| The first winter I spent here, we hastened to the market to buy the biggest firework I could carry. We fixed on one about the size of a small washing machine, and my wife haggled the price down to about twenty quid. With our booty on my shoulders, I staggered off in search of a taxi, and we made our way to my in-laws. They live in an industrial area on the outskirts of the city, and the local children don't get to see a lot of the fireworks in the centre. We made great merry with my prize, which fired off a couple of dozen charges that would not have disgraced the Edinburgh Festival. |
我在吉林度過的第一個冬天，我們急急忙忙地去市場購買我能拿得動的最大的焰火。我們看中了一個有小型洗衣機那么大的，我妻子把價錢砍到兩英鎊左右。我把我們的戰利品扛在肩膀上，踉踉蹌蹌地走開來去找出租車。最終我們回到了我岳父母的家里。他們住在市郊的工業區，當地的孩子看不到市中心燃放的焰火。我的戰利品給大伙帶來了極大的歡樂，它一連噴出了幾十發焰火，即使拿到愛丁堡藝術節上燃放也毫不遜色。 |
| Chinese New Year's Day in Jilin is extraordinary. From dawn until dusk, then all through the night until dawn again, there is never a moment when there is not the sound of fireworks or firecrackers exploding somewhere within earshot. |
在吉林過正月初一真是棒極了。從黎明到黃昏，再到深夜直至第二天拂曉，耳邊煙花爆竹的爆炸聲從未停息過。 |
| At midnight I go up to the roof of our apartment building on near the center of town, and climb up the telephone mast. All around me in every direction and as far as I can see, the sky is filled with fireworks and the air is filled with the sound of crackers. |
那天午夜時分，我登上位于市中心附近的公寓屋頂，爬上了電話塔。四面八方，目光所及之處，焰火鋪滿夜空，耳中充斥著爆竹的聲音。 |
| Lantern Festival is the fifteenth day of the Chinese New Year, and the last day of the celebrations. In the streets you can buy a paper lantern attached to a lump of solid paraffin. Write a message of love, hope or luck on the paper, then light the paraffin, and the lantern will float off into the void to bring you your wishes. |
元宵節是中國春節的第十五天，也是慶典的最后一日。你可以在街上買個紙燈籠，下面帶著一小團石蠟。在紙上寫下充滿愛意、希望或祝福的話，然后點燃石蠟，燈籠就會冉冉升入虛空，實現你的心愿。 |
| The city provides a firework display for the Lantern Festival. Two wide boulevards line the riverbanks. Hundreds of thousands of people crowd the streets on the city center side, and the fireworks are fired off from the opposite bank. At the climax of the display there is a huge explosion. You look up into the sky. Three giant willow trees hang in the sky, silvered with Jilin Rime. The effect last for perhaps thirty seconds, and disappears. |
吉林市在元宵節那天舉行了焰火晚會。沿著河岸有兩條大街。成千上萬的人聚集在靠近市中心這邊的街道上，觀看河對岸的焰火騰空而起。當晚會達到最高潮時，進行了一次大規模的燃放。仰望夜空，三棵巨大的掛滿銀色的霧凇的垂柳縱貫天際。這美景持續了大約30秒鐘，而后消失。 |
| The spectators give a great cheer for their city, then drift off into the night. |
觀眾們為自己的城市放聲歡呼，然后在黑夜中漸漸散去。
（China.org.cn 李瀟 譯）
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![Wu Song – Jilin Rime. Ethereal beauty at dawn. [Jilin City Government] 吉林霧凇](http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20091116/000cf1a48b7f0c6aec0b03.jpg "Wu Song – Jilin Rime. Ethereal beauty at dawn. [Jilin City Government] 吉林霧凇")
