暖气机 Heater

在听见暖气到来之前，先闻到暖气的气味。

在三月中的一个雪天之后回到公寓，按下暖气机开关。没有听到如期而来的收紧的水流声，没有听到扇叶启动时牵连机器的金属出风口震动的声响，没有闻到暖气的气味。在没有预料到还会下雪的夏令时的第一天，顺畅地工作了一个冬季的暖气机在预料之外地发生故障了。

我听着暖气机再次正常运转的呼呼声打下这些文字，意识到这种声音和这种气味已经成为了有安全感的习惯。十几分钟前，我在大楼的修理工检查暖气机时与他闲聊着。“我们都准备切断供暖了，没想到又下了一场雪。”冬季被拉伸地很长，但又好像只是几场雪的功夫就要离开了。季节的定义需要日历、树木、天气来共同完成。他们之间总有掉队的一个。日期翻过了春季，树木试探着生长，空中又飘下了雪花。测量和计数体系的叠加或许是我们稳固对事物的认知而一个个摞上的砝码。我又依次听到了短促而收紧的水流声，听到扇叶启动时不顺畅的转动、闻到了暖气的气味。修理工在听到暖气到来之后关上暖气机前盖离开，我没有告诉他当我闻到暖气的气味时已经知道暖气机又正常启动了。

今天的阳光很好，春天就要来了。

Before hearing the heating running, I smelled it.

Returning to my apartment after a snowy day in mid-March, I flicked the heater switch on. I did not hear the sound of tightening water flow as expected, nor the sound of vibration of the metal outlet when the fan blades are activated, nor smell the warm air of the heater. On the first day of daylight saving time, which was not expected to snow, the heater that had been working smoothly all winter broke down unexpectedly. 

I typed these words listening to the whirring sound of the heater running properly again, realizing that this sound and this smell had become a habit to ensure my sense of security. Ten minutes ago, I was chatting with the building's mechanic, as he checked the heater. "We were ready to cut off the heating, but we didn't expect another snowfall. " Winter is stretched long, but it seems like it is about to leave with just a few snowfalls. The definition of seasons requires the calendar, trees, and weather to function together, yet there is always a drop-out among them. The calendar flips over to spring, the trees try to grow, and snowflakes fall again. The superimposition of measurement and counting systems may be the weights that are stacked on top of each other to solidify our perception of things. I heard the short, tightening flow of water, the uneven rotation of the fan blades, and smelled the warm air of the heater in turn. The mechanic closed the front cover of the heater and left after hearing the heat coming in. I did not tell him that I already knew the heater was starting up properly again when I smelled it.

It is a beautiful sunny day and spring is coming. 

洗衣液 Laundry Detergent

不知怎么的，今天运动前突然想着找出从家里带过来的别的运动裤穿一穿。这条黑色的瑜伽裤从家里带过来后就一直放在衣柜顶层的收纳袋里，没有拿出来过。我把收纳袋拉开，将它取出，再习惯性地捧到鼻子跟前闻了一下气味：啊，是妈妈用的洗衣液。阳台，风，树叶的声音，热，光，太阳味，一个下午。

Prior to today's workout, I decided to find another pair of leggings brought over from home to wear. These black leggings have been in a storage bag on the top shelf of the closet since I brought them from home, and I have not taken them out yet. I pulled the bag open, took the pants out, and then held them up to my nose and smelled out of habit: ah, they smell of the laundry detergent mom used. The balcony, the wind, the sound of the leaves, the heat, the light, the smell of the sun, an afternoon. 

鲜绿色 Bright Green

今天路过楼下的花园时注意到三棵小树已经冒出了绿色的新芽，仿佛有水滴附着在表面的那种鲜绿色的、还未完全舒展开来的叶片在细长的枝干上蔓延开来。我确信新芽是这一周之内才冒出来的（有可能就是在昨天那个突然升温，伴随着降雨的夜晚他们才探出头来的），冬天似乎已经在光溜溜的枝干上停留了很久，从第一场雪开始。前不久（我已经记不清是上周还是再之前的一天了。与天气状态相依附的事件很长时间以来一直是我从反方向获取时间坐标时的参照物，但在回忆上一场雪的此刻，具体的事件也像雪花一样匆匆划过时间轴，没能给我提供他们存在时的具体方位。）的那场伴随着大风骤降的雪是这个冬天的最后一场雪吗？

