安徒生童话(英文版)有声读物系列之——卖火柴的小女孩

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《卖火柴的小女孩》

The Little Match-Seller

在2018年的最后一天给大家奉上《卖火柴的小女孩》，一个发生在新年前夜的故事，应该再合适不过了。因为被收入人教版语文课本，这是个大家耳熟能详的故事。初中的时候 Alex 还曾经导演过《卖火柴的小女孩》话剧，用当时老师上课用的老式幻灯机和画好火炉、烤鹅等的玻璃片呈现了小女孩在火柴光中看见的一个又一个的幻象。

二十多年后，再读这个故事的时候，如鲠在喉，人间的悲苦那么真实，甚至觉得不忍心往下读。但再想想，小女孩在火柴光中看到的幻象，也是真的，至少小女孩相信那是真的，那是她的希望。如果你也相信希望，也许就能在小女孩凝固的微笑中找到一丝慰藉，相信小女孩真的和奶奶去到了一个没有寒冷、饥饿和痛苦的地方了。据说，《卖火柴的小女孩》源自安徒生自己的小时候的贫苦生活。也许他的所见所闻令他悲伤，但他心中却始终充满希望。可能这才是这个故事想传递给我们的“火柴光”。

各位是怎么想的呢？欢迎留言讨论。

本系列的英文原文(出于版权考虑)使用了Mrs. H.B. Paull于1872年发表的翻译版本。我们比较了若干翻译版本觉得Mrs. H.B. Paull使用的语言朴实却不失趣味，并且文字中没有滥用复杂和华丽的词藻，使得这个版本更符合安徒生童话的风格：以孩童的视角和口吻来叙述故事；也让这个翻译版本非常适合学习英语的人群，包括少年儿童和学习英语的成人。为了方便大家跟随录音阅读英文原文，我们标注了部分单词的读音(音标为美式读音)和释义。

彩色插图是由斯堪地那维亚画家 Svend Otto S. 绘制，是伴随安徒生童话出版最多、传播最广、深受大家喜爱的一套插画，也是小屁孩儿当年那本《安徒生童话选集》中使用的插画。在此分享给大家。

您的点赞与转发，是我们坚持认真制作的最大动力！

欢迎您给我们提出建议！

有没有哪个安徒生童话故事是您特别想听的呢？

欢迎留言点播！

以下是《卖火柴的小女孩》的英文。

The Little Match-Seller

by

Hans Christian Andersen

(1846)

Translation by Mrs. H.B. Paull (1872)

Narration by Alexandria (Alex) Wood

It was terribly cold and nearly dark on the last evening of the old year, and the snow was falling fast. In the cold and the darkness, a poor little girl, with bare head and naked(['neɪkɪd], adj.裸露的) feet, roamed([rəʊm],vi. 漫步) through the streets. It is true she had on a pair of slippers(['slɪpə],n. 拖鞋) when she left home, but they were not of much use. They were very large, so large, indeed, that they had belonged to her mother, and the poor little creature had lost them in running across the street to avoid two carriages(['kærɪdʒ],n. 四轮马车) that were rolling along at a terrible rate.

One of the slippers she could not find, and a boy seized([siːz], v. 夺取) upon the other and ran away with it, saying that he could use it as a cradle(['kreidl]n. 摇篮), when he had children of his own. So the little girl went on with her little naked feet, which were quite red and blue with the cold. In an old apron(['eɪprən], n. 围裙) she carried a number of matches, and had a bundle of them in her hands. No one had bought anything from her the whole day, nor had anyone given her even a penny. Shivering with cold and hunger, she crept([krept],v. 慢慢地移动（creep的过去式）) along; poor little child, she looked like the picture of misery([ˈmɪzərɪ], n. 痛苦, 悲惨, 不幸). The snowflakes fell on her long, fair hair, which hung in curls([kɜːl],n. 卷曲, 卷发) on her shoulders, but she regarded them not.

Lights were shining from every window, and there was a savory(['seivəri], adj. 可口的, 风味极佳的, 味美的) smell of roast goose([guːs], n. 鹅, 鹅肉), for it was New-year’seve—yes, she remembered that. In a corner, between two houses, one of which projected([prəˈdʒekt],v. 突出) beyond the other, she sank down and huddled(['hʌdl], v. 把...挤在一起, 使缩成一团) herself together. She had drawn her little feet under her, but she could not keep off the cold; and she dared not go home, for she had sold no matches, and could not take home even a penny of money.

