When Breath Becomes Air

Book Review: When Breath Becomes Air

Author: Paul Kalanithi

Genre: Memoir, Non-fiction, Medical Literature

Published: 2016

Introduction

When Breath Becomes Air is a profound and haunting memoir written by Paul Kalanithi, a brilliant neurosurgeon and literature scholar. At the peak of his career, at the age of thirty-six, Kalanithi was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. This book records his transformation from a doctor who battles death to a patient who confronts it, exploring the eternal questions of life, meaning, mortality, and human identity. Far more than a cancer story, it is a sincere meditation on what makes life worth living when death is inevitable.

Brief Summary

The book is divided into two contrasting parts. In the first half, Kalanithi recounts his life journey: driven by a passion for understanding human existence, he abandoned literary studies and devoted himself to neurosurgery. For years, he stood in operating rooms, witnessing life and death daily, believing that science and logic could decode human suffering and mortality.

Everything collapsed when he received his fatal diagnosis. The second half of the book documents his drastic shift in identity. From a powerful healer who controlled life-or-death situations, he became a vulnerable patient facing gradual physical decline, unbearable pain, and an approaching end. During his final days, he redefined success, love, and purpose. With his wife Lucy by his side, he embraced fatherhood in his last year of life and finished this memoir before his death. The book ends unfinished, yet its incomplete nature makes its message about life’s fragility even more powerful.

Core Themes & Analysis

1. The Intersection of Medicine and Humanity

Kalanithi uniquely combines medical rationality and literary sensitivity. As a surgeon, he once viewed the human body as a biological machine. However, terminal illness taught him that medicine can repair bodies but cannot solve the spiritual crisis of mortality. Medicine extends life, but it cannot define the meaning of life. This tension between scientific precision and human emotion becomes the book’s most thought-provoking theme.

2. Identity Transformation Before Death

The greatest conflict in the memoir lies in identity reversal. For decades, Kalanithi defined himself by his intelligence, career achievements, and ability to overcome challenges. When cancer stripped away his health, career, and future, he was forced to ask: Who am I without my abilities and prospects? His journey reveals that true identity does not rely on external success, but on love, responsibility, and the willingness to embrace life fully.

3. The Meaning of Mortality

Kalanithi does not write about death with fear or despair. Instead, he argues that death gives life weight and value. Without the awareness of finality, human life would be empty and meaningless. Suffering and mortality do not ruin life; they clarify what truly matters — family, love, dignity, and sincere connection with others.

Strengths of the Book

First, the writing is elegant, philosophical, and emotionally restrained. As a literature graduate, Kalanithi blends poetic language with real medical experience, avoiding sensational or overly sad narratives. His calm reflection makes the story touching yet powerful.

Second, the book provides a rare dual perspective on life and death. Readers see medicine from both the doctor’s and the patient’s eyes, understanding the limitations of healthcare and the loneliness of terminal illness.

Third, it offers universal life inspiration. Regardless of age or occupation, every reader can reflect on their own life priorities. It teaches people to cherish the present and measure life by meaning rather than length.

Weaknesses

The memoir contains abundant medical descriptions and philosophical discussions, which make the pacing slow at times. Readers who prefer fast-paced narrative stories may find it slightly heavy and contemplative. In addition, the book is unfinished due to the author’s passing, leaving some ideas incompletely developed.

Personal Verdict

When Breath Becomes Air is one of the most touching and enlightening memoirs of modern times. It is a book about death that ultimately teaches readers how to live. Kalanithi’s honesty, courage, and wisdom turn his tragic ending into an eternal spiritual legacy.

It is highly recommended for readers who enjoy reflective non-fiction, medical stories, and philosophical writings about life and mortality. This book does not offer comfort, but it offers clarity — it makes every ordinary breath and every ordinary moment of life precious.