今天路过花园时注意到三棵小树已经冒出了绿色的新芽，很快又可以去公园了。

When I passed by the garden downstairs today, I noticed that three small trees had sprouted new green shoots, as if there were drops of water adhering to the surface of those bright green, not yet fully-spread leaves extended out on the long, thin branches. I am sure the new shoots only popped up within the week (maybe they just poked their heads out on that sudden warming night yesterday, accompanied by rain), and winter seems to have been lingering on the bare branches long enough since the first snowfall. Not long ago (I cannot remember if it was last week or a day before that. The events attached to the weather have been my reference for a long time when getting the time coordinates from the opposite direction, but at this moment when I am recalling the last snowfall, the specific events also hurriedly cross the timeline like snowflakes, failing to give me the specific orientation where they have existed.) Was the snow accompanied by strong winds the last snow of this winter? 

When I passed by the garden today, I noticed that three small trees had sprouted new green shoots, and I could go to the park again soon. 

发热的卷发棒也有温度的气味。

The curling iron has the smell of temperature as well. 

暖气机 Heater

在听见暖气到来之前，先闻到暖气的气味。

已经有两个晚上没有开暖气了，虽然从天气预报来看春天还在冬季的边缘摇摆不定，但还是想着要在稳定地不再需要暖气机的日子到来前将几天前写下“暖气机”标题的备忘录写完。

公寓卧室里的暖气已经有些岁数了，开关处的操作指示还是打印在纸张上用胶水粘在一侧的，纸张已经是不同程度的泛黄和脆化了。控制面板上一共是右侧的五个按键和左侧的一个旋转按钮，五个按键对应五种工作状态，从上往下依次是白的、红的、浅蓝的、深蓝的、黑色的。”All Year Comfort - Yours at a Touch,” 平易近人的标语。该有的功能倒是一个没少，只是不像新一代的电动暖气机那样还带着一个精确调节温度的液晶显示屏。刚开始用上这个机子的两三周，我还会聚精凝神地缓慢调节这个根本没有数字刻度的控制扭（其实也不是完全没有“刻度”，只是刻度的标准过于暧昧了。扭到最左边是一个红色字的“warmer”，反方向的尽头是一个蓝色字的“cooler”），生怕稍有偏差便会影响到接下来一晚的室内温度。再后来，我调节他的态度也学着像它的标识一样含糊了；反正开暖气的日子扭到左半边，开冷气的日子扭到右半边，至于这个控制扭指向具体的哪个角度是完全用不着操心的。

因为机子岁数大了，我在使用它的第一个冬季没少遇上困难。一开始的几个气温骤降的晚上，我其实还没有意识到它在制暖的时候有了故障。作为一个第一次正式使用有暖气片的整机暖气的南方人，我在暖气机修理完成的那一刻才知道正常的暖气运作应该是个怎样的状态。于是就有了好几个我以为暖气在运作因为暖气片在发热但其实因为出风装置早已出现故障无法出风所以这个大机子就以一个离我的床边五米远的距离作为一个无法将热量分布到除了它自己以外的空间发热体出现。我裹着两层棉被在床上蜷缩着感叹着北方人冬天的不容易，隔天早上穿着毛衣在厨房遇上穿着短袖短裤脸蛋红彤彤的室友，才意识到可能有什么出错了。

让我来描述一下暖气机启动的过程：按下开关的塑料键后，先是听到一阵突然缩紧又放松下来的水流声流过某一条（或许是笔直的，或许是弯曲的）金属管道；大约五秒钟的间隙后，风机引擎的叶片开始顺时针转动并发出大约六次间隔一秒钟的、听起来并不顺畅的敲击声。接下来就是祈祷暖气的气味如期到来的时候了。干燥的、热腾腾、粉尘、令人安心的。在听见暖气到来之前，总是先闻到暖气的气味。

和稍微老旧的暖气机相处需要保持一定的乐观和平和。如果在刚刚的操作和祈祷后的五分钟，暖气机又恢复到了冰冷的平静，那么，就再重复这些步骤一次吧。

Before hearing the heating running, I smelled it. 

