为你读英语美文·第291期：圣诞特辑 | 一封来自圣诞老人的信

主播：严喆
坐标：武汉

A Letter From Santa Claus
一封来自圣诞老人的信
作者：马克·吐温，翻译：永清

My Dear Susie Clemens,
我亲爱的苏西·克莱门斯，


I have received and read all the letters which you and your little sister have written me...I can read your and your baby sister's jagged and fantastic marks without any trouble at all.

我收到和读了你和你妹妹写给我的所有来信啦…我完全能看懂你和你妹妹虽然歪扭但超可爱的涂鸦。

But I had trouble with those letters which you dictated through your mother and the nurses, for I am a foreigner and cannot read English writing well.
但是你妈妈和护士口述的信，我就看不懂了，因为我是歪果仁，不太看得懂英文。

You will find that I made no mistakes about the things which you and the baby ordered in your own letters—I went down your chimney at midnight when you were asleep and delivered them all myself--and kissed both of you, too...
你会发现，你和小宝贝在自己信里提到的礼物，我都完成啦--午夜你们在睡着的时候，我顺着烟囱爬进来，亲自送给你们啦—我还亲吻了你们两个小可爱。

But...there were...one or two small orders which I could not fill because we ran out of stock...There was a word or two in your mama's letter which...I took to be "a trunk full of doll's clothes." Is that it? I will call at your kitchen door about nine o'clock this morning to inquire.
但是…有那么一两样我没法给你们，因为我们没有库存了…还有你们妈妈信里的这几个字“一箱玩具娃娃的衣服” 是这样吗？我会在今天早上9点，敲你们厨房的门来确认。

But I must not see anybody and I must not speak to anybody but you. When the kitchen doorbell rings, George must be blindfolded and sent to the door. You must tell George he must walk on tiptoe and not speak—otherwise he will die someday.
但是我不能看到任何人，也不能和别人说话，除了你们两个小可爱。厨房门铃响的时候，乔治必须蒙上眼睛，来到门前。你要告诉乔治：他必须踮着脚趾走过来，不能说话—否则他在某天就会咪西了。

Then you must go up to the nursery and stand on a chair or the nurse's bed and put your ear to the speaking tube that leads down to the kitchen and when I whistle through it you must speak in the tube and say, "Welcome, Santa Claus!"
然后，你得上楼到育儿室里，站在椅子上，或者护士的床上，把你的小耳朵对着连着厨房的通话口。当我吹口哨的时候，你必须对着通话口说：“欢迎你，圣诞老人！”

Then I will ask whether it was a trunk you ordered or not. If you say it was, I shall ask you what color you want the trunk to be...and then you must tell me every single thing in detail which you want the trunk to contain.
然后，我会问是不是你们下达的箱子。如果你们说是，我得问你们想要什么颜色的箱子…接着，你们要详细告诉我箱子里装的每件东西。

Then when I say "Good-by and a merry Christmas to my little Susy Clemens," you must say "Good-by, good old Santa Claus, I thank you very much."
然后，当我说“再见，圣诞快乐，我可爱的小苏西”，你也必须说：“再见，善良的圣诞老人，我非常感谢你。”

Then you must go down into the library and make George close all the doors that open into the main hall, and everybody must keep still for a little while.
再然后呢，你得下楼到书房，让乔治把所有对着客厅的门关起来，所有人都必须在房间里待一小会儿。

I will go to the moon and get those things and in a few minutes I will come down the chimney that belongs to the fireplace that is in the hall—if it is a trunk you want--because I couldn't get such a thing as a trunk down the nursery chimney, you know...
我要到月亮上去取你们要的东西，几分钟以后，我会顺着客厅壁炉的烟囱下来，如果你们要的是箱子的话，因为育儿室的烟囱放不下来，你们懂的。

If I should leave any snow in the hall, you must tell George to sweep it into the fireplace, for I haven't time to do such things. George must not use a broom, but a rag—else he will die someday...
如果我在客厅里留下雪花，你得告诉乔治，把雪花扫了放进壁炉，我没有时间做这个。乔治不能用扫把，只能用抹布—否则他在某天就会咪西了。

If my boot should leave a stain on the marble, George must not holystone it away. Leave it there always in memory of my visit; and whenever you look at it or show it to anybody you must let it remind you to be a good little girl.
如果我的靴子在大理石地板上留下了印迹，乔治不能把印记抹了。留下印迹，这是我来过的回忆。当你看到印迹，或者给别人看的时候，它会提醒你要做一个好女孩儿。

Whenever you are naughty and someone points to that mark which your good old Santa Claus's boot made on the marble, what will you say, little sweetheart?
每当你调皮捣蛋，有人指着善良的圣诞老人留下的印迹的时候，你会说什么呢，我的小可爱？

Good-by for a few minutes, till I come down to the world and ring the kitchen doorbell.
暂时告别几分钟，直到我来到这个世界，按响你们厨房的门铃。

Your loving Santa Claus
爱你们的圣诞老人
Whom people sometimes call
"The Man in the Moon"
有时候人们也称为
“月亮上的人”

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