Halcyon Days Of Youth

  
This entry was inspired by Haru... Thanks for making me remember.

http://www.italki.com/notebook/entry/208302.htm?src=italki-uhpu-fw

Gone are the days of school but now yearning to return. Gone are my childhood friends whom I play and fought with. The giants in our teachers, tall and erect. Fearsome like the ogres of storybooks are but now mere shadows of their former selves. So tiny and midget-like in my eyes of now. Silly it is of me to be so frightened and in awe even to be in their shadows then.

I speak to them and hear them talk. How shallow are their knowledge compared to what I possess. No matter how little do they know, it is them who are my teachers, teaching me the art of growing up and to be a leader amongst men. I am sure, they are proud of me. Without them, this cocky sprout would never become a mightier oak than them. For this, I thank them with all my heartfelt sincerity.

Gone are the days of laughter and chatter in the classrooms. They are now empty and silent before me. I looked in wonder at the tiny elf-like chairs and desks I once used to sit and write upon; scribbling in haste to beat the alloted essay time limit. If I now sit on it, it would surely break! Time changes everything. Essays, now I can write at the drop of the hat!

On the wooden surfaces of the desk are marks of old, forever etched in time by generations past. I fondly remembered how this mark had gotten there and how that chip came into being. So long ago and yet still so fresh in my mind. Yes, I am a giant now, of greatest stature but in my mind, a kid of so many yesteryears ago. I seemed to hear the voices of my teachers telling us to be quiet. Still so many voices in my head begging to be heard.

Gone are the years when I came back to my old school. Nary a classroom in sight. Nary a path to be seen. Now, in front of my eyes, an alien landscape I know not. Gone are the desks and chairs I once used. I should have taken them when I had the chance.

Gone are the familiar faces. Even soild buildings are not immune to time. Truely lost in the strange buildings and yet on familiar grounds I trod. No one recognized me but asked this stranger his business here. I paused and I smiled, replying in lies that I am on my way to see the headmaster. No more questions asked and went their way. For a few more moments, I pondered in sighs. Should I continue my journey? No point, I told myself. For time is a heartless traveller recognizing no friend or foe.
 
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Haru's original piece.
 
Translation Practice


我们终于来到以前憧憬的年纪，却发现已经有人订婚、有人结婚、有人出国、有人生活顺利、有人坚持梦想、有人碌碌无为......毕业时的那个蓝天早已消失不见，那个和你在操场边说着要一起走到未来的人，也早就不知道去了哪里。看着窗外的天，突然就黑了，感觉像我们的青春，突然就没了。

Finally we reach the age that we used to look forward to but only to find that some people have been engaged. Some have been married; some have goneabroad; some are living a smooth life; some are still insisting on their dreams; some are still living a mediocre life… The blue sky that belongs to the graduation seasons has been gone. We have no idea where the people who promised to accompany us to the future are. As we are looking at the sky outside of the window, it suddenly turns black. Just like our youth, it slips away without trace.

http://www.yinyuetai.com/video/226965

My polishing and correction of her above piece.

Finally we have reached the age that we as kids used to look forward to but only to find that some people are engaged, some married; some are abroad; some are having a great life; some are still insisting living out on their dreams and others in a life of idleness… Gone is the blue sky of our graduation days. Then there is the one on the quadrangle who said that we will walk together into the future, is nowhere to be seen. Looking at the sky through the window, see how gloomy it had become. Just I felt like our youth, fleeting away and suddenly gone without a trace.