The heater had not been on for two nights and although spring was just around the corner according to the weather forecast, I decided to wrap up the memo I had started a few days ago under the heading "Heater" before it was no longer needed. 

The heater in my apartment bedroom was a bit old, and the operating instructions were printed on paper and glued to one side of the switch, the paper being yellow and brittle to varying degrees. The control panel has five buttons on the right side and a rotary button on the left. From top to bottom, the five buttons are white, red, light blue, dark blue, and black, corresponding to five operating states, and accompanied with a simple slogan: "All Year Comfort - Yours at a Touch." The heater has plenty of functions, but not as many as the new generation of electric heaters with LCDs for precise temperature control. During the first two or three weeks of using this heater, I focused on slowly adjusting the rotary button, which had no digital scale at all (in fact, it does have a scale, but it is ambiguous. To the left of the scale is a "warmer" in red, and to the right is a "cooler" in blue), out of concern that a slight deviation might affect the room temperature. Later, I learned to be as ambiguous as the scale. For hot air, I turned the button to the left, and for cold air, I turned it to the right. It does not matter at which degree the button is twisted.

My first winter with it was a struggle due to the machine being old. I was not aware that the heater was malfunctioning the first few nights when the temperature dropped. In my experience as a person from the south using a heater for the first time, I had no idea how heaters work until mine was repaired. There were some instances where I thought the heater was working because the heaters were generating heat, but the wind-casing had already failed, rendering the machine as a heat generator that could not distribute heat beyond its own space at a distance of five meters from my bed. In bed with two layers of quilts, I sighed at how difficult it must be for Northerners to spend the winter. My roommate showed up in the kitchen wearing a t-shirt and shorts with red cheeks the following morning, and I realized that something might have gone wrong.

Let me describe the process of starting the heater: After pressing the plastic switch button, you hear a sudden contracted then relaxed sound of water flowing through one of the (perhaps straight, perhaps curved) metal pipes; about five seconds later, the blades of the blower motor begin to turn clockwise and make about six unpleasant taps that are about one second apart. It is then time to pray for the smell of heat to appear as expected. The dry, hot, dusty, and reassuring smell. I always smelled the heating before hearing it. 

Keeping calm and optimistic when dealing with an old heater is essential. If the heater returns to a serene and cold state five minutes after what you just did and prayed, repeat these steps once again. 

语气助词 Modal particle

语气助词大多是很难翻译的。他们是那么的轻。

Modal particles are mostly difficult to translate. They weigh so little. 

山楂 Hawthorn

尝试理清“山楂”的出现使脸颊两侧的腺体产生“酸”的反馈。首先是“山楂”本身的酸度突出的特点（噢，还得先把“知道山楂并且有过食用山楂的经验，最好要是食用过偏酸的、还未完全成熟的山楂且生理结构符合会对酸性作出反应的情况”作为前提），其次“山楂”在不经意的浏览手机时作为图像出现。再然后，是图像作者关于“山楂”作出的文字描述（你想起你吃过的甜度高的山楂，想起冰糖葫芦，但却还是被曾经碰到过的酸得直皱眉头的那次经历给占据了。）在我还在尝试分解“山楂”的图像和文字被摄入的先后顺序时，先是最靠近耳垂的腺体开始有了唾液分泌的酸楚感，紧接着便像导火丝似的延伸到了两颊和嘴边。由于文字的叙述里还提到了“山楂乳酪”，我不自觉地开始尝试将这个已经特性显著的“山楂”和乳酪带有的脂肪的厚度、乳制品的气味、冷藏过后的温度等等交织起来。我在提取“乳酪”的信息所参考的标志物是早餐吃酸种面包时涂抹的厚厚一层奶油奶酪。“山楂”的感觉迟迟还未消退。

