translated by Zhang Mengjing

　　When the swallows have gone, there is still time to return; when the poplar and willow trees have become withered, there is still time to see green; when the peach flowers have already faded, there is still time to blossom. But please tell me, the genius, why then have my days gone and never returned? If some people have stolen them, then who are they? And where are they hidden? If they have escaped by themselves, then where are they now?
　　I don't know how many days I have been given, but the in my hands are becoming numbered. Counting silently, eight thousand days have slipped by. Just like water drops a pinpoint dripping slowly into the vast ocean, my days been dripping into the river of time, quietly and invisibly. I can’t help dripping with sweat and weeping many tears.
　　Although the goings have gone and the comings are constantly coming, how hurried is the time between? When I get up in the morning, I see two or three ribbons of light streaming into my room. The sun also has feet; it moves away on tiptoe and I follow it aimlessly. When I wash my hands, my days wash off into my basin; when I am eating, the days vanish from my bowl; and when I am sitting silently, my days pass by my gazing eyes. When I feel them go away so hurriedly, I reach out my hands only to hold them back before they are beyond my grasp. When it is dark, I lie upon my bed and watch days cleverly jump over my body or fly away from my feet. When I open my eyes to meet the sun again, another day has gone by. I cover my face and sigh, but the spark of a new day begins to flash away in my breath.
　　In these swiftly escaping days, what can I do in this world amongst thousands of households? I can do nothing but hesitate and hurry. In these over eight thousand hurried days, what has been left to me besides hesitation? The past days like light smoke are blown away with the breeze or like a thin layer of mist evaporate with the morning sun. And what mark have I left in the world? When have I ever left a mark as tiny as a hairspring? I came to this world naked, soon I’ll leave here naked too. But, it's unfair to me. . . why did I come to this world for nothing?
　　You, the genius, please tell me why our days have gone by and have never returned?

   （注：此为张梦井的版本）

　　网上虽然也有不少《匆匆》的英译本，但是错误比较多，甚至有的拼写错误，语句都有不通顺的地方。朱纯深、张培基和张梦井先生的这三篇译文是我对照书籍，一字一句校勘过的版本。