It was two days before Christmas. Harry, Cornelius, Monty and I were busy building a snowman when Fritz appeared with his little niece Emily and introduced her.
那是圣诞节前两天。哈利、科尼利厄斯、蒙蒂和我正忙着堆雪人，这时弗里茨带着他的小侄女埃米莉出现并介绍了她。
“Emily is from the South and has never seen snow before,” Fritz told us. “She doesn’t know much about our winters.”
“艾米丽来自南方，以前从未见过雪，”弗里茨告诉我们她对我们的冬天不太了解。”
It turned out that Emily didn’t know much about Christmas also. ”Who is Santa Claus, Waldo?” she asked me, shivering in the cold air.
原来艾米丽对圣诞节也不太了解。”“谁是圣诞老人，沃尔多？”她问我，冷空气中瑟瑟发抖。
“Santa Claus,” I explained, “brings presents and toys to human children at Christmas time.”
“圣诞老人，”我解释说，“在圣诞节给人类的孩子们带来礼物和玩具。”
“Does he bring presents to animal children also?” Emily asked.
“他也给动物孩子带礼物吗？”艾米丽问。
“Well,” I said, “he hasn’t been around this part of the forest for many years. I guess he is too busy visiting all the human children to have much time left for animals.”
“好吧，”我说，“他已经很多年没在这片森林里走动了。我猜他太忙了，没有时间去看望所有的人类孩子。”
“Do you think he will come if I write to him?” Emily asked.
“如果我写信给他，你认为他会来吗？”艾米丽问。
“I don’t think so,” said Monty. “I’ve never seen him, myself.”
“我不这么认为，”蒙蒂说我自己从来没见过他。”
“Neither have I,” Harry added, shaking his head.
“我也没有，”哈利摇着头补充道。
“You see. Santa Claus is only for human children,” Fritz said to Emily. “So forget about the whole idea. Let’s go home now before you catch a cold.”
“你看。弗里茨对艾米丽说：“圣诞老人只适合人类的孩子。”所以忘掉整个想法吧。在你感冒之前，我们现在就回家吧。”
Early the next morning I saw Emily pulling Fritz toward the mailbox.
第二天一早，我看见艾米丽把弗里茨拉向邮箱。
“I wrote a letter to Santa Claus,” she said, waving a large envelope, “and I asked him to come and bring me a present!”
“我给圣诞老人写了封信，”她挥舞着一个大信封说，“我请他过来给我带个礼物！”
“Good luck!” I said. “But don’t get your hopes up too high. I don’t want you to be disappointed if he doesn’t come.”
“祝你好运！”我说但是不要抱太高的希望。如果他不来，我不想让你失望。”
“He will – you’ll see!” Emily cried.
“他会的——你会看到的！”艾米丽哭了。
Poor Emily, I thought. Christmas Day was tomorrow. She was setting herself up for a big disappointment. I was sure.
可怜的艾米丽，我想。明天是圣诞节。她准备让自己大失所望。我敢肯定。
Suddenly I had an idea. If Emily wanted to see Santa, she would, I decided.
突然我有了一个主意。我决定，如果艾米丽想见圣诞老人，她会的。
I quickly went to town and bought a few things for a surprise. I was very pleased with my idea and could hardly wait to see Emily’s eyes on Christmas morning!
我很快就进城买了几样东西，给了我一个惊喜。我对自己的想法非常满意，迫不及待地想在圣诞节早上看到艾米丽的眼睛！
The next day, I got up very early to get ready. I put on the red Santa Claus suit that I had bought.
第二天，我很早就起床准备。我穿上了我买的红色圣诞老人套装。
I looked at myself in the mirror. I was delighted! Even my own mother wouldn’t have recognized me.
我照了照镜子。我很高兴！即使是我自己的母亲也不会认出我来。
I put on my boots and tried out a few Ho, Ho, Hos. Then off I went, carrying a present for Emily.
我穿上靴子，试了几下。然后我走了，带着一件礼物给艾米丽。
When I was near Fritz’s house, I noticed many other tracks in the snow leading to his front door.