I tried to sort out why the "souring" reaction happened at the glands on both sides of my cheeks caused by the appearance of "hawthorn". Firstly, "hawthorn" is known for its acidity (but it is also a prerequisite that you "know about hawthorn and have eaten it, preferably hawthorns that are not fully ripe, and you have a physiology that responds to acidity). Secondly, while browsing the mobile phone, "hawthorn" showed up as an image. Then, there was a text description of "hawthorn" provided by the author of the image (you recall the sweet hawthorn or sugar-coated hawthorn you have eaten, but you are too overwhelmed by the sour, cringe-worthy experience you once had). I was still attempting to make sense of the order in which the image and words of "hawthorn" were taken in, when a sour sensation of saliva began to manifest on my gland closest to the ears, then extended to my cheeks and mouth like a fuse. Because the text also mentioned "hawthorn cheese," I unconsciously began to associate the already distinctive feeling "hawthorn" brought to me with the thickness of fat, the flavor of dairy products, and its temperature after refrigeration. While extracting information about "cheese," I referred to the thick cream cheese spread on the sourdough bread I ate for breakfast. The sensation of "hawthorn" had not subsided for a long time. 

雪花 Snowflake

雪花以极快的速度从卧室窗口的右上方向左下方划过，这是早上起来后拉开窗帘不小心说出“好大的雪”后对雪的运动方式的第一印象。前天在参考天气预报决定去超市买花的时间时便知道：这个周日有百分之五十的降雪概率。昨晚入睡前，随着距离“这个周日”的时间拉近，降雪概率已经可以被细分到每小时：这个周日（明天）的凌晨三点至下午的三点都被明确标明了降雪的发生（以一个标准的六角雪花的形状为标识）。回到早上起床后关掉暖气拉开窗帘的时刻，即使我已经早在两天前就知道今天会是一个雪天，但眼前雪花滑落的速度及密度还是让我的感叹发出了声：“好大的雪。”作为一个在南方城市长大和生活的人，在这边第一次经历“下雪“作为动词的过程和缓慢学习在没有摩擦力的地面上直立行走到现在也已经看过了不少的雪，但“下雪”依旧出现在我习以为常的天气类别范围之外。吃过早餐后，我坐回卧室的窗边开始着手写一写雪。此时的雪的颗粒相比于一个小时前已经小了许多，也可能是背景处的天空光线变得稍亮的缘故。雪花仍然在以极快的速度从卧室窗口的右上方向左下方划过，是的，今天更早时得出的结论并没有出错；但是，如果你好好地坐在窗边，或者捧着一杯咖啡站在窗边，更仔细地观察他们各自的运动轨迹时（是的，要观察他们各自的运动轨迹，而不是急于得出一个整体的结论，不要被最靠近自己房间的玻璃的那群雪花给主导了）你会发现“从右上方至左下方”这个简洁的描述只能算作是被要求限制字数地去描述得出的第一印象而已。首先，大部分的雪花的确是以同样的，从左至右地，出现在视野里，但他们其实在以诸多不同斜率的运动角度出现。稍靠近楼体的雪的运动角度更大，远离一些的那些部分运动的角度稍小些。再仔细一点地去观察，你会发现这个整体性的运动中不乏许多脱离队伍的个体。他们有的在顺着规定的轨道滑行的途中突然逃脱了加速度的作用散漫地垂直向下飘落，有的反方向地从左至右“冒雪“行动着，有的甚至垂直向上升起，但万一被定向行驶的部队中的某一个迎面撞上，事故发生的那一带便会像涟漪一样出现一定范围的、秩序被削弱的混乱。一般来说，这些脱离队伍的个体能在我的（你的）视野里停留相对较长的时间，但依然是以比秒钟要更小的单位计算。

雪从右上方来，到左下方去。左下方的降落地点虽然也各异，但都可以总结为“地面”。他们来自的右上方的尽头是哪里呢？如果想象雪的运动轨迹是一个长方体的一条对角线，他存在的空间便是这些由对角线定义和延伸出来的被分割成连续的长方体的空间。但这些长方体不是无尽出现的：在这个时刻地球表面的空间里没有连续不断的雪的对角线。如果一直追溯到下雪的状态的边缘，追溯到在边界处的那一片雪花划过的那一条对角线，再站在那一片雪花按这条对角线的轨道落下、与地面连接的那一个端点朝对角线的另一个端点抬头仰望，或许就能看到雪的右上方的尽头。又有一片雪花落下，轻盈地接近你的眼睛，在你还没有意识到你已经成功地找到了雪的尽头时它便已经落下，准确地降落在你站在的地面上的那个端点的那双靴子的皮面上，形状和天气预报里那个标准的六角雪花的标识一样。它还没有开始融化。