Her father would certainly beat her; besides, it was almost as cold at home as here, for they had only the roof to cover them, through which the wind howled([haʊl],v. 咆哮), although the largest holes had been stopped up by straw and rags([ræɡ], n. 破布).

Her little hands were almost frozen with the cold. Ah! perhaps a burning match might be of some good, if she could draw it from the bundle(['bʌndl], n. 束, 捆) and strike it against the wall, just to warm her fingers. She drew one out—“scratch!” how it sputtered(['spʌtə],v. 飞溅出；喷出) as it burnt! It gave a warm, bright light, like a little candle, as she held her hand over it. It was really a wonderful light. It seemed to the little girl that she was sitting by a large iron stove([stəʊv], n. 火炉), with polished brass([bræs], n. 黄铜, 黄铜制品) feet and a brass ornament([' ɔːnəmənt], n. 装饰, [建][服装] 装饰物). How the fire burned! and seemed so beautifully warm that the child stretched out her feet as if to warm them, when... the flame of the match went out, the stove vanished(['vænɪʃ], v. 消失, 突然不见), and she had only the remains of the half-burnt match in her hand.

She rubbed another match on the wall. It burst into a flame, and where its light fell upon the wall it became as transparent([træns'pærənt],adj. 透明的) as a veil([veɪl], n. 面纱), and she could see into the room. The table was covered with a snowy white table-cloth, on which stood a splendid dinner service, and a steaming roast goose, stuffed(v. 塞满了) with apples and dried plums([plʌm],n. 李子, 梅子). And what was still more wonderful, the goose jumped down from the dish and waddled(['wɒdl], vi. 摇摇摆摆地走, 蹒跚而行) across the room, with a knife and fork inits breast, to the little girl. Then the match went out, and there remained nothing but the thick, damp, cold wall before her.

She lighted another match, and then she found herself sitting under a beautiful Christmas-tree. It was larger and more beautifully decorated(['dekəreɪt], v. 装饰；布置) than the one which she had seen through the glass door atthe rich merchant’s(n. 商人的房子). Thousands of tapers(['teɪpə], n. 细蜡烛, 烛芯) were burning upon the green branches, and colored pictures, like those she had seen in the show-windows, looked down upon it all. The little one stretched out her hand towards them, and the match went out.

The Christmas lights rose higher and higher, till they looked to her like the stars in the sky. Then she saw a star fall, leaving behind it a bright streak([striːk], n. 条纹, 线条) of fire. “Someone is dying,” thought the little girl, for her old grandmother, the only one who had ever loved her, and who was now dead, had told her that when a star falls, a soul was going up to God.

She again rubbed a match on the wall, and the light shone round her; in the brightness stood her old grandmother, clear and shining, yet mild([maɪld], adj. 温和的) and loving in her appearance.

“Grandmother,” cried the little one, “Oh take me with you; I know you will go away when the match burns out; you will vanish like the warm stove, the roast goose, and the large, glorious(['glɔːrɪəs], adj. 辉煌的) Christmas-tree.” And she made haste([heɪst],n. 匆忙) to light the whole bundle of matches, for she wished to keep her grandmother there. And the matches glowed with a light that was brighter than the noon-day, and her grandmother had never appeared so large or so beautiful. She took the little girl in her arms, and they both flew upwards in brightness and joy far above the earth, where there was neither cold nor hunger nor pain, for they were with God.

In the dawn of morning there lay the poor little one, with pale cheeks ([tʃiːk], n. 面颊, 脸蛋儿) and smiling mouth, leaning against the wall; she had been frozen to death on the last evening of the year; and the New-year’s sun rose and shone upon a little corpse([kɔːps], n. 遗体)! The child still sat, in the stiffness(['stɪfnɪs],n. 僵硬) of death, holding the matches in her hand, one bundle of which was burnt. “She tried to warm herself,” said some. No one imagined what beautiful things she had seen, nor into what glory she had entered with her grandmother, on New-year’s day.

The end