Introduction to Literary Chinese - Lesson 5, Text 2
Adapted from the 1927 book by J. Brandt
雹
Hail
秋日烈烈。暑熱未退。
An autumn day was burning hot, and the sweltering heat did not abate.
忽陰霾四布。大風驟至。
Suddenly a dark mist spread out in all directions, and a great wind rushed in.
空中冰塊相擊。墮地有聲。
Pieces of ice in the air jostled each other and fell to the earth with noise.
屋瓦檐鐵。砰磅聒耳。
The clanging of the roof tiles and the wind-chimes blared in one's ears.
一兒驚問曰。天方熱。何以有雪。
A boy was startled and asked, "The weather was just so hot, how can there be snow?"
父曰。非雪也。是名爲雹。
His father said, "It is not snow; it is called hail."
兒曰。雹何自來。
The boy asked, "Where does hail come from?"
父曰。空中水汽將成雨點。忽爲高處冷風所吹。驟結冰塊錯雜下降。
The father said, "When water vapors in the air, about to become rain drops, suddenly are blown by cold winds in the heights, they instantly set into clumps of ice and fall down in disorder.
小者如豆。大者如雞卵。
The small ones are like beans, the large ones are like a hen's egg.
害田禾。傷人畜。毀盧舍。往往成非常之災也。
It injures crops, hurts men and cattle, destroys huts and sheds, and often causes extraordinary camalities."