From upper right to lower left, snowflakes fell down from my bedroom window at an extremely fast pace. It was my first impression of the movement of snow when I opened the curtains in the morning and heard myself exclaim, “The snow is heavy.” When I was deciding when to buy flowers in reference to the weather forecast the day before yesterday, I knew that there was a 50 percent chance of snow this Sunday. Last night before sleep, as "this Sunday" drew closer, the chances of snow were broken down by hours: from 3:00 a.m. to 3 p.m., a hexagonal snowflake symbol marked each hour. Let us rewind a bit to the moment when I got up from bed, turned off the heat, and opened the curtains. Even though I knew it was going to snow today two days ago, I was astonished by how fast and dense the snowfall was, and uttered, "the snow is heavy." Having lived in a southern city, I experienced “snow” as a verb for the first time here and have slowly learned to walk upright on a ground without friction.So far, I have seen quite a bit of snow. But "snow" still falls outside of the weather categories I'm used to. After breakfast, I sit by my bedroom window and start to write about the snow. Snow particles seem smaller than an hour ago, or perhaps it is because the sky is brighter now. The snowflakes are still falling across my bedroom window from the upper right to the lower left at an extremely fast speed, and yes, it appears my initial conclusion was correct. Sitting at the window or leaning on it with a steaming cup of coffee, if you examine more closely the trajectory of each piece of snowflake (rather than rushing to an overall conclusion or be dominated by the flock of snowflakes closest to your window), you will realize the brief description of "from the upper right to lower left" is only a first impression when asked to depict the snow in a few words. To begin with, most of the snowflakes appear in my view from left to right, but they appear from many different angles. The snowflakes closer to the building move obliquely, whereas those further away move less sideways. If you look closer, you will find that many individual snowflakes are lagging behind in this overall movement. Some suddenly lose their acceleration while sliding along the prescribed track, drifting downward sloppily. Others move “against the snow” from left to right in the opposite direction, and some even rise. But a snowflake that is hit head-on by another ordinary one falls into a receding range of weakened disorder, much like ripples. In general, these detached individuals remain in my (your) view for a relatively long period, yet the time is still measured in units less than seconds.

The snow comes from the top right and falls to the bottom left. Landing places on the lower left side vary, but all can be summed up as "ground". Where is the end of the upper right side from which the snowflakes come? Assuming a snowflake's trajectory is a long diagonal line, then the space it occupies is the continuous rectangular spaces defined and extended by those lines. In spite of this, these rectangular spaces are not infinite: at this moment in time, there is no continuous diagonal line of snow on Earth's surface. If one goes all the way back to the liminal state when the snow is about to fall, back to the diagonal line where the last and first piece of snowflake at the boundary fall, then when you stand at the ground where this snowflake falls according to its trajectory, and look up from this end to the other end of the diagonal line, you may see the end of the upper right side of snow. Another piece of snowflake falls, lightly, approaching your eyes. Before you know you have managed to find the end of the snow, it has already fallen, landing exactly on the other end of the line on the ground where your leather boots stand. Its shape is the same as the standard hexagonal snowflake symbol you saw on the weather forecast. It has not yet begun to melt.

随之改变了的还有水流的声音。

The sound of the water changed thereafter.

