by Justin Isherwood

life has states of grace independent of 1）catechism. My list includes fog， darkness， thunder， mud， autumn， Blue Jay nests， canoes， campfires， woodpiles， smell of horses， new potatoes， wild grape wine， 2）camomile tea， black and white photographs， rocking-chairs. Of these the most gracious is snow. Every true and genuine grace is free. If a collection plate slides by beforehand， if oaths are taken， if a ticket is required， it may be comforting， it may be cosy， but it aint grace. Grace is self-made， self-powered， self-administered. I am thinking about snow because outside my window it is， at this very moment， snowing. Lazy， good-for-nothin snow falling out of a still and motionless atmosphere.

When I was a kid I got interested in growing crystals. I brewed a 3）supersaturated solution of table salt and 4）potassium 5）nitrate. Then， by sprinkling in a little flour on the surface of the supersaturated solution， you can make it snow inside a jar exactly the way it snows over the township. I have seen 6）excelsior snow， snow born out of a clear sky when a moist air mass drifts over cold ground. I recall walking to the house after evening chores， and midway between the barn and the house it was snowing. There were no clouds and 7）Orion was standing proud and red-shouldered on the ridge road， and snow was sifting out of nowhere， as if I was in a jar of supersaturated solution myself.

You can hear the sound of 8）crystallization， a tinkling is how I would describe it， like a window pane mixed with a BB gun.

9）Astrophysical journals like to entertain amateurs with what it would be like to encounter the 10）event horizon of a black hole. I admit a black hole would make an interesting 11）contraption at the county fair， and when Im done with life and sex and books and 12）trout， I shall volunteer to ride the business. Until then I believe snow is a fair 13）approximation.

Grace is what gods are supposed to feel like on a good day. Grace is how come the gods didnt invent the shopping mall. Grace is when you kind of blend into something wider and you dont care. This is why I hold snow as a beauty too often left to saints.

生命中有許多優(yōu)雅的事物，它們往往是獨(dú)立于教義之外的。在我看來(lái)，這些事物包括霧靄、黑夜、雷聲、泥土、秋天、冠藍(lán)鴉巢、獨(dú)木舟、篝火、柴堆、馬的氣味、小土豆、山葡萄酒、甘菊茶、黑白照片和搖椅。其中，最雅致的便是雪。真正的優(yōu)雅都是免費(fèi)的。如果一件事物需要事先捐款，需要宣誓，需要門(mén)票進(jìn)場(chǎng)，那它可能是令人欣慰的，也可能是愜意的，但它和優(yōu)雅無(wú)關(guān)。優(yōu)雅是渾然天成的、自給自足的、自我管理式的。我想著雪，因?yàn)榇藭r(shí)此刻，窗外正下著雪。慵懶的雪花正緩緩地從寂靜的天空中落下來(lái)。

我小時(shí)候?qū)Y(jié)晶體的形成很感興趣。我用食鹽和硝酸鉀配制了一種過(guò)飽和溶液。然后，在這種溶液上撒一點(diǎn)面粉，你就能讓罐子里頭下起雪，就像鎮(zhèn)上下雪一樣。我見(jiàn)過(guò)細(xì)刨花般精致的雪，當(dāng)潮濕的氣團(tuán)飄到冰冷的地面上空時(shí)，雪便從天而降。我記得在夜晚勞作之后走向屋子，從谷倉(cāng)到屋子的路上一直都在下雪。萬(wàn)里無(wú)云，獵戶星座驕傲地屹立在山脊上，肩頭的參宿第四星放出閃亮的紅光。而雪花像從哪里篩下來(lái)似的，我就像身處于裝著過(guò)飽和溶液的罐子里頭。

你可以聽(tīng)見(jiàn)結(jié)晶的聲音，那是一種清脆的叮當(dāng)聲，就像BB槍打在玻璃窗上的聲音。

天體物理學(xué)期刊喜歡用“遇到黑洞表面會(huì)怎樣”這個(gè)難題來(lái)娛樂(lè)業(yè)余愛(ài)好者。我承認(rèn)黑洞在縣集市上會(huì)是個(gè)有趣的玩意兒，當(dāng)我享受夠生活、性、書(shū)籍和鱒魚(yú)之后，我也會(huì)愿意做起這樁生意。在那之前，我相信雪是最新奇有趣的事物。

優(yōu)雅就是諸神在美好的一天應(yīng)有的感覺(jué)；優(yōu)雅就是神的世界沒(méi)有發(fā)明購(gòu)物商場(chǎng)的原因；優(yōu)雅就是當(dāng)你陷入了一個(gè)更虛無(wú)寬廣的世界中卻滿不在乎。這就是為什么我認(rèn)為雪是一位美人，常常用以描繪圣潔的事物。翻譯：Cass撒一點(diǎn)面粉，你就能讓罐子里頭下起雪，就像鎮(zhèn)上下雪一樣。我見(jiàn)過(guò)細(xì)刨花般精致的雪，當(dāng)潮濕的氣團(tuán)飄到冰冷的地面上空時(shí)，雪便從天而降。我記得在夜晚勞作之后走向屋子，從谷倉(cāng)到屋子的路上一直都在下雪。萬(wàn)里無(wú)云，獵戶星座驕傲地屹立在山脊上，肩頭的參宿第四星放出閃亮的紅光。而雪花像從哪里篩下來(lái)似的，我就像身處于裝著過(guò)飽和溶液的罐子里頭。

你可以聽(tīng)見(jiàn)結(jié)晶的聲音，那是一種清脆的叮當(dāng)聲，就像BB槍打在玻璃窗上的聲音。

天體物理學(xué)期刊喜歡用“遇到黑洞表面會(huì)怎樣”這個(gè)難題來(lái)娛樂(lè)業(yè)余愛(ài)好者。我承認(rèn)黑洞在縣集市上會(huì)是個(gè)有趣的玩意兒，當(dāng)我享受夠生活、性、書(shū)籍和鱒魚(yú)之后，我也會(huì)愿意做起這樁生意。在那之前，我相信雪是最新奇有趣的事物。

優(yōu)雅就是諸神在美好的一天應(yīng)有的感覺(jué)；優(yōu)雅就是神的世界沒(méi)有發(fā)明購(gòu)物商場(chǎng)的原因；優(yōu)雅就是當(dāng)你陷入了一個(gè)更虛無(wú)寬廣的世界中卻滿不在乎。這就是為什么我認(rèn)為雪是一位美人，常常用以描繪圣潔的事物。翻譯：Cass