美国语文第四册 第05期：海水为什么是咸的（02）
At this, the dwarfs held up their little old hands, and looked quite perplexed.
矮人们看起来对他的这一举动感到非常困惑不解，纷纷举起他们饱经沧桑的小手。
"We can not make a bargain, it seems," said the poor man, "so I'll bid you all a good day."
穷人说：“看来我们没法达成一致了，祝大家都有愉快的一天。”
The fragrance of the ham had by this time reached the remote parts of dwarf land.
此时此刻，火腿的香气已经飘到了矮人国的深处，矮人们迫不及待地想得到火腿，
The dwarfs came flocking around in little troops, leaving their work of digging out precious ores, eager for the ham.
全都丢下手里正在挖掘的珍贵宝石，成群结队向他簇拥过来。
"Let him have the old mill," said some of the newcomers;" it is quite out of order, and he don't know how to use it.
一些刚刚到达的矮人们说：“把那台老磨粉机给他吧，反正也不能用了，况且他也不知道怎么用。
Let him have it, and we will have the ham.
给他吧，这样火腿就归我们了。
So the bargain was made.
交易就这么完成了。
The poor man took the old hand mill, which was a little thing not half so large as the ham, and went back to the woods.
那台老旧的手工磨粉机非常小巧，还没有火腿的一半大。穷人拿着它回到了森林里，
Here the old man showed him how to use it.
他的那位新朋友告诉了他如何操作。
All this had taken up a great deal of time, and it was midnight before he reached home.
整个过程花费了很长时间，他回到家时已经是后半夜了。
"Where in the world have you been?" said his wife.
“你到底上哪儿去了？”他妻子问道，
Here I have been waiting and waiting, and we have no wood to make a fire, nor anything to put into the porridge pot for our Christmas supper.
我在家里等啊等，既没有木头生火，也没有任何食物能下锅熬粥准备圣诞晚餐。
The house was dark and cold; but the poor man bade his wife wait and see what would happen.
屋子里又黑又冷，但穷人让他妻子再等一会儿，看看会发生什么。
He placed the little hand mill on the table, and began to turn the crank.
他将那台小小的手工磨粉机放在桌上，开始转动手柄。
First, out there came some grand, lighted wax candles, and a fire on the hearth, and a porridge pot boiling over it, because in his mind he said they should come first.
首先出现的是一些华丽的燃烧着的蜡烛、壁炉里的火焰、一锅沸腾着要流出来的粥，因为在他脑海里，他觉得这些应该最先出现。
Then he ground out a tablecloth, and dishes, and spoons, and knives and forks.
随后他又不断地磨啊磨，出现了一块台布、一些碟子、勺子和刀叉。
He was himself astonished at his good luck, as you may believe; and his wife was almost beside herself with joy and astonishment.
就像你想象的一样，连他自己都惊讶于他的好运气；他的妻子又高兴又吃惊，几乎不能自已。
Well, they had a capital supper;
于是，他们享用了一顿丰盛的晚餐。
and after it was eaten, they ground out of the mill every possible thing to make their house and themselves warm and comfortable.
用餐完毕，他们又磨出了能使他们的屋子和他们自己感到温暖舒适的各种物品。
So they had a merry Christmas eve and morning.
这样一来，他们度过了一个非常美妙的圣诞前夜和圣诞节清晨。