水龙头的水 Water from the faucet

水龙头的水流形状发生变化的事情要从两个半小时前的停水说起。像往常一样，我准点从房间走到厨房，依次从冰箱里把需要的食材取出放在灶台边的位置，检查平底锅在上次使用后已经洗净，喷油、在靠右手边的台面直角位上轻敲一颗从左手边移动过来的鸡蛋（一次敲击后检查鸡蛋壳上的裂纹是足够将蛋壳打开的程度）、将鸡蛋打入平底锅的边缘位置。午餐的准备到此为止跟往常没有什么不同。甚至连鸡蛋平稳下锅之后的下一个动作也按时发生着：我朝左后方转身，靠近洗手台，准备清洗沾上了一点蛋液的左手。这就是厨房的洗手台停水了这个事实被正面遇上的时刻（我之所以会特意说明是“厨房的”洗手台停水而不是更笼统意义上的全面停水的原因是，我随后抬着还沾有蛋液的左手快步走向了洗手间并庆幸地发现那里的水流一切正常）。之后的午餐准备迅速回到了原轨，除了草莓今天是在洗手间的洗手台洗净的和我在炒菠菜时思索了一会儿做一餐饭需要用到流动水的次数。但既然我说到水龙头的水流形状发生了变化，那么说明在停水之后的一段时间，厨房的水龙头重新拥有了水流。是的，我在房间吃着午餐时突然听到压力、气体、液体非常不规律地坠落到不锈钢水槽上的声响（我把水龙头的开关打开了以便知道水流回归的状况）。让我们稍稍略过对于这重新开始的水流的噪声和乖戾性情的描写，还有他并不清澈（以一个白瓷碗盛水作为评判标准）的色泽。水流的形状在两个半小时后发生了变化，以前他从来都是一样的。水流的形状很难去描述，但大概是由于每日使用和见到的缘故，仅在开关打开的一瞬间就能发现：原本以更饱满圆柱体形态出现的无色液体现在在以一种略微向下收紧、四周稍有参差的方式流下。“或许是水压的问题，”我这样想过，但由于所有测量和比较的对象都不可见，我迟疑地没有给出一个结论。

The change in the shape of water flow from the faucet started two and a half hours ago when the water was cut off. As usual, I went from my room to the kitchen, took the ingredients out of the refrigerator in a proper order, and placed them next to the stove. After checking to make sure the pan had been cleaned, I sprayed it with oil and tapped an egg from the left-hand side on the right-hand side of the counter (I checked that the crack in the eggshell was wide enough to open up upon the first tapping) and poured the egg into the edge of the pan. As usual, lunch preparation went smoothly, and even the action after the egg has landed steadily onto the pan was done on schedule: I turned around, walked towards the sink to wash my hand, which was stained with egg wash. That was when the fact that the kitchen sink was drained of water confronted me. (I specifically called out “kitchen” sink instead of saying that water was cut off in general because I then ran to the washroom with my left hand still covered in egg wash and discovered that water there was, thankfully, still working.) Lunch preparations went back on track quickly, except I had to wash the strawberries in the washroom sink and except I wondered how much running water would be needed to prepare a meal while I was cooking the spinach. Since I mentioned that the shape of the water flow changed, it meant that the water flowed again in the kitchen at some point. The sound of pressure, gas, and liquid splashing onto the stainless steel sink occurred to my ears when I was in my room having lunch (I leaved the faucet on so I would know when the water was back.) Forget about the noise and misbehavior of this returned water and its slightly murky color (judging by it in a white porcelain bowl). Despite always being the same before, the shape of the water has changed after these two and a half hours. It is not an easy task to describe the shape of water, but presumably due to the daily contact, it was noticeable at the very point when the faucet was turned on: a tighter stream was flowing down the faucet in a slightly jagged pattern, instead of the usual colorless liquid that appeared in a full cylinder shape. "Maybe it's the water pressure," I thought, but with all the subjects of measurements and comparisons being invisible all along, I hesitated to draw a conclusion.

钟摆声 Sound of a pendulum

最近早上完成一系列收拾活动后坐在桌边放空一分钟的时候总是会听到类似时钟的秒针转动的声音。但这一定不是时钟的声音：我的桌上（和我的房间里）并没有时钟，除了一个电池已经消耗殆尽的电子钟以荧幕空白的方式出现在床边柜上。那这是什么声音呢？我刚才将这种吸引了我注意力的微弱声音纳入观察范围的主要原因是他似乎有一种规律性，这种规律性也是我刚才做出“听到类似时钟的秒针转动的声音”这个猜测的依据：还有什么比时钟的秒针的运动要更规律呢？但这个声音的规律会突然被打乱，从与秒针运动间隙差不多的规律逐渐变快，变密集。在密集的程度几乎要达到一种连贯的、无间隙的单频率音调时就停止了。我把耳朵贴在桌面上观察着这个声音的来源。我找到了：是刚盛满热水的水杯底部的轻微凹陷处残留的热水在其与桌面这个平面形成的狭小密闭空间里受挤压而发出的（或许是气泡尝试离开）的声音。

