黎明前的皮卡迪利大街

After the stir and ceaseless traffic of the day， the silence of Piccadilly early in the morning， in the small hours， seems barely credible. It is unnatural and rather ghostly. The great street in its emptiness has a sort of solemn broadness， descending in a majestic sweep with the assured and stately ease of a placid river. The are is pure and limpid， but resonant， so that a solitary cab suddenly sends the whole street ringing， and the heavy pace of the horse resounds with long reverberations. Impressive because of their regularity， the electric lights， self-assertive and brazen， flood the surroundings with a strong and snowy brightness； with a kind of indifferent violence they cast their light upon the huge silent houses， and lower down throw into distinctness the long evenness of the park railings and the nearer trees. And between， outshone， like an uneven string of discolored gems， twinkles the yellow flicker of the gas jets.

　　There is silence everywhere， but the houses are quiet and still with a different silence form the rest， standing very white but for the black gaping of the many windows. In their sleep， closed and bolted， they line the pavement， helplessly as it were， disordered and undignified， having lost all significance without the busy hum of human voices and the hurrying noise of persons passing in and out.

　　（Adapted for Piccadilly Before Dawn by W. Somerset Maugham） Lisbon， Portugal

　　ceaseless 不停的，無休止的

　　ghostly 如同幽霛般的

　　majestic 雄偉的，壯麗的

　　sweep 範圍，區域

　　stately 莊嚴的，雄偉的

　　placid 平靜溫和的

　　limpid 清澈透明的

　　resonant 廻響的，共鳴的

　　resound 廻響，充滿聲音

　　reverberation 廻聲

　　self-assertive 自作主張的

　　brazen 黃銅色的

　　gem 寶石

　　twinkle 閃爍，閃耀

　　flicker 忽隱忽現

　　gaping 洞開

　　bolted 上了閂的

　　undignified 不威嚴的，不莊重的