The Little Match Girl[卖火柴的小女孩]

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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 feet, roamed through the streets.

天气非常非常冷，夜幕已降临，雪下得很大。这是旧年最后的一夜——除夕之夜。在寒冷和黑暗中，一个可怜的小女孩，光头赤脚仍在大街上徘徊。

It is true she had on a pair of slippers 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 that were rolling along at a terrible rate.

当她离家出门的时候，脚上的确穿着一双拖鞋的，但是那是一双相当大的拖鞋——的确太大了，那是她妈妈的。这可怜的小家伙在匆忙横穿马路的时候，两辆马车飞快地闯过来，吓得她把拖鞋跑丢了。

One of the slippers she could not find, and a boy seized upon the other and ran away with it, saying that he could use it as a cradle, when he had children of his own.So the little girl went on with her little naked feet, which were quite red andblue with the cold. In an old apron she carried a number of matches, and had abundle of them in her hands. No one had bought anything of her the whole day,nor had any one given here even a penny.

一只怎么也找不到了，另一只被一个小男孩抢跑了，并说等将来他有了孩子要为他做摇篮。这小女孩只好光着脚在街上行走，一双脚步冻得又红又青。她那破旧的围裙兜着许多火柴，手里还拿着一小捆。可整整一天谁也没有向她买过一根——谁也没有给她一个铜板。

Shivering with cold and hunger, she crept along; poor little child, she looked the picture of missery. The snowflakes fell on her long, fair hair, which hung in curls on hershoulders, but she regarded them not.

她又饿又冷，哆哆嗦嗦地向前走着，一幅非常凄惨的景象。雪花落在她那金黄色的头发上——长长的卷发披散在肩上，看起来十分美丽，可她考虑不到这些。

Lights were shining from every window, and there was a savory smell of roast goose, for it was New-year's eve- yes, she remembered that. In a corner, between two houses, one of which projected beyond the other, she sank down and huddled herself together.

从每扇窗子透出的亮光和飘出的烤鹅肉香味，使她想起的只是今天是除夕之夜。街边一前一后坐落着两座房子，形成一个小墙角，她蜷缩在那里。

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 thewind howled, although the largest holes had been stopped up with straw andrags.

她把一双小脚卷缩到身下，可还是不觉得暖和。她也不敢回家，因为她还没有卖掉一根火柴，没有挣到一个铜板，她的父亲一定会因此而打她；况且她家几乎和大街上一样冷。虽然屋顶上几个较大的裂口用草和破布堵住了，可风和雪还是不时地灌进屋里来。

Her little hands were almost frozen with the cold. Ah! perhaps a burning match might be some good, if she could draw it from the bundle and strike it against the wall, justto warm her fingers. She drew one out-"scratch!" how it sputtered asit 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 girlthat she was sitting by a large iron stove, with polished brass feet and abrass ornament.

她那双小手都快冻僵了。啊！如果她能从这捆火柴中取出一根，在墙上划着了就会好一些，也就可以暖手。于是她抽出了一根。哧！火柴燃起来了，冒出了火苗。当她双手覆在上面时，它变成了一朵光明、温暖的火焰，好像一根小蜡烛。多美的光啊。小姑娘觉得自己象坐在一个大火炉旁边，铁炉镶有铮亮的黄铜花边和底座。

How the fire burned! and seemed so beautifully warm that the child stretched out her feet asif to warm them, when, lo! the flame of the match went out, the stove vanished,and she had only the remains of the half-burnt match in her hand.

火烧得多么旺啊！小姑娘刚刚伸出她的一双脚，打算在这么好的火前暖一下的时候，哎呀！火焰忽然熄灭了！火炉也不见了。她只剩下手里捏着那烧过的火柴。

She rubbed another match on the wall. It burst into a flame, and where its light fell upon the wall it became as transparent as a veil, and she could see into the room.The table was covered with a snowy white table-cloth, on which stood a splendiddinner service, and a steaming roast goose, stuffed with apples and driedplums.

她又在墙上擦着一根火柴。火柴燃起来发出了明亮的光。墙上被火光照着的地方，忽然变得透明，象一块薄纱，小女孩可以看到房间内东西。桌上铺着雪白的台布，上面放着精致的瓷碟，还有填满梅子和苹果、冒着热气、香喷喷的烤鹅。

And what was still more wonderful, the goose jumped down from the dish and waddled across the floor, with a knife and fork in its breast, to the little girl. Then the match went out, and there remained nothing but the thick, damp, cold wall before her.

更美妙的是这只背上插着刀叉的鹅从盘里跳了出来，摇摇摆摆地在地板上走着，一直向这个可怜的小姑娘走来。就在这时，火柴熄灭了，留在她面前的，只是一堵又厚又冷的墙。

She lighted another match, and then she found herself sitting under a beautiful Christmas-tree. It was larger and more beautifully decorated than the one whichshe had seen through the glass door at the rich merchant's.

她又擦着了一根火柴，现在她发现自己正坐在非常美丽的圣诞树下面，比透过那富商家的玻璃门看到的那株还要大、还要美。

Thousands of tapers were burning upon the green branches, and colored pictures, like thoseshe 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.

这株树的绿枝上点燃着许许多多的蜡烛，颜色瑰丽的图画，就象橱窗里挂着的那些一样漂亮，仿佛在向她眨眼。小姑娘把两只手伸过去，火柴又熄灭了。

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 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.

然而圣诞树上的烛光越升越高，直到在她的眼中成了天上的星星。这时，有一颗落下来，在它后面划出一道长长的火丝。“一定有人要死了。”小姑娘想。因为她的老祖母——一个已故去的唯一疼爱她的人，曾经告诉过她，一旦天上落下一颗星，就有一个灵魂回到上帝那里去了。

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 and loving in her appearance."Grandmother," cried the little one, "O 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 Christmas-tree."

她又在墙上擦了一根火柴，火光把她四周照亮了。她的老祖母就出现在那在亮光里，清晰而又明亮。她看起来依然是那么的慈爱和温和。“奶奶！”小家伙叫起来，“啊！把我带走吧！我知道这火柴一熄灭，你就会象温暖的炉火，香喷喷的烤鹅，美丽的大圣诞树一样不见的！”

And she made haste 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.

她急忙把剩下的一束火柴都擦着了，因为她希望能留住祖母。这束火柴发出强烈的光芒，照得比白天还要亮。祖母从来没有象现在这样显得这么高大、这么美丽。

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.

她把小姑娘抱起来，搂在怀里。她们俩在光明和快乐飞走了，越飞越高，飞到既没有寒冷，又没有饥饿和痛苦的地方，因为她们来到了极乐世界。

In the dawn ofmorning there lay the poor little one, with pale cheeks 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!

寒冷的早晨，一个可怜的双颊苍白却面带微笑的小姑娘，蜷缩在墙角里。她已经在旧年的除夕冻死了。新年的太阳升起来了，照在她那小小的身体上！

The child still sat, in the stiffness 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.

她一动也不动地僵坐在那里，手中还捏着火柴，其中一捆已经完全烧光了。“她是想把自己暖一下呀！”一些人说道。然而却没有人知道，在新年里，她曾看到过多么美妙的东西，并和祖母一起去往了怎样美好的地方。