Rating: 9.5/10

The Snow Child

 

The Snow Child

Book Analysis & Study Notes (English Version)

Author: Eowyn Ivey

Published: 2012 | Historical Fiction, Magical Realism

Pulitzer Prize Finalist; loosely inspired by the Russian folk tale Snegurochka (The Snow Maiden)

Basic Plot Summary

Set in 1920s Alaska, middle-aged couple Jack and Mabel leave Pennsylvania to homestead in the remote northern wilderness. They remain haunted by the stillbirth of their infant son years before. Childlessness and unprocessed grief drive them further apart, trapped in quiet loneliness amid brutal winters.

During the first snowfall, in a rare lighthearted moment, they build a little girl out of snow and dress her with old scraps of clothing. When they wake the next morning, the snow figure has disappeared, leaving only small footprints leading deep into the woods.

Soon they spot a wild, blonde young girl named Faina, always roaming the forest with a red fox. She survives effortlessly in harsh snow, appears only in winter, and retreats into the woods as spring arrives. Gradually Jack and Mabel grow attached to her, imagining she is the daughter they lost.

As years pass, Faina matures and falls in love with Garrett, a young local homesteader. The central mystery lingers throughout the novel: Is Faina an orphaned wild child, a hallucination born from the couple’s grief, or a supernatural being bound to winter and snow? Ivey intentionally keeps the truth ambiguous. Ultimately, Faina faces an inescapable fate tied to seasonal cycles, bringing a bittersweet, haunting conclusion about love, possession and loss.

Character Breakdown

1. Mabel

Sensitive, reflective, crippled by maternal grief. She craves connection and readily embraces wonder and magic. Her encounter with Faina forces her to confront whether she seeks a child to fill her emptiness, rather than accepting life’s limits.

2. Jack

Stoic, practical homesteader. He buries sorrow in hard farm labour. Initially sceptical of Faina’s strangeness, yet he slowly softens. He represents humanity’s desire to control and hold onto fleeting happiness.

3. Faina

Wild, intuitive, deeply connected to the natural world. She symbolises innocence, winter’s fragile beauty and impermanence. She belongs to the wilderness, not domestic life. Her ambiguous nature bridges realism and fairy tale.

4. Garrett

Gentle young hunter. His love for Faina represents human longing to integrate wildness into ordinary life, setting up the novel’s central conflict between freedom and belonging.

Literary Strengths & Critical Analysis

1. Masterful Magical Realism with Controlled Ambiguity

Fantastical elements are subtle and understated. Ivey never fully confirms or denies Faina’s supernatural origin.

The magic is not for adventure; it acts as a metaphor for unfulfilled longing. Readers are invited to interpret Faina according to the characters’ own desires, instead of receiving a definitive answer. This open ending creates lasting emotional resonance.

2. The Alaskan Wilderness as a Living Character

Nature is far more than setting.

• Harsh winters mirror Jack and Mabel’s emotional coldness and isolation.

• Vast forests symbolise untamed truth beyond human control.

• Rhythms of snow, thaw and seasonal change drive the novel’s core philosophy: all beauty is temporary.

Lyrical, immersive prose creates vivid, cinematic atmosphere.

3. Central Theme: Grief, Childlessness and Unmet Desire

The novel explores the quiet, long-term trauma of losing a child and society’s unspoken pressure that a woman’s purpose is motherhood.

Jack and Mabel project all their unfulfilled hopes onto Faina. The story asks a painful question: Do we love people for who they are, or for what they can give us?

4. Nature’s Cycles vs Human Wish to Possess Permanence

A dominant motif: Winter arrives and melts away, nothing lasts forever.

Humans struggle to accept transience. Faina cannot be permanently captured or domesticated, just as youth, joy and loved ones cannot be owned indefinitely. The narrative advocates learning to cherish moments without demanding they last.

5. Marriage Healing Through Shared Wonder

Early in the book, grief creates silence and distance between Jack and Mabel. Their joint experience of Faina reopens communication. The story demonstrates that shared imagination and small miracles can mend fractured relationships.

6. Folktale Retelling Grounded in Raw Historical Realism

Rooted in Russian Snow Maiden folklore, yet balanced with authentic 1920s frontier hardship: starvation risk, backbreaking labour, isolation of homestead life. Fairy-tale poetry meets gritty historical detail without sentimentality.

