Original:
I love the moonlit night, but I also love the starry sky. Once upon a time, in my hometown, on the nights of July and August, when I was enjoying the cool air in the courtyard, I loved watching the dense stars in the sky. Looking at the stars, I will forget everything, as if I were back in my mother's arms.
Three years ago in Nanjing, there was a back door where I lived. Every night I opened the back door and saw a quiet night. Below is a vegetable garden. Although starlight is tiny to our naked eyes, it makes us feel that light is everywhere. At that time, I was reading some books about astronomy and I knew some stars, as if they were always talking to me.
Now at sea, facing the stars every night, I know them very well. The ship is moving, and so are the stars. My eyes are blurred, and I seem to see countless fireflies flying around me. I looked at the many stars I knew, and I seemed to hear them whispering. Then I forgot everything. In the arms of the stars, I smiled and fell asleep. I feel like a child, sleeping in my mother's arms now.
One night, the Englishman who got on the boat in Lembo showed me the giants in the sky. He pointed: those four bright stars are heads, the ones below are bodies, these are hands, those are legs and feet, and three stars are belts. After his advice, I really saw the giant in the sky. Look, that giant is still running!
Stars is an essay written by contemporary writer Ba Jin in January 1927. This paper expresses the author's love and yearning for a better life through the detailed description of the starry sky and stars, and at the same time, the author also expresses his faint feelings of separation through the description of the scenery.
Extended information
Creation background
On January 15th, 1927, Ba Jin left Shanghai for France on the French steamer "Anger". He went to France to study economics and inspect social activities in Europe. Ba Jin arrived in Paris on 19th. During the voyage of the mail ship, Ba Jin wrote 38 pieces of Miscellanies on the Sea. Stars is one of the travel notes, written in January 1927.
Resources
Baidu Encyclopedia-Stars