冷冽的冬。

近处几株老树的叶子都掉光了。露出光秃的枝干。远远山凹下的垭口那儿还住着几户人家。

大雪封天，雪絮飘飞，想起谢灵运的诗：“明月照积雪，朔风劲且哀。”刘鹗就很感叹，说那个“哀”字下得好，说没住过北方的人实在无法体验出大雪冰封的滋味。

说真的，六十岁了，跟着旅行团去大陆、去日本、去北欧，见过下雪，踏过积雪，也见过北人滑雪溜冰，但还真是无法体会穷苦人家下雪的况味，尤其在古代。至于谢太傅内集，说什么“撒盐空中差可拟”，又说什么“未若柳絮因风起。”告诉你，那是有钱有闲人家的子女在说些不食人间烟火的话儿呢。

Sand Painting （流沙画）

It's cold and desolate winter.
The leaves have all fallen from the old trees in the foreground, exposing their bare branches. A few people live in the distant mountain pass.
The sky is full of snowflakes, bringing to mind a poem by Xie Lingyun: "The moon shines on the snow, and the north wind is strong and sorrowful." Liu E was impressed by this use of the word "sorrowful," and said that people who have never lived in the north cannot really understand what it's like when the world is covered with ice and snow.
I'm 60 years old, and I've been with tour groups to China, Japan, and northern Europe. I've seen snow, walked on the snow, and seen people skiing and ice-skating. On the other hand, I can't really imagine how impoverished people suffer, particularly in ancient times. As for Xie Taibo's words about "almost like salt sprinkled in the air," or "not exactly like willow fluff drifting in the wind," I think these are just some pretentious words from a spoiled, idle child.＠(http://www.dajiyuan.com)