Key Symbols

• Snow & Winter: Grief, suspended time, fragile magic, dormant life

• Red Fox: Faina’s wild instinct; messenger between human civilisation and forest

• Seasons: Impermanence, natural order, cycles of loss and renewal

• The Snow Girl sculpture: Manifestation of repressed maternal longing

Core Themes (Concise List)

1. Grief, childlessness and the weight of unfulfilled dreams

2. The illusion of permanence; accepting impermanence in nature and love

3. The boundary between wild freedom and domestic belonging

4. Magical thinking as a form of emotional healing

5. Marriage: how shared sorrow and wonder can either divide or reconnect couples

6. Human temptation to possess that which we love

Reading Considerations (Pros & Cons)

✅ Strengths

• Exquisitely poetic, atmospheric writing

• Deep, quiet emotional layers; suitable for reflective readers

• Unique blend of frontier history and fairy-tale lyricism

• Complex characters free from simplistic good/evil labels

⚠️ Weaknesses / Reader Warnings

• Slow, meditative pacing; minimal dramatic plot twists

• Sombre, melancholic tone; not a light, uplifting fantasy

• Open, sad ending with no neat resolution

Final Verdict: Is it worth reading?

Highly recommended for readers who value atmosphere, literary prose and quiet emotional depth.

If you enjoy character-driven historical fiction, subtle magical realism and meditations on loss, this novel leaves a powerful, lingering impression.

Less suitable if you expect fast-paced plot, constant action or a fully happy resolution.

Line dance - Country Roads Party

 

《The House of Eve》（《夏娃之家》）

 《The House of Eve》（《夏娃之家》）

Book Analysis & Key Notes 

Author: Sadeqa Johnson

Published: 2023 | Historical Fiction | Reese’s Book Club February 2023 Pick

Basic Plot Summary

Set in late 1940s–1950s America, the novel alternates between two separate female protagonists whose fates eventually intersect.

1. Ruby Pearsall (Philadelphia, first-person narration)

A fifteen-year-old poor Black teenager desperate to win a university scholarship and escape intergenerational poverty. She falls into a forbidden interracial romance with Shimmy, a Jewish young man. When she becomes pregnant, her scholarship and future hang in the balance. She is sent to the House of Magdalene (referred to as The House of Eve in spirit), a shelter for unwed expectant mothers, where she faces humiliation, segregation and unbearable pressure to surrender her baby for adoption.

2. Eleanor Quarles (Washington D.C., third-person limited narration)

An ambitious student at Howard University. She marries William Pride, heir to Washington’s elite Black upper-class family. Eleanor hopes motherhood will secure her place in her wealthy in-laws’ circle, yet she suffers repeated miscarriages and struggles with infertility. Desperate for a child, she and William plan to adopt an infant from the same maternity home where Ruby resides.

Their parallel struggles converge around one child, forcing irreversible sacrifices from both women.

Literary Strengths & Core Analysis

1. Distinct Dual Narrative Structure

Johnson uses contrasting narrative voices to create powerful dramatic contrast:

• Ruby’s first-person perspective delivers raw, immediate emotion, letting readers directly experience her fear, youth and despair.

• Eleanor’s third-person limited viewpoint creates emotional distance, reflecting her alienation within polished Black high society.

The two timelines run independently for most of the novel; their eventual collision delivers devastating emotional impact.

2. Colorism & Class Divisions within Black Communities

Most race-focused historical fiction concentrates on white anti-Black racism. This novel uniquely unpacks internal prejudice:

• Working-class Black communities fight economic survival;

• Elite Black circles judge others by skin tone, family background and respectability.

Eleanor encounters harsh colorism from her mother-in-law, who favours lighter-skinned Black elites. Ruby battles poverty alongside external racial discrimination. The book illustrates that oppression exists not only between races but also within marginalised groups.

3. Bodily Autonomy, Stigma and Motherhood

Set decades before Roe v. Wade, the story exposes how society policed women’s bodies and sexuality.

