world，其中expatriates
的意思是“移居国外者”、“离乡背井者”。此句也可译为Overseas Chinese from Fujian。
(10)“辛苦创业”译为have started from scratch by the sweat of their brow，其中to start from
scratch和by the sweat of one’s brow均为英语成语，分别作“白手起家”和“靠自己辛勤劳动”解。
(11)“有人从故乡来”也可译为somebody who has come from Fuzhou，但不如somebody hailing
from Fuzhou简洁，其中to hail作“来自”解。
(12)“农业科学化了，又在植树造林”译为people there have gone in for scientific farming and
afforestation，其中to go in for是成语，作“致力于”、“从事于”解，在译文中是添加成分，原文虽无其词，而有其意。
(13)“我何尝不想呢“译为Yes，I am more than eager to do so，其中more than作very或extremely解。
(14)“把故乡建设得更美好”译为do my bit to make a still better place of my ancestral home，
其中to do one’s bit为成语，作“尽自己一份力量”、“作一份贡献”解，在译文中是添加成分，原文虽无其词，而有其意。
祖父和灯火管制(1)
冰心
一九一一年秋，我们从山东烟台回到福州老家去。在还乡的路上，母亲和父亲一
再嘱咐我(2)，“回到福州住在大家庭里，不能再像野孩子(3)似的，一切都要小心。对
长辈们不能没大没小的。祖父是一家之主，尤其要尊敬……”
到了福州，在大家庭里住了下来，我觉得我在归途中的担心是多余的。祖父、伯
父母、叔父母(4)和堂姐妹兄弟(5)，都没有把我当作野孩子，大家也都很亲昵平等，并
没有什么“规矩”。我还觉得我们这个大家庭是几个小家庭的很松散的组合(6)。每个
小家庭都是各住各个的，各吃各的，各自有自己的亲戚朋友，比如说，我们就各自有
自己的“外婆家(7)”！
就在这一年，也许是第二年吧，福州有了电灯公司。我们这所大房子里也安上了
电灯，这在福州也是一件新鲜事，我们这班孩子跟着安装的工人们满房子跑，非常地
兴奋欢喜！我记得这电灯是从房顶上吊下来的，每间屋子都有一盏，厅堂上和客室里
的五十支光，卧房里的光小一些，厨房里的就更小了。我们这所大房子里至少也五六
十盏灯，第一夜亮起来时，真是灯火辉煌，我们孩子们都拍手欢呼！
但是总电门是安在祖父的屋里的。祖父起得很早也睡得很早(8)，每晚九点钟就上
床了。他上床之前，就把电闸关上，于是整个大家庭就是黑沉沉的一片！
我们刚回老家(9)，父母亲和他们的兄弟妯娌(10)都有许多别情要叙，我们一班弟兄
姐妹，也在一起玩得正起劲(11)，都很少在晚九点以前睡的。为了防备(12)这骤然的黑
暗，于是每晚在九点以前，每个小家庭都在一两间屋里，点上一盏捻得很暗的煤油灯。
一到九点，电灯一下子都灭了，这几盏煤油灯便都捻亮了，大家相视而笑，又都在灯
下谈笑玩耍。只有在这个时候，我才体会到我们这个大家庭是一个整体，而祖父是一
家之主！
Grandpa and Nightly Blackout
Bing Xin
In the autumn of 1911, we returned from Yantai of Shandong Province to our native
place Fuzhou. While on the way, my parents warned me again and again, “Since we’ll be
living in a big family in Fuzhou, remember always to behave properly and never act like a
naughty child. Show respect for your elders, particularly your grandpa, who is head of the
family…”
After settling down in the big family in Fuzhou, however, I found that my previous
worries on the way turned out to be unfounded. My grandpa, uncles, aunties and cousins
never thought me a naughty child. We treated each other lovingly and equally. There never
existed anything like “family rules of good behaviour”. I also found that the big family was
a loose community of several smaller ones, which lived and ate separately. They each had
their own relatives and friends, for example, their own in-laws. ◥◥文◥檔◥共◥享◥與◥在◥線◥閱◥讀◥
That year, or the year after, Fuzhou began to have its own power company and
electric lights were to be installed in our big house too. That was something new in our
home town. We kids, wild with excitement and joy, ran here and there in the house at the
heels of the electricians. Each room, I remember, had an electric lamp hanging from the
ceiling. The drawing room had a 50-watt bulb; the bedrooms each a lower-wattage one; the
kitchens each an even-lower-wattage one. The whole big house at least had a total of some
60 electric lamps. The first evening when they were turn on, the whole house was suddenly
ablaze with lights, we kids clapped with joy.
The master switch was fixed in grandpa’s room. Grandpa, who kept early hours,
would switch off all the lights when he went to bed at 9 o’clock in the evening, thus
plunging the whole big house into deep darkness.
Having just set foot in our old home, we seldom slept before 9 o’clock in the evening.
For it was but natural that after the long separation, my parents enjoyed hearty chats about
the old days with their brothers and in-laws, and we kids of the younger generation played
about together to our heart’s content. Hence, in anticipation of the sudden blackout at 9
o’clock, each small family would get a dimly-lit kerosene lamp ready in a couple of their
rooms. No sooner had the big house been blacked out on the hour than we turned up the
wicks of all the kerosene lamps. And, looking and smiling at each other, we would
continue to chat and play merrily by the light of the kerosene lamps