我童年的时候 我们的那个家 是被水包围的
In my childhood, our house was hemmed in by water
跟爸爸妈妈兄弟姐妹拥拥碌碌的在一个大家庭里面
I spent a mundane period living with my siblings and parents in a big family
我们的家是做东朝西 离西湖只有一箭之遥
Our house was very close to the West Lake， situating at the east and facing the west
在家里面门口可以望得见西湖
I could see the lake directly from our front door
但我们其余的三面都是被一条富有诗意的浣纱河包围的
The rest three directions of the house were surrounded by another poetic river called Huansha River
浣纱河它是从涌金门源头 然后到开元桥
The Huansha River origins from the Yongjin Gate, passing through the Kaiyuan Bridge
朝北拐然后到平海桥 又朝西 到运河
turning north to the Pinghai Bridge, and then west, leading its way to the Grand Canal
就是把我们这个大家庭包围在水中间
That’s how it encircled our big family in the middle of water
后来我八岁读书上学的时候 一定要翻过浣纱河才能到学校念书
Later when I went to school at eight, I need to cross the Huansha River to get to school
为了要图新鲜 我经常要改变上学的路径
I always changed the route to not get bored
有时候我会从板桥 其实板桥 木板的板 是一座单拱石桥
Sometimes I took the Ban Bridge. Ban means wood (in Chinese), but the Ban Bridge was actually a stone bridge with single arch
单拱桥的南边 有一排小洋楼 青砖样楼
The south side of the bridge sits a row of Western-style buildings with black bricks
里面有一个京剧的表演艺术家鲍毓春就住在这个地方
A Peking Opera performer Yuchun Bao was living there
我从这里去 清晨就要看他教他的长子在天庭里面
Every time if I took this route, I would like to see him in the courtyard, training his oldest son in the early morning
练身段 竖蜻蜓 耍刀枪 剑棍 还有掉嗓门
The practices including body-fitting, hand-standing, weapon-practicing, and vocalization-training
那么然后呢 我还喜欢从鞔鼓桥 这个鞔鼓桥是一个旗人的名称
Another route I preferred was the Mangu Bridge, the bridge was named after a man from the Eight Banners
这一段在清朝的旗营里 这座桥也是有一个满族的名称
It had a Manchu name as well back to Qing Dynasty
鞔鼓桥的西侧有一个消防大队 我去看那些消防战士的演练
The west side of the Mangu Bridge stationed a team of firemen, I enjoyed watching their manoeuvre
那么我还可以从平海桥翻过到我学校路读书
I could also get to school via the Pinghai Bridge
平海桥的东北边有一个很大很大的广场
There was a very big square on its northeast side
广场上有棵几人合抱的香樟树 香樟树下全都是那些民间艺人
Lots of local artists were there under a big camphor tree that needs many arms to be encircled
那么有滚钉板的 吞宝剑的 变魔术的 耍猴的 说书演唱的 等等等等
Some were rolling the nail board, some were swallowing the sword, some were magicians, monkey acrobats, storytellers, singers, etc.
有的时候看得我入迷以后 就忘了去上学 这往往是我赖学的缘由
Sometimes I got so obsessed with their performances that I forgot to go to school. That became my main reason for the absence from class.
我的学校离开河也不远
My school was not far away from the river
等到我小学期毕业以后 读初中了 正好是文革要开始的时候
When I graduated from the primary school and went to the junior high school, when it was exactly the start of the Cultural Revolution
这条河也慢慢的变浑了
the river got muddy at the same time
有很多的家庭妇女 附近工厂里的女工
Many housewives and female workers from the nearby factories began to wash their 油回絲 （“youhuisi”）from factories
把工厂里的油回丝啊 旅馆里面饭馆里的台布 床单啊
Their table cloths from hotels and restaurants, and their bed sheets in the river
都到这里来洗涤 这里就变成了一个像一个加工厂一样的场所
The river then became a place like a source mill
等到我初中毕业的时候 我宁愿舍近取远绕开这条河去上学
When I graduated from the junior high school, I’d rather take some other way even it took me longer to get to school in order to avoid this river
因为这条河的河水越来越臭
because the river got more and more smelly
上面全是一团团的浮起来的污物 还有五彩的油花
and was covered with balls of floating dirt and rainbows of oil
到了1969年 我暂时当然离开了这条河
When time goes to 1969, I temporarily left the river, obviously (due to the Cultural Revolution)
被下放到农村 到江苏老家插队落户
And was assigned to countryside – I went down to my hometown Jiangsu Province and became a member of production teams
1972年那年回来探亲的时候 发现这条河
In 1972 when I went back to visit my family
已经被工人用混凝土在慢慢慢慢的填掉了
I found the workers was already gradually filling the river with concretes
它们挖走了河岸边的垂柳 分杨 女贞 桃树等等等等
They dug away willows, aspens, privets, peach trees and many others at the bankside
然后把河床里的淤泥都挑上来 用卡车运到其他地方去了
And dug out the sludge from the riverbed, transporting them to elsewhere
又把那些钢筋混凝土在这个河床上面浇了一个所谓的防空洞
And then they used those reinforced concretes to build up a so-called ‘shelter’
那个时候的号召就是 深挖洞 广积粮 备荒 备战
The calling at the time was: deep digging holes, widely collecting grains, preparing for the starving and the war
等到我1976年返回杭城的时候 这条河已经完全的消失了
When I went back to Hangzhou city in 1976, the river was completely gone
原前的河床变成了一条通衢大道 浣纱河的名字也更改为浣纱路
The former riverbed became an open road, the name of Huansha River was shifted to Huansha Road
这条陪伴我的富有诗意的 有市井味的浣纱河消失了
This fully poetic and vernacular Huansha River, having accompanied with me for a long time, disappeared