I always hear the sound of a clock’s second hand ticking when I stare blankly at my desk for a minute after a series of morning clean-up activities. It must not be the sound of a clock: there is no clock on my desk (and in my room), except for an electronic clock with a dead battery that appears on the bedside table with a blank screen. What is the sound?  The main reason I just brought this faint sound that caught my attention into the range of observation is that it seems to carry a rhythmic pattern; such regularity is also the basis of my previous speculation of “hearing the sound of a clock’s second hand ticking”. What could be more regular than the movement of the second hand of a clock? But the precise rhythm of this sound will suddenly be disrupted, from a movement similar to that of a clock to one that gradually becomes faster and denser. When the intensity is about to perform a coherent, seamless pitch of a single frequency, it stops. I moved closer and put my ear on the table to look for the source of the sound. I found it: it was the sound of hot water left in the slight indentation at the bottom of a glass cup just filled being squeezed (perhaps it is the air bubbles trying to leave) in the small, enclosed space between the glass and the flat surface of the table.

伯恩山呼出的白色热气、极细的弯月、交通灯顶上的红色警灯、冷、粉红色的晚霞、字母“A”、左手开始有些因用力而发酸。

The white heat exhaled from Bernese Mountain dog, the very thin crescent, the red alarm lamp on the top of the traffic light, the cold, pinkish sunset, the letter "A", and a left hand feeling a little sore from the grip.

圆形陶瓷 Porcelain sphere

不小心把放在书柜最上面一层的圆形陶瓷打碎了。当时趴在地毯上拉伸，感受到没有正确判断脚掌与后方书架距离导致的突然的触碰、一些震动、陶瓷滚落至书架边缘的短暂摩擦声、短促清脆的碎裂声、很多碎片。其实就在陶瓷滚落的当下，我在感受到脚掌与书架发生碰撞后的震动瞬间下意识地回过了头。其实我目睹了（现在回想起来这几秒已被拉长、放慢了）陶瓷滚落至与地板撞击变成碎片。把一个仅仅以约为一英寸直径的表面积停稳在平面的陶瓷球体放在六层高的书架的最顶部一层现在想来确实不是一个妥当的决定，即便对于在做出这个决定的（可能两年前）的那个当下来说也是如此。那是两年前疫情回国前做的最后一个项目里的物件，由于在之后那学期的线下课程便取消了，这个陶瓷球体停留过的平面地点仅限于：陶瓷室的待烧架、电窑里、正方体的铁质底座上、书架的最顶层、还有直至触碰到地面前仍以球体形态穿过垂直空间的那一点时间。不知道什么时候开始（但我知道是从某个时候开始的），巨大的情绪震动在我听起来都像是潜在水中隔着水体听到的模糊的、被压缩的、轻微震动且难以分辨的来自于另一个空间的声音。

I accidentally broke a ceramic sphere that was on the top shelf of the bookcase. I was lying on the carpet stretching and misjudged the distance between my foot and the bookcase. Some vibrations followed after the unexpected touch, a brief scraping sound as the ceramic rolled down to the corner of the shelf, a short and crisp cracking sound, and many broken pieces. In fact, I subconsciously turned my head around having felt the touch with my foot and the shake. I witnessed (in retrospect, the seconds were stretched and slowed down) the sphere rolling down and shattered on the ground. Placing a ceramic sphere that rests on a flat surface with a surface area of only about an inch in diameter on top of a six-story bookcase was not a wise decision, even at the moment when I made this decision (probably two years ago). It was part of the last project I made before returning home due to the pandemic two years ago. Since the in-person courses were canceled right after, therefore, the surfaces where this ceramic sphere had stayed were limited to: the rack in the ceramic room waiting to be burned, the shelf in the electric kiln, the square iron base, the top of the bookcase and the time when it was still spherical and crossed the vertical space before it knocked on the floor. I don’t know when it started (but I knew it did start at some point), emotional shock all sounded to me like a muffled, compressed, slightly vibrating, indistinguishable sound heard in another space from under the water.