• Unwed pregnancy equalled moral failure. Young women were hidden, shamed and often coerced into secret adoption.

• Society defined female worth by reproductive capability:

✦ Ruby wants education, not early motherhood, yet pregnancy threatens all her dreams.

✦ Eleanor craves a child to earn acceptance, yet cannot conceive easily.

Johnson challenges the rigid social myth that every woman’s ultimate purpose is motherhood.

4. The Dark History of Unwed Mother Homes

The House of Magdalene is loosely based on real mid-20th century institutions. These facilities framed themselves as charitable rescue homes but operated as punitive spaces. Black residents faced segregated dormitories and unequal treatment. Many young mothers were pressured or manipulated into surrendering infants without full informed consent. The shelter is symbolically nicknamed the “Gingerbread House” — a deceptive safe place that devours young women’s autonomy.

5. Complex, Unidealised Characters

There are no purely heroic or villainous figures. Every character acts from a mixture of fear, ambition, love and self-preservation:

• Ruby is resilient yet vulnerable to desperation.

• Eleanor carries ambition alongside insecurity and longing for belonging.

• Parents and lovers hold prejudices shaped by their own traumatic times.

Johnson avoids moral judgement; instead she demonstrates that women in this era were usually forced to choose between terrible alternatives.

6. Intersection of Multiple Oppressions

The novel vividly portrays intersectionality: Black women faced overlapping discrimination based on race, gender, social class and skin shade. White women in maternity homes received different treatment; wealthy Black women faced different struggles from impoverished Black girls. No single hardship defines their experience.

Central Themes (Concise List)

1. The cost of upward mobility and the sacrifices people accept to escape poverty

2. Colorism and class hierarchy within African American communities

3. Female bodily agency and society’s control over pregnant unmarried women

4. Diverse definitions of motherhood; maternal grief and forced separation

5. The cruelty of “respectability politics” for marginalised women

6. Secrets, silence and long-term trauma shaped by societal shame

Content Warnings

Teen pregnancy, coerced adoption, racial segregation, miscarriage, emotional abuse, intergenerational trauma, depictions of sexual harassment. The overall tone is sombre and realistic rather than hopeful.

Suitable Readers

Recommended for readers who enjoy historical women’s fiction exploring race and reproduction; fans of The Yellow Wife (Sadeqa Johnson’s earlier novel), Tayari Jones and narratives exploring hidden American women’s history.

作者：Sadeqa Johnson

出版：2023｜歷史小說、女性文學｜Reese讀書俱樂部2023年2月選書、紐約時報暢銷書

一、書籍內容大綱

故事設定在1948–1950年代美國，採雙女主交替敘事：

1. Ruby Pearsall（費城，第一人稱敘述）

15歲黑人少女，出身貧窮破碎家庭，最大夢想拿到獎學金上大學、打破世代貧窮循環。

她愛上猶太青年Shimmy，一段當時備受歧視的跨種族禁忌戀情。意外懷孕後，一旦事跡敗露，獎學金、未來會全部化為烏有。她被送進專收容未婚懷孕少女的機構——The House of Eve（夏娃之家），面對巨大壓力、羞辱與痛苦抉擇。

