It was terribly cold, and nearly dark

天很冷，天也快黑了。

On the last evening of the old year

在舊年的最後一個晚上

And the snow was falling fast.

而且雪下得很快。

In the cold and the darkness, a poor little girl, with bare head and naked feet, roamed through the streets

在寒冷和黑暗中，一個可憐的小女孩，光著頭，赤著腳，在街上游蕩著

It is true she had on a pair of slippers when she left home,

她離家的時候確實是穿了一雙拖鞋。

But they were not of much use.

但他們並沒有什麼用處。

They were very large—so large, indeed, that they had belonged to her mother,

它們非常大--的確，它們曾屬於她的母親。

And the poor little creature had lost them in running across the street to avoid two carriages

而這個可憐的小傢伙為了躲避兩輛馬車而跑過馬路時失去了他們的蹤影。

That were rolling along at a terrible rate.

那是以一種可怕的速度滾動著。

One of the slippers she could not find, and a boy seized upon the other and ran away with it.

其中一隻拖鞋她找不到，一個男孩抓住另一隻拖鞋就跑了。

So the little girl went on with her naked feet, which were quite red and blue with the cold.

於是，小姑娘光著腳丫子走了，她的腳丫子被凍得挺紅挺藍的。

In an old apron she carried a number of matches, and had a bundle of them in her hands.

在一條舊圍裙裡，她帶著許多火柴，手裡還拿著一捆火柴。

No one had bought anything from her the whole day, nor had anyone given her even a penny.

整整一天，沒有人向她買過任何東西，也沒有人給她哪怕一分錢。

Shivering with cold and hunger, she crept along;

她冷得發抖，餓得發抖，她躡手躡腳地走著。

Poor little child! The snowflakes fell on her long, fair hair,

可憐的小孩子!雪花落在她那長長的、白皙的頭髮上。

Which hung in curls on her shoulders.

垂在肩上的捲髮。

Lights were shining from every window, and there was a savory smell of roast goose

燈光從每一扇窗子照進來，有一股烤鵝的味道

For it was New Year’s Eve—yes, she remembered that.

因為那是除夕--是的，她記得。

In a corner, between two houses, she sank down and huddled herself together.

在一個角落裡，在兩間房子之間，她沉下心來，蜷縮在一起。

She had drawn her little feet under her, but she could not keep off the cold;

她把小腳丫子拉到了身下，但她無法抵禦寒冷。

And she dared not go home, for she had sold no matches,

她也不敢回家，因為她沒有賣出火柴。

And could not take home even a penny of money.

而且連一分錢都拿不回家。

Her father would certainly beat her;

她父親肯定會打她。

Besides, it was almost as cold at home as here

而且，家裡的天氣和這裡的天氣一樣冷。

For they had only the roof to cover them.

因為他們只有屋頂可以遮擋他們。

Her little hands were almost frozen with the cold.

她的小手幾乎被凍僵了，冷得不行。

Ah! Perhaps a burning match might be some good,

啊，也許一根燃燒的火柴會有好處。

If she could draw it from the bundle and strike it against the wall, just to warm her fingers.

如果她能從包袱裡抽出來，對著牆壁敲打，只是為了溫暖自己的手指。

She drew one out—“scratch!” how it sputtered as it burned!

她抽出一個--"撓！"它燃燒的時候，是多麼的濺人啊!

It gave a warm, bright light, like a little candle, as she held her hand over it.

當她把手放在上面時，它發出了溫暖而明亮的光，就像一支小蠟燭。

It seemed to the little girl that she was sitting by a large iron stove

在小女孩看來，她正坐在一個大鐵爐旁

With polished brass feet.

帶拋光黃銅腳。

How the fire burned!

火是如何燃燒的！

And seemed so beautifully warm that the child stretched out her feet as if to warm them

而且看起來是那麼的美麗溫暖，孩子伸出腳來，彷彿要把腳暖和起來一樣

When, lo! The flame of the match went out

忽然，火柴的火焰熄滅了

The stove vanished, and she had only the remains of the half-burnt match in her hand

爐子消失了，她手裡只有那根燒了一半的火柴的殘骸

She rubbed another match on the wall.

