Early September morning in Oxford Street. The smell of charred dust hangs on what should be crystal pure air. Sun， just up， floods the once more innocent sky， strikes silver balloons and the intact building-tops. The whole length of Oxford Street， west to east， is empty， looks polished like ballroom， glitters with smashed glass. Down the distances， natural mists of morning are brown with the last of smoke. Fumes still come from the shell of a shop. At this is now the enormous thing - it appears to amaze the street. Sections and blocks have been roped off； there is no traffic； the men in the helmets say not a person may pass （but some sneak through）。 Besides the high explosives that did the work， this quarter has been seeded with time bombs - so we are headed， waiting for those to go off. This is the top of Oxford Street， near where it joins the corner of Hyde Park at Marble Arch.
We people have come up out of the ground， or out from the bottom floors of the damaged houses： we now see what we heard happen throughout the night.
（from London， 1940 by Elizabeth Bowen） Dusk
charred 烧成炭的
crystal 如水晶般清澈的，透明的
intact 未受损的，完整的
polished 打磨过的，发光的
ballroom 舞厅
glitter 闪耀，发光
smashed 砸碎的
fume 烟雾
shell 骨架，建筑处壳
gas main 煤气总管道
rope off 用强围起
helmet 头盔
explosive 炸药，爆炸物
quarter 住宅区，地区
time bomb 定时炸弹
herd 聚集在一起，成群