2. Eleanor Quarles（華盛頓DC，第三人稱敘述）

出身普通家庭，就讀知名黑人學府霍華德大學，滿懷抱負。遇見富家子弟William並墜入愛河，但男方家族是華盛頓黑人上流精英，極度講究門第、膚色階級。

Eleanor渴望透過婚姻獲得歸屬感，她以為生下孩子就能鞏固地位、被婆家接納，卻接連遭遇生育困境，深陷婚姻與上流社會的偽善壓力。

兩名出身、處境截然不同的黑人女性，原本毫無交集，卻因為一場與孩子相關的關鍵抉擇，命運意外交匯，各自為理想、尊嚴與母性付出沉重代價。

時代背景重點：羅訴韋德案之前，女性幾乎沒有生育自主權；未婚懷孕在當時被視為「墮落」，大量年輕女性被迫與親生子女分離、秘密送養。

二、這本書好看、值得閱讀的亮點

1. 獨特雙視角敘事手法

Ruby使用第一人稱，情緒赤裸、充滿少年人的掙扎與痛感，讀者直接走進她內心；

Eleanor使用第三人稱有限視角，營造一種置身豪門、壓抑、隔離的疏離感。

兩種語調交替對照，層次感極強，不會讓雙線劇情顯得雜亂。

2. 深刻描寫黑人社群內部的「膚色主義」與階級差距

一般種族題材多半聚焦白人對黑人的歧視，但本書深入刻畫：

貧窮黑人社區 vs 黑人上流精英、淺膚色與深膚色之間的偏見、「體面」的壓迫。

Ruby要對抗貧窮+跨種族戀情的外界暴力；

Eleanor要承受同種族上流圈內的排擠與階級打量，兩種苦難形成強烈對比。

3. 探討女性身體自主、母性沒有標準答案

核心主題：在男權與保守社會下，女人的人生常常被懷孕與生育綁架。

• 想要讀書、不想要孩子的少女，被迫面對生育帶來的毀滅；

• 拚盡一切想要孩子的女人，求而不得，被婚姻與婆家質疑價值。

書中質疑一個殘酷現實：當時社會習慣用「能否當母親」定義女性價值。

4. 歷史細節真實、還原「未婚媽媽收容所」黑暗歷史

The House of Eve 原型參考美國真實存在的未婚孕婦機構。

許多女孩被家人強制送進這類院所，遭受羞辱、隔離，在沒有充分選擇下被迫放棄嬰兒、強制送養。作者還原這段很少被討論的女性歷史，兼具故事性與社會意義。

5. 人物立體，沒有簡單好人壞人

沒有完美女主角，每個人都充滿矛盾：

Ruby既堅強又會恐懼退縮；Eleanor有野心，也有自卑與虛榮；長輩、戀人各自立場複雜。作者不輕易批判角色的選擇，而是呈現當時環境下，人只剩下很差、更差的選項。

6. 劇情張力充足，後段匯合充滿震撼感

前半部分開鋪陳兩人各自困境，讀者會好奇兩條線如何連結；

命運交會的轉折安排極具衝擊，後勁很強，看完會持續反思：生存、夢想、親情，人願意犧牲到什麼地步。

三、適合與不適合的讀者

✅ 適合喜歡：女性歷史小說、雙主線敘事、探討種族/階級/生育權議題、喜《The Yellow Wife》（作者前作）、Tayari Jones作品的讀者

⚠️ 內容警示：包含未成年懷孕、強制送養、種族暴力、情緒虐待、流產劇情，整體氛圍偏沉重、壓抑，偏向悲劇向寫實風格。

Line dance - Red Dress Rebel

 

Movie - No time for goodbye

 《風繼續吹 No Time For Goodbye》（2025 英港合製劇情長片）

基礎資訊

導演：吳曉東 Don Ng

片長：106分鐘

語言：粵語、英語、普通話、烏爾都語

類型：移民、流亡、愛情寫實劇

首映：2025倫敦國際電影節

一、完整主題故事大綱

兩位從家鄉流亡到英國倫敦的香港人，在異鄉難民庇護制度下相遇、相愛，故事圍繞離鄉、孤獨、生存與無奈的愛展開：

1. 兩位主角背景

◦ Bosco（林耀聲 飾）：新抵達的流亡者，原本在家鄉有穩定生活與手藝，動亂後孤身逃離，住進軍營改造的庇護收容所。英國法規禁止庇護申請人合法工作，滿身技藝無處施展，只能困在收容所等待無限期審批，滿是挫敗與迷茫。

◦ Yasmin（余子穎 Kitty Yu 飾）：早幾年來英國，靠一位英國藝人收留，住在運河船上。外表開朗像藝術家，內心藏著對故土、親人的長年思念與無法釋懷的悲傷，習慣獨自壓抑情緒。

