红楼梦Chapter23_小升初阅读_小升初-查字典英语网

红楼梦Chapter23

When this season drew near， the interior of the grounds， with the flowers waving like embroidered sashes， and the willows fanned by the fragrant breeze， was no more as desolate and silent as it had been in previous days; but without indulging in any further irrelevant details， we shall now go back to Pao-yue.

Ever since he shifted his quarters into the park， his heart was full of joy， and his mind of contentment， fostering none of those extraordinary ideas， whose tendency could be to give birth to longings and hankerings. Day after day， he simply indulged， in the company of his female cousins and the waiting-maids， in either reading his books， or writing characters， or in thrumming the lute， playing chess， drawing pictures and scanning verses， even in drawing patterns of argus pheasants， in embroidering phoenixes， contesting with them in searching for strange plants， and gathering flowers， in humming poetry with gentle tone， singing ballads with soft voice， dissecting characters， and in playing at mora， so that， being free to go everywhere and anywhere， he was of course completely happy. From his pen emanate four ballads on the times of the four seasons， which， although they could not be looked upon as first-rate， afford anyhow a correct idea of his sentiments， and a true account of the scenery.

the ballad on the spring night runs as follows：

the silken curtains， thin as russet silk， at random are spread out. The croak of frogs from the adjoining lane but faintly strikes the ear. The pillow a slight chill pervades， for rain outside the window falls. The landscape， which now meets the eye， is like that seen in dreams by man. In plenteous streams the candles tears do drop， but for whom do they weep? Each particle of grief felt by the flowers is due to anger against me. Its all because the maids have by indulgence indolent been made. The cover over me Ill pull， as I am loth to laugh and talk for long.