This has been a year of long sunshine. Month has followed upon month with little unkindness of the sky; I scarcely marked when July passed into August, August into September. I should think it summer still, but that I see the lanes yellow-purfled with flowers of autumn.
I am busy with the hawkweeds; that is to say, I am learning to distinguish and to name as many as I can. For scientific classification I have little mind; it does not happen to fall in with my habits of thought; but I like to be able to give its name (the "trivial" by choice) to every flower I meet in my walks. Why should I be content to say, "Oh, it's a hawkweed?" That is but one degree less ungracious than if I dismissed all the yellow-rayed as "dandelions." I feel as if the flower were pleased by my recognition of its personality. Seeing how much I owe them, one and all, the least I can do is to greet them severally. For the same reason I had rather say "hawkweed" than "hieracium"; the homelier word has more of kindly friendship.
今年是很长时间都有阳光的一年。一个月跟着一个月过去,很少有天空阴郁的时候。我几乎都没有注意到七月什么时候变为八月,八月又是在什么时候变成九月的。若非看到点缀在路边的秋日黄花,我还以为仍在夏日里呢。
柳叶蒲公英令我忙碌不已——我正在学习辨别它们的方法,并想要叫出它们的名字,越多越好。我不大关心那些科学的分类方法,这不符合我的思考习惯,但我很希望能够叫出我在散步时所遇到的每种花的名字(我愿意选择“俗名”)。为什么我会愿意说“哦，这是一棵柳叶蒲公英”呢?因为相对于把所有黄色的伞状花统称为“蒲公英”,这样的叫法更显亲切。我觉得,如果我能识别花的特性，它们仿佛也很高兴。鉴于我对它们中的每一位成员都怀有深厚的感情，我至少要能够做到分别向它们问候。也正是由于这个原因,我才宁愿说“柳叶蒲公英”,而不说“山柳菊”。越是家常的话,越能表达亲切的友谊。
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