地毯 Carpet

十九楼的地毯是灰白色的。让我说的更清楚一些，大楼里的每一层的电梯间与楼道相连的地方都铺着地毯，而就在今天，我发现十九楼的地毯与我所在的楼层，和我之前停靠（共同搭乘过同一班电梯的人们所在的）其他楼层都不一样，十九楼的地毯是灰白色杂糅在一起的，没有特别可以辨识的纹样或者图案的地毯。而其他楼层（因为今天突然的发现让我一直以来默认大楼里的地毯都是统一的这一想法有了些迟疑）的地毯有中黄色的背景，较深的草绿色和暗调的深黄色的长方形在中黄色的背景上间接排列，围绕着中心一些白色的花朵和其枝叶的形状而组成一个更大的长方形矩阵。每一个这样的矩阵形成一个被重复的单位，每个单位的长度约为两步的距离，与相连的下一个纹样单位间距离约为不到半步，依次向走廊延伸的方向铺开。难道今天是我第一次在十九楼停靠吗？难道我不曾与住在十九楼的人们在同一个电梯里相遇过？十九楼的地毯是如此的不同，我相信任何人，任何在电梯停靠的时间内眼光向楼道的方向停留过的人，都会注意到这种突如其来的色调上的差异。但我今天却是第一次意识到十九楼的地毯是不一样的。就在刚才以前，我一直认为我曾（不止一次）地在十九楼停靠过，而十九楼应该是每个大楼的住户都会觉得熟悉的一个楼层，一个特殊的楼层。因为十九楼处于电梯的最远运行距离的中点，当电梯不在运行状态时，便会有两台中的其中一台停留在十九楼——这一中心距离的楼层（而另一台会停留在初始楼层）。大楼里的每位住户都一定看到过“19”出现在他们按下电梯之前的荧幕上，红色的点阵组成的数字。他们是在看到这个数字之后才会听到电梯开始运行的声音。他们即将要进入的电梯是从这个楼层的方向而来的。

The carpet on the nineteenth floor is in variegated gray and white. Let me be clear. Every floor of the building is carpeted from the edge of the elevator shaft to the corridor that connects every door. And just today, I found out that the carpet on the nineteenth floor, unlike the carpet on the floor I live on and unlike the carpet of other floors I have once docked before (the floors whom I have shared an elevator with lives on), is a mixture of gray and white with no recognizable shapes or particular patterns. On the other floors (today's sudden discovery made me hesitate to assume the uniformity of carpets in the building), the carpets have a medium yellow background, where rectangles of darker grass greens and darker shades of yellow arrange themselves alternately into a larger rectangle matrix around the simplified shapes of white flowers and their foliages at the center. Each matrix is a unit that repeats. Each unit spans about two steps in length and less than a half a step in distance from the next repeated matrix, stretching down in the direction of the corridor. Is this the first time I stopped on the nineteenth floor? Haven’t I ever met people who live on the nineteenth floor in the same elevator? The carpet on the nineteenth floor is so different that I'm sure anyone, anyone who has ever looked down at the aisle during the six seconds of an elevator stop, will have noticed this abrupt tonal difference. Today, for the first time, I realized (and was confronted) that the carpet on the nineteenth floor is different. Just now, I had always thought that I had (for more than once) stopped at the nineteenth floor, which should be a familiar, special floor, for every resident in the building. The nineteenth floor is at the midpoint of the elevators' longest running distance. When not in operation, one of the two elevators will be on standby on the nineteenth floor — the floor with equal travel to the two ends (while the other will stay on the lowest floor). Every resident in the building must have seen the number “19” on the screen before they pressed the elevator, a red dotted number. It was only after seeing the number that they heard the elevator start to run. The elevator they were about to enter came from the direction of the nineteenth floor.

下大雪 Snowing heavily

像揉面团前撒的一大把面粉

like a big handful of flour sprinkled before kneading a dough

下雪 Snowing

像轻轻洒下糖霜

like a sprinkle of icing sugar

温度的气味 Smell of temperature

靠近正要沸腾的热水壶时闻到了熟悉的味道：热水、烘干机、暖气、太阳（停留过后的被子和玩偶）… 或许是温度的气味。

Smelled a familiar smell when approaching the boiling kettle: hot water, dryer, heat from a heater, sun (the smell of the sun stayed on the quilt and dolls…) It is perhaps the smell of temperature.