After the stir and ceaseless traffic of the day, the silence of Piccadilly early in the morning, in the small hours, seems barely credible. It is unnatural and rather ghostly. The great street in its emptiness has a sort of solemn broadness, descending in a majestic sweep with the assured and stately ease of a placid river. The are is pure and limpid, but resonant, so that a solitary cab suddenly sends the whole street ringing, and the heavy pace of the horse resounds with long reverberations. Impressive because of their regularity, the electric lights, self-assertive and brazen, flood the surroundings with a strong and snowy brightness; with a kind of indifferent violence they cast their light upon the huge silent houses, and lower down throw into distinctness the long evenness of the park railings and the nearer trees. And between, outshone, like an uneven string of discolored gems, twinkles the yellow flicker of the gas jets.
There is silence everywhere, but the houses are quiet and still with a different silence form the rest, standing very white but for the black gaping of the many windows. In their sleep, closed and bolted, they line the pavement, helplessly as it were, disordered and undignified, having lost all significance without the busy hum of human voices and the hurrying noise of persons passing in and out.
(Adapted for Piccadilly Before Dawn by W. Somerset Maugham) Lisbon, Portugal
ceaseless 不停的，无休止的
ghostly 如同幽灵般的
majestic 雄伟的，壮丽的
sweep 范围，区域
stately 庄严的，雄伟的
placid 平静温和的
limpid 清澈透明的
resonant 回响的，共鸣的
resound 回响，充满声音
reverberation 回声
self-assertive 自作主张的
brazen 黄铜色的
gem 宝石
twinkle 闪烁，闪耀
flicker 忽隐忽现
gaping 洞开
bolted 上了闩的
undignified 不威严的，不庄重的
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