At this, the dwarfs held up their little old hands, and looked quite perplexed.
矮人們看起來(lái)對(duì)他的這一舉動(dòng)感到非常困惑不解,紛紛舉起他們飽經(jīng)滄桑的小手。
"We can not make a bargain, it seems," said the poor man, "so I'll bid you all a good day."
窮人說(shuō):“看來(lái)我們沒(méi)法達(dá)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.
此時(shí)此刻,火腿的香氣已經(jīng)飄到了矮人國(guó)的深處,矮人們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.
全都丟下手里正在挖掘的珍貴寶石,成群結(jié)隊(duì)向他簇?fù)磉^(guò)來(lái)。
"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.
一些剛剛到達(dá)的矮人們說(shuō):“把那臺(tái)老磨粉機(jī)給他吧,反正也不能用了,況且他也不知道怎么用。
Let him have it, and we will have the ham.
給他吧,這樣火腿就歸我們了。
So the bargain was made.
交易就這么完成了。
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.
那臺(tái)老舊的手工磨粉機(jī)非常小巧,還沒(méi)有火腿的一半大。窮人拿著它回到了森林里,
Here the old man showed him how to use it.
他的那位新朋友告訴了他如何操作。
All this had taken up a great deal of time, and it was midnight before he reached home.
整個(gè)過(guò)程花費(fèi)了很長(zhǎng)時(shí)間,他回到家時(shí)已經(jīng)是后半夜了。
"Where in the world have you been?" said his wife.
“你到底上哪兒去了?”他妻子問(wèn)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,既沒(méi)有木頭生火,也沒(méi)有任何食物能下鍋熬粥準(zhǔn)備圣誕晚餐。
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,但窮人讓他妻子再等一會(huì)兒,看看會(huì)發(fā)生什么。
He placed the little hand mill on the table, and began to turn the crank.
他將那臺(tái)小小的手工磨粉機(jī)放在桌上,開(kāi)始轉(zhuǎn)動(dòng)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.
首先出現(xiàn)的是一些華麗的燃燒著的蠟燭、壁爐里的火焰、一鍋沸騰著要流出來(lái)的粥,因?yàn)樵谒X海里,他覺(jué)得這些應(yīng)該最先出現(xiàn)。
Then he ground out a tablecloth, and dishes, and spoons, and knives and forks.
隨后他又不斷地磨啊磨,出現(xiàn)了一塊臺(tái)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.
就像你想象的一樣,連他自己都驚訝于他的好運(yùn)氣;他的妻子又高興又吃驚,幾乎不能自已。
Well, they had a capital supper;
于是,他們享用了一頓豐盛的晚餐。
and after it was eaten, they ground out of the mill every possible thing to make their house and themselves warm and comfortable.
用餐完畢,他們又磨出了能使他們的屋子和他們自己感到溫暖舒適的各種物品。
So they had a merry Christmas eve and morning.
這樣一來(lái),他們度過(guò)了一個(gè)非常美妙的圣誕前夜和圣誕節(jié)清晨。