几个星期前，我有幸乘坐早班火车从普罗维登斯来到波士顿，为此我特地凌晨两点就起床已毕。
Everything around was wrapped in darkness and hushed in silence, broken only by what seemed at that hour the unearthly clank and rush of the train.
万物陷于黑暗之中悄无声息，只是在列车发出隆隆轰鸣突然启动的那一刻，这种平静才骤然打破。
It was a mild, serene, midsummer's night,—the sky was without a cloud, the winds were whist.
这是一个温暖宁静的仲夏之夜——天空没有一丝云彩，微风和煦。
The moon, then in the last quarter, had just risen, and the stars shone with a spectral luster but little affected by her presence.
在最后四分之一路程，月亮才爬上天际。星星散发出幽灵一般的光栅，丝毫无法影响月亮的光辉。
Jupiter, two hours high, was the herald of the day; the Pleiades, just above the horizon, shed their sweet influence in the east;
木星悬于天际已经两个钟头了，预示着拂晓将至。在地平线上，昴宿星已经露出脸来，东方泛出鱼肚白。
Lyra sparkled near the zenith; Andromeda veiled her newly-discovered glories from the naked eye in the south;
天琴星座在天顶附近闪闪发光，仙女星座遮盖住从南方裸露的眼睛绽放出的刚发现的光芒。
the steady Pointers, far beneath the pole, looked meekly up from the depths of the north to their sovereign.
在地极之下，一成不变的指针温顺地从北极深处向上窥探着它们的王国。
Such was the glorious spectacle as I entered the train.
我登上列车时，眼前出现的就是这幅壮丽景象。
As we proceeded, the timid approach of twilight became more perceptible; the intense blue of the sky began to soften;
随着列车行进，黎明前的曙光羞怯地展露出来，越发容易察觉。天际一线的蓝色开始变得轻柔可亲。
the smaller stars, like little children, went first to rest; the sister beams of the Pleiades soon melted together;
那些很小的星星就像嗷嗷待哺的孩子似的，首先停止了啼哭。昴宿星系星团的光栅很快便一同隐去，
but the bright constellations of the west and north remained unchanged.
不过西方和北方那些明亮的恒星透过云层依旧散出光芒。
Steadily the wondrous transfiguration went on.
星团继续变换着奇异的形状和姿态。
