕头移到外婆的床位，脸朝着窗。之后我又把枕头翻了过来，让比较凉爽的一头朝上。

grandma sees me thrashing, "if you just watch for the breeze," she says, "you'll cool off and fall asleep." she cranks up the vanetian blinds. i stare at the filmy white curtain, willing it to flutter. lying still and waiting, i suddenly notice that life outside the window, the ⁷ chorus. neighbours, porch-sitting late, speaking in ⁸ words with sanded edges that ⁹ me.
看到我翻来翻去地睡不着，外婆说：“只要用心去感受和祈盼，风会来的，这样你就可以一身清凉地入梦乡了。”她把百叶窗拉了起来，于是我就一直注视着朦胧的白窗帘，等待它的飘动。静静地躺着，祈盼着，这是我忽然找到，窗外世界的生命。小虫的清唱；门廊外闲聊着的邻居，他们模糊不清的喋喋细语开始催我入眠······

"mom, did you heat that?" my seven-year-old ¹⁰, "i think it was an ¹¹ family."
“妈妈，您听到了吗？”我7岁的孩子囔道，“我觉得那是一头猫头鹰一家子在叫。”

"probably." i tell him, "just keep listening!"
“很有可能！”我跟他说，“再仔细听!”

without the droning air-conditioner, the house is oddly peaceful, and the unfiltered noise seems close enough to touch. i hope i'm awake tonight that the first breeze ¹² in.
没有了空调机的嗡嗡声，房间飘逸着一种奇异的祥和气氛，还有未经过滤的、亲近的伸手就可触及的夜声。真的希望，当第一缕清风悄然而至的时候，我依然能够迎接她的到来。