当我在弗里茨家附近时，我注意到雪地里有许多其他的痕迹通向他的前门。
I guessed Fritz was having a big Christmas party. It’s strange that I didn’t get an invitation, I thought. But it was Christmas, and Santa was always welcome on a day like that!
我猜弗里茨在开一个盛大的圣诞派对。奇怪的是我没有收到邀请，我想。但那是圣诞节，圣诞老人在这样的日子里总是受欢迎的！
Then I knocked.
然后我敲门。
I could hear little Emily’s footsteps coming to the door.
我能听到小艾米丽的脚步声来到门口。
“Hi, Waldo!” Emily cried as she opened the door. “I’m so happy you could come too. We were expecting you. Please come in.”
“嗨，沃尔多！”艾米丽开门时哭了。”我很高兴你也能来。我们正等着你呢。请进来。”
Expecting me? Waldo? How did she know it was me? Didn’t I look like Santa Claus?
在等我吗？沃尔多？她怎么知道是我？我不是看起来像圣诞老人吗？
I didn’t even have the time to try out any of my Ho, Ho, Hos but followed her into the living room.
我甚至没有时间去尝试我的任何一个呵呵，呵呵，呵呵，但是跟着她走进了起居室。
There were Fritz, Monty, Cornelius, and Harry, sitting on the sofa and having tea. And each one was dressed up as Santa Claus!
有弗里茨、蒙蒂、科尼利厄斯和哈利坐在沙发上喝茶。每个人都打扮成圣诞老人！
“We didn’t want Emily to be disappointed!” Monty explained.
“我们不想让艾米丽失望！”蒙蒂解释道。
“I know, I know!” I said. “I thought of the same surprise. Merry Christmas to all of you!”
“我知道，我知道！”我说我也想到了同样的惊喜。祝大家圣诞快乐！”
Soon Emily opened all her presents. There was a beautiful jacket from Fritz, a pair of warm winter pants from Monty, a woolen cap from Harry, and mittens from Cornelius.
不久，艾米丽打开了她所有的礼物。弗里茨有一件漂亮的夹克，蒙蒂有一条暖和的冬季长裤，哈利有一顶羊毛帽，科尼利厄斯有一双手套。
Then Emily opened my gift. “Oh, red boots – my favorite color!” she said happily. “Let’s all go outside and play in the snow. I won’t be cold now!” she added.
然后艾米丽打开了我的礼物。”哦，红色靴子——我最喜欢的颜色！”她高兴地说我们都到外面去雪里玩吧。我现在不会冷了！”她补充道。
Suddenly there was a loud knock at the door.
突然有人大声敲门。
“Who could that be?” asked Fritz. “Everybody is here already.
“那会是谁？”弗里茨问道。“每个人都已经在这里了”。
We cautiously went to the door.
我们小心翼翼地走到门口。
But by the time Fritz opened the door, the visitor had already left. We could see the back of his sleigh disappearing behind the snow-covered tops of the fir trees.
但当弗里茨开门时，客人已经离开了。我们可以看到他的雪橇后部消失在白雪覆盖的冷杉树梢后面。
“Santa Claus!” called Emily as loud as she could. But all we heard was a faint “Ho, ho, ho!”
“圣诞老人！”尽可能大声地叫艾米丽。但我们听到的只是微弱的“嗬，嗬，嗬！”
“Look, he brought me a present!” Emily said. She pointed to a beautiful red sled. Hanging from it was a label that read FOR EMILY FROM SANTA CLAUS.
“看，他给我带来了一件礼物！”艾米丽说。她指着一辆漂亮的红色雪橇。上面挂着一个标签，上面写着圣诞老人给艾米丽的名字。
“I knew he would come! I knew it!” cried Emily as she danced around her new sled.
“我就知道他会来的！我就知道！”艾米丽围着她的新雪橇跳舞时喊道。
This was certainly one of the best Christmas Days we had ever had! And Emily enjoyed riding on her special sled – pulled by five Santa Clauses!
这无疑是我们有过的最好的圣诞节之一！艾米丽喜欢乘坐她的特殊雪橇——由五个圣诞老人拉着！
