——silently we unlatch the door，letting the drift fall in，and step abroad to face the cutting air．Already the stars have lost some of their spatkle，and a dull，leaden mist skirts the horizon．A lurid brazen light in the east proclaims the approach of day．The recent tracks of the fox or ot-ter，in the yard，remind us that each hour of the night is crowded with events，and the primeval nature is still working and making tracks in the snow．Opening the gate，we tread briskly along the lone country road．crunching the dry and crisped snow under our feet……while far through the drifts and powdered windows we see the farmer’s early candle．like a paled star，emitting a lonely beam，as if some severe virtue were at its matins there．And one by one the smoke begins to ascend from the chim-neys amid the trees and snows．

我們靜靜地拔去門閂，讓飛雪飄進(jìn)屋里；走出屋外，寒風(fēng)如刀割般迎面撲來(lái)。星星已然黯淡無(wú)光，地平線上籠罩著深色沉重的薄霧。東方露出一片耀眼的古銅色的光彩，預(yù)示著天就要亮了。院子里，雪地上．狐貍和水獺所留下的足印清晰可見，這些提醒我們：即使在冬夜最寂靜的時(shí)候，自然界里依然生機(jī)盎然，在雪地里留下生命的足跡。打開大門，我們邁著輕快的腳步，踏上僻靜的鄉(xiāng)村小路，踩在又干又脆的雪上……透過(guò)堆滿積雪的農(nóng)舍，我們看見農(nóng)夫點(diǎn)著蠟燭，就像一顆孤寂的星星，散發(fā)著稀落的光，宛如某種樸素的美德在作晨禱。接著，煙囪里冒出的炊煙從樹叢和雪堆里裊裊升起。