她又在牆上擦了一根火柴。

It burst into a flame, and where its light fell upon the wall it became as transparent as a veil

它燃燒起來，光芒落在牆壁上的地方，變得像面紗一樣透明。

And she could see into the room.

而且她可以看到房間裡的情況。

The table was covered with a snowy white tablecloth

桌子上鋪著雪白的桌布。

On which stood a splendid dinner service, and a steaming roast goose

上面擺著一桌豐盛的晚餐，還有熱氣騰騰的烤鵝

Stuffed with apples and dried plums.

用蘋果和李子幹做餡。

Then the match went out, and there remained nothing but the thick, damp, cold wall before her.

然後，火柴熄滅了，她面前只剩下厚厚的、潮溼的、冰冷的牆壁。

She lighted another match, and then she found herself sitting under a beautiful Christmas tree.

她又點燃了一根火柴，然後她發現自己坐在一棵美麗的聖誕樹下。

Thousands of tapers were burning upon the green branches,

綠枝上燃燒著數千根錐子。

And colored pictures, like those she had seen in the shop windows, looked down upon it all.

而彩圖，就像她在商店櫥窗裡看到的那些彩圖一樣，俯視著這一切。

The little one stretched out her hand towards them, and the match went out.

小傢伙朝他們伸出手，火柴就滅了。

The Christmas lights rose higher and higher, till they looked to her like the stars in the sky.

聖誕燈越升越高，直到在她看來像天上的星星。

Then she saw a star fall, leaving behind it a bright streak of fire.

然後，她看到一顆星辰落下，身後留下一串明亮的火光。

“Someone is dying,” thought the little girl,

"有人要死了。"小姑娘想。

For her old grandmother, the only one who had ever loved her,

為了她的老祖母，唯一愛過她的人。

And who was now dead, had told her that when a star falls, a soul was going up to God.

而現在已經死了的人，曾告訴她，當一顆星星落下時，一個靈魂就要上天了。

She again rubbed a match on the wall, and the light shone round her;

她又在牆上擦了一根火柴，燈光照得她圓滾滾的。

In the brightness stood her old grandmother, clear and shining

明亮的燈光下，她的老奶奶站在那裡，清澈而閃亮

“Grandmother,” cried the little one, “O, take me with you!

"奶奶，"小傢伙哭著說，"哦，帶我一起去吧!

I know you will go away when the match burns out; you will vanish

我知道當火柴燃盡時，你會離開，你會消失。

Like the warm stove, the roast goose, and the glorious Christmas tree.”

就像溫暖的火爐，烤鵝，還有光輝的聖誕樹。"

And she made haste to light a whole bundle of matches,

她就急忙點燃了一整捆火柴。

For she wished to keep her grandmother there.

因為她希望把奶奶留在那裡。

And the matches glowed with a light that was brighter than the noonday,

而火柴發出的光芒，比正午還亮。

And her grandmother had never appeared so beautiful.

而她的奶奶從來沒有出現過如此美麗的景色。

She took the little girl in her arms, and they both flew upwards in brightness and joy far above the earth

她把小女孩抱在懷裡，他們都在光明和歡樂中飛上了遠方的大地。

Where there was neither cold nor hunger nor pain, for they were with God.

在那裡，沒有寒冷、飢餓和痛苦，因為他們與神同在。

The New Year’s sun rose and shone upon the little girl

新年的太陽昇起，照在小女孩身上。

She still sat, in the stiffness of death

她仍舊坐著，在死亡的僵硬中。

Holding the matches in her hand, one bundle of which was burnt.

手裡拿著火柴，其中一捆被燒燬。

“She tried to warm herself,” said someone.

"她想給自己取暖。"有人說。

No one imagined what beautiful things she had seen

沒有人想到她看到了什麼美麗的東西。

Nor into what glory she had entered with her grandmother, on that New Year’s Day.

也不知道在那個元旦，她和奶奶一起進入了怎樣的榮耀。

Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.

我實實在在地告訴你們，你們既對我這弟兄中最小的一個人這樣行，就是對我這樣行。

[...] Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.

我實實在在地告訴你們，你們既不對這其中最小的一個人下手，就是不對我下手。