The Little Match Girl 卖火柴的小女孩
Over in a corner of the street, she sat down and huddled together; she had drawn her little legs up under her, but she felt more frozen than ever, and she dared not go home, for she sold no matches and hadn’t got a single penny, and her father would beat her. Besides, it was cold at home, too: there was only the roof over them, and the wind whistled in, although the biggest cracks had been stopped up with straw and rags. Her little hands were almost dead with cold. Ah, a little match might do some good!

小女孩走到街道的角落处，蜷缩着坐了下来，她蜷起瘦小的腿，却觉得比以往任何时候都更冷了。可是她还是不敢回家，因为她一根火柴都没有卖掉，连一个子儿也没有赚到。回到家爸爸一定会打她的。再说，家里也是一样的寒风刺骨：他们就剩下头顶的屋顶了，虽说最大的裂缝已经用稻草和破布堵住了，但是寒风照样能灌进来。她的一双小手都要被冻僵了。哎，要是能点上一根火柴，说不定还能暖和一些呢！

If she only dared pull one out of the bundle, strike it on the wall, and warm her fingers! She drew one out --- whoosh! --- How it spluttered! How it burnt! It gave a warm bright flame, just like a little candle, when she held her hand around it. It was a wonderful light: the fire was burning so cheerfully and its warmth was so comforting --- oh, what was that! The little girl had just stretched her feet out to warm them, too, when --- the fire went out! The stove disappeared --- and she was sitting there with the little stump of a burnt --- out match in her hand.

现在，只要她能鼓足勇气从那束火柴中抽出一根，在墙上一擦，就可以让手指头暖和暖和了！她抽出了一根，哧！火焰噼啪跳动的声音多么美妙，那小小的火苗多么可爱！小女孩把手拢在火苗上，温暖明亮的火焰，就像是一根小小的蜡烛。那是一束奇妙的光亮：那里面火烧得多旺呀。暖暖得让人觉得很舒服，哦，那是什么？小女孩正想伸出脚也暖和一下，火就熄灭了！火炉不见了。她坐在那里，只有手里剩下的那根稍晚的火柴梗。

Another match was struck; it burnt and flared, and where the little fell upon it, the wall became transparent like gauze; she could see right into the room where the table stood covered with a shining white cloth and set with fine china. Then the match went out, and there was nothing to see but the thick cold wall.

她又点了一根火柴，火苗又窜了起来，火光闪闪的，亮光照在墙上的地方变得像薄纱般透明，她仿佛能一下子看见屋里的东西：那里有张餐桌，上面铺着雪白的台布，还摆放着精美的瓷器。就在这时，火柴又熄灭了，面前剩下的只有一堵又厚又冷的墙。

She struck yet another. And then she was sitting beneath the loveliest Christmas tree. Thousands of candles were burning on its green branches, and gaily colored pictures. The little girl stretched out both her hands --- and then the match went out; the different kinds of Christmas candles rose higher and higher, and now she saw they were the bright stars --- one of them fell and made a long streak of fire across the sky.

小女孩又擦了一根火柴，这一次，她坐在了一棵圣诞树下，这是她见过的装扮得最漂亮的圣诞树。数千支蜡烛在绿枝上闪烁，树上还有许多色彩鲜艳的卡片。小女孩伸出了双手，可是火柴又一次熄灭了，那些圣诞蜡烛越升越高。现在她看清楚了，它们是天上的星星，其中的一颗掉下来了，在夜空中划出一道长长的亮光。joozone.com