2. 相遇與相依

兩人同樣背負離鄉創傷，在充滿陌生、敵意的倫敦互相理解，從同路人的扶持慢慢生出愛情。收容所裡還有來自中東、非洲的各國流亡者，大家共享物資、交換心事，也互相提防、隱藏身分，呈現底層流亡群體真實生態。

3. 核心衝突：沒有時間好好道別

「No Time For Goodbye（沒有時間告別）」是全片核心隱喻：

◦ 離開家鄉時太倉促，來不及和親友、從前的人生好好告別；

◦ 庇護審批結果未知，隨時可能被遣返、拆散兩人，這段異鄉愛情隨時會毫無預警結束；

◦ 流亡者永遠活在「暫時」之中，所有相聚都沒有保證，連分離都沒有緩衝。

4. 象徵片名《風繼續吹》

風代表不停流動的命運、揮之不去的鄉愁、吹走故園的歲月；人被風推著漂泊，無法停下，也回不去從前。

二、電影四大核心主題

1. 流亡者的無根之痛

失去家鄉不是簡單「搬家」，是切斷所有歸屬感：身分被凍結、未來無法規劃、隨時面對遣返恐懼，連悲傷都不能隨意表露。

2. 異鄉愛情的脆弱與珍貴

兩個滿是傷口的人互相取暖，但這份愛建立在不確定之上；歡笑很短，恐懼與思念是日常，刻畫「只能活在當下」的感情。

3. 西方庇護體制的冰冷真實

電影不刻意煽動，客觀呈現英國庇護政策的矛盾：官僚流程冗長、就業禁令、官員冷漠、社會對難民的歧視，制度只講規則，忽略人的情感與生存需求。

4. 離別是人生常態，卻永遠無法習慣

所有人都有放不下的故人、故土，每一次相聚都暗藏分離；我們總以為有機會好好道別，命運往往不給機會。

三、電影帶來的啟發

1. 放下對「安穩」的執念，珍惜當下陪伴

多數人習慣預設長久未來，但命運充滿突變；身邊的人、眼前的溫暖才是真實，不要等到分離才後悔沒好好相處。

2. 學會同理背井離鄉者的困境

不要簡單標籤流亡者，每個人背後都有被迫離開家園的沉重故事；體會失去歸屬的孤獨，對身處逆境的人多一點包容。

3. 接受人生很多遺憾沒有補救機會

很多人、事、故土一旦錯過，再也沒有正式道別的機會；與其沉溺遺憾，不如記住曾經擁有的溫柔。

4. 心靈的「家」不在地點，而在同頻的人

就算遠離故鄉，若有能懂你傷痛、與你共渡難關的人，也能在陌生土地撐起一塊小小的棲身之地。

四、值不值得看？完整評析（優點+缺點）

優點，適合觀看的族群

1. 寫實細節真實，演員演技細膩：男女主角獨處的內心戲克制卻極有感染力，收容所各國難民的群像立體，沒有刻板化。

2. 鏡頭氛圍濃厚：陰冷的倫敦街頭、荒涼海灘、狹小運河船，畫面襯托漂泊的壓抑感，配樂溫柔憂鬱，代入感強。

3. 議題深度足夠：不只談愛情，更探討身分、歸屬、體制、鄉愁，看完會留下長久反思，不是淺薄商業愛情片。

4. 跨文化視角：同時描寫香港流亡者與其他地區難民，呈現全球漂泊者共通的痛苦，格局更大。

缺點，不適合觀看的族群

1. 步調緩慢、節奏沉鬱：全片沒有激烈衝突與爽感，大量內心獨白、安靜長鏡頭，喜歡快節奏劇情片的觀眾容易覺得平淡。

2. 結局開放、沒有圓滿解脫：電影不給溫馨大結局，保留流亡者永遠懸浮的無力感，追求快樂結局的人會感到壓抑。

3. 題材沉重，容易引發情緒低落：大量描寫思鄉、分離、制度壓迫，心情脆弱時觀看容易陷入憂鬱。

總結推薦指數（滿分10）

7.8/10

推薦看：關注移民/流亡議題、喜歡克制寫實文藝片、能接受憂鬱開放結局、對離鄉、歸屬感有共鳴的觀眾。

不推薦：只想看輕鬆愛情片、受不了慢節奏、追求圓滿快樂結局、容易被沉重劇情影響情緒的人。

美麗的誤會

同事告知L的祖父仙遊

他的父親要求L即時回家辦事

我問同事

L的父親不是早時已上天堂

她說不是

原來我以為的L不是她說的L

聽到我一頭冒汗

Melodia do Roupão de Seda

 《浣溪沙》

清·納蘭性德

誰念西風獨自涼，

蕭蕭黃葉閉疏窗，

沉思往事立殘陽。

被酒莫驚春睡重，

賭書消得潑茶香，

當時只道是尋常。

潤色淺釋（精簡含蓄版）

西風淒緊，一身孤涼，這份孤寂無人體恤。黃葉簌簌飄落，遮掩疏淺窗櫺；我佇立殘陽之下，獨自沉湎從前溫柔舊事。

昔日春飲微醺酣眠，你總小心翼翼不忍喚醒；我們常以經書為賭，輸者潑茶取樂，滿室清芬。那時只覺朝夕相伴的溫柔光景，不過平淡尋常，全然不懂珍惜。

補典故：「賭書潑茶」典出李清照與趙明誠夫妻閒居雅趣，納蘭借指與亡妻往日閒適歡愉。

精修英文翻譯（文學對仗、嚴謹無增義、隔行押韻）

Silk-Washing Stream

Nalan Xingde, Qing Dynasty

