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In my new confidence I set out for the northern end of the Park.
随着我的信心大增，我开始走向公园的北端。
Near the reservoir, a gang of kids on bicycles zoomed across the Eighty-fifth Street Transverse, hooting with a sense of ominous power.
在靠近水库的地方，一帮孩子骑着自行车飞驰穿过第85街交汇处，他们喊叫着，显示出一种令人感到不祥的力量。
A little later, there was another gang, this one on foot—about a dozen black kids, moving eastward, just by the running track.
稍后，又来了一伙，他们步行——大约有十几个黑人孩子，只是沿着供人跑步的小路向东而行。
I kept my head down and picked up my pace, but my mind involuntarily called up the memory of the 1989 incident,
我始终低着头，加快了脚步，但头脑中不由自主地浮现出1989年所发生事件的场面，
in which a young investment banker was beaten and sexually assaulted by a group of kids on a rampage.
那次一位年轻的投资银行家遭到一伙横冲直撞的少年的毒打，并受到性侵犯。
Around Ninety-fifth Street, I found a bench and stopped.
在第95街附近，我发现一条长椅，便停了下来。
I had taken one of the trails that run alongside the Park's West Drive, and the more northern apartments of Central Park West were in view.
我是沿着一条在公园西路延伸的小道走来的，中央公园北侧更多的公寓住宅便映入眼帘。
I sat as residents prepared for bed: someone watching television, a woman doing yoga, a man stepping into the shower.
我坐到长椅上，此时居民们在铺床准备就寝：有人在看电视，一位妇女在练瑜珈,一个男人正要去淋浴。
Below me was the city, the top of the Empire State Building peeking over the skyline.
这座城市就在我的脚下，帝国大厦的顶端耸立在天际间。
George Templeton Strong discovered the beauty of Central Park at night on July 30, 1869, on a "starlit drive" with his wife.
乔治·坦普尔顿·斯特朗于1869年7月30日夜与妻子在“星光闪烁下驱车”途中发现了中央公园之美。
But tonight, even if it weren't clouding over, there'd be no stars.
不过今天夜里，即使没有乌云密布，也不会有星辰了, 因为灯光太炫目了。
Too much glare. The Park is now framed, enveloped even, by the city,
这公园现在已被城市框在中间，甚至可以说被城市紧紧襄在里面了，
but there was no escaping the recognition that this city—contrived, man-made, glaringly obtrusive,
但无法否认这座城市——虽是经过雕琢、人工打造、灯火辉煌，
consuming wasteful and staggering quantities of electricity and water and energy—was very beautiful.
近乎浪费地消耗着数量惊人的电力、水力和能源，但它是异常美丽的。
I'm not sure why it should be so beautiful; I don't have the vocabulary to describe its appeal.
我不能确定它为什么这么美，我也难以找到恰当的词来描绘它的迷人之处。
But there it was: the city at night, viewed from what was meant to be an escape from it, shimmering.
但现实就是这样：从远离城市的公园来看，这座城市的夜晚的确光焰四射、璀璨夺目。