Who bears my lonely chill beneath west autumn breeze?

Rustling yellow leaves block thin lattice windows’ ease;

I muse old tales beneath the fading sunset rays.

When wine lulled me to deep spring slumber long,

You dared not stir my quiet, dream-enthralled throng;

We bet on scrolls, spill tea, inhale its fragrant haze.

Those tender days I once deemed trivial, common ways.

精修歐洲葡萄牙語翻譯（純葡本土文學詞彙、句式凝煉、詩化語體）

Melodia do Roupão de Seda

Nalan Xingde, Dinastia Qing

Quem suporta o meu frio solitário ao vento oeste de outono?

Folhas amarelas sussurrantes vedam a leve janela de treliça;

Contemplo velhas lembranças ao crepúsculo que desvanece.

Quando o vinho me embriagava num sono profundo de primavera,

Não ousavas perturbar o meu repouso sereno e pleno;

Apostávamos em códices, derramávamos chá, sorvendo o seu aroma fino.

Naquele tempo, julguei esses dias ternos apenas coisas ordinárias.

《銷暑》

《銷暑》

唐·白居易

何以銷煩暑，端居一院中。

眼前無長物，窗下有清風。

熱散由心靜，涼生為室空。

此時身自得，難更與人同。

中文淺釋

如何消解盛夏的煩熱？靜居小院安然獨處。

眼前沒有多餘雜物，窗邊自有徐徐清風。

燥熱消散源於內心寧靜，涼意滋生因居室簡空。

此刻這份獨有的愜意，很難與他人共享共感。

英文翻譯（文學典雅版）

Relief from Summer Heat

Bai Juyi (Tang Dynasty)

How to dispel the sweltering summer heat?

I dwell calmly within this small courtyard.

No superfluous things clutter my sight;

A cool breeze lingers beneath the window sill.

Heat fades away when the heart stays tranquil;

Coolness arises where the room lies empty.

This gentle bliss I solely possess now,

A feeling none can fully share with me.

歐洲葡萄牙語翻譯（文學韻律版，標準葡國用詞）

Alívio do Calor Estival

Bai Juyi (Dinastia Tang)

Como afastar o calor sufocante do verão?

Fico tranquilo neste pequeno pátio.

Nada supérfluo se avista diante de mim;

Uma brisa fresca flui por baixo da janela.

O calor esvai-se quando o coração está sereno;

O frescor surge num aposento despojado.

Esta paz única que sinto neste instante,

É difícil de partilhar com qualquer outra pessoa.

Line dance - Turn this town