【The Polar Express】

On Christmas Eve, many years ago, I lay quietly in my bed. I did not rustle the sheets. I breathed slowly and silently. I was listening for a sound - a sound a friend had told me I'd never hear - the ringing bells of Santa's sleigh.

许多年前的一个平安夜，我静静地躺在床上。我不让被子发出一丝声响，连呼吸也又慢又轻，我正等待一个声音----圣诞老人雪橇上的铃声。

一个小伙伴对我说过，你永远不会听到那个声音。

“根本没有圣诞老人。”他非常肯定地说。但我知道，他说的不对。

Later that night I did hear sounds, though not of ringing bells. From outside came the sounds of hissing steam and squeaking metal. I looked through my window and saw a train standing perfectly still in front of my house.

那天深夜，我真的听到了声音，不过不是铃声。屋外传来了蒸汽机的嗤嗤声和金属摩擦的吱嘎声。我从窗口向外望去，看到一列火车正稳稳地停在我家门口。

It was wrapped in an apron of steam. Snowflakes fell lightly around it. A conductor stood at the open door of one of the cars. He took a large pocket watch from his jacket, then looked up at my window. I put on my slippers and dressing-gown. I tiptoed downstairs and out of the door.

火车被一大团蒸汽包裹着。雪花轻轻地飘落在它的四周。有一节车厢的门开着，列车长站在车门口。他从马甲里掏出一只大怀表，然后抬头看着我的窗子。我穿上拖鞋，披上睡袍。我蹑手蹑脚地走下楼，出了家门。

"All aboard," the conductor cried out.
“上车啦！”列车长大声喊着。

I ran up to him.
我朝他跑去。

"Well," he said, "are you coming?"
“嗨，”他说，“你要上来吗？”

"Where?" I asked.
“去哪儿？”我问。

"Why, to the North Pole of course," was his answer.
“还用问，当然是去北极啦！”

"This is the Polar Express." I took his outstretched hand and he pulled me aboard.
他回答，“这是极地特快。” 我抓住他伸过来的手，他把我拉上了车。

The train was filled with other children, all in their pajamas and nightgowns. We sang Christmas carols and ate sweets with nougat centers as white as snow. We drank hot cocoa as thick and rich as melted chocolate bars. Outside, the lights of towns and villages flickered in the distance as the Polar Express raced northwards. Soon there were no more lights to be seen.

车上坐满了孩子，他们都穿着睡衣或睡袍。我们一起唱圣诞歌，吃像雪一样洁白的夹心牛轧糖。我们喝的热咳咳又浓又香，像融化的巧克力块。窗外，远处的城镇和乡村闪烁着星星点点的灯光。极地特快正朝着北方飞速行驶。

We traveled through cold, dark forests, where lean wolves roamed and white-tailed rabbits hid from our train as it thundered through the quiet wilderness.

很快就看不见一点灯光了。我们在寒冷黑暗的森林里穿行。当火车轰隆隆地驶过这片寂静的密林时，饿狼在游荡，白尾兔吓得躲了起来。

We climbed mountains so high it seemed as if we would scrape the moon. But the Polar Express never slowed down. Faster and faster we ran along, rolling over peaks and through valleys like a car on a roller coaster.

火车翻越了一座座高山，那山高得好像我们一伸手，就能摸到月亮。可是极地特快一点都没有减慢速度。它越跑越快，我们坐在里面，像是在玩过山车，攀上山峰，穿越山谷。

The mountains turned into hills, the hills to snow-covered plains. We crossed a barren desert of ice - the Great Polar Ice Cap. Lights appeared in the distance. They looked like the lights of a strange ocean liner sailing on a frozen sea.

翻过高山，越过丘陵，又到了白雪覆盖的平原。最后，我们穿过了一片荒芜的冰原----北极大冰盖。远处出现了灯光，看上去就像是有一艘奇特的远洋巨轮航行在冰海上。

"There," said the conductor, "is the North Pole. "

“那里是北极。”列车长说。

The North Pole.

北极，是一座大城市。

It was a huge city standing alone at the top of the world, filled with factories where every Christmas toy was made.

它孤零零地矗立在地球的顶端，城里到处都是制造圣诞玩具的工厂。

At first we saw no elves. "They are gathering at the centre of the city," the conductor told us. "That is where Santa will give the first gift of Christmas."

起初，我们没有看到小矮人。“他们都在市中心集合呢。”列车长告诉我们，“圣诞老人要在那儿送出第一份圣诞礼物。”

"Who receives the first gift?" We all asked.

“第一份礼物会送给谁呢？”我们齐问道。

The conductor answered, "He will choose one of you."

列车长答道：“他会从你们当中选一个。”

"Look," shouted one of the children, "the elves," Outside we saw hundreds of elves.

快看，有个孩子大叫起来，“小矮人！”

As our train drew closer to the centre of the North Pole, we slowed to a crawl, so crowded were the streets with Santa's helpers. When the Polar Express could go no farther, we stopped and the conductor led us outside. We pressed through the crowd to the edge of a large, open circle.

我们看到外面有成百上千个小矮人。快到市中心的时候，我们的火车越开越慢，简直像是在爬行，因为大街上挤满了圣诞老人的帮手----小矮人。当极地特快再也无法前进时，车停下来，列车长领着我们下了车。我们挤过人群，来到了一个巨大空旷的圆形广场边上。

In front of us stood Santa's sleigh. The reindeer were excited. They pranced and paced, ringing the silver sleigh bells that hung from their harnesses. It was a magical sound, like nothing I'd ever heard. Across the circle, the elves moved apart and Santa Claus appeared.The elves cheered wildly.

圣诞老人的雪橇就停在我们的前面。拉雪橇的驯鹿很兴奋，它们欢蹦乱跳，来回走动，挂在挽具上的银铃丁当作响。银铃声如此美妙，我以前从来没有听到过。广场对面，小矮人们纷纷向两旁让开。圣诞老人来了。小矮人们热烈欢呼起来。

He marched over to us and, pointing to me, said, "Let's have this fellow here," He jumped into his sleigh. The conductor handed me up. I sat on Santa's knee and he asked, "Now, what would you like for Christmas?"

圣诞老人走到我们面前，指着我说：“让这个孩子过来。”说完他跳上了雪橇。列车长把我举了上去。我坐在圣诞老人的腿上，他问：“告诉我，你想要什么圣诞礼物？”

I knew that I could have any gift I could imagine. But the thing I wanted most for Christmas was not inside Santa's giant bag. What I wanted more than anything was one silver bell from Santa's sleigh. When I asked, Santa smiled. Then he gave me a hug and told an elf to cut a bell from a reindeer's harness. The elf tossed it up to Santa. He stood, holding the bell high above him, and called, "The first gift of Christmas!"

我知道，我想要要什么，就能得到什么。可是我最想要的圣诞礼物不在圣诞老人的大袋子里。我最最想要的，是圣诞老人雪橇上的银铃。我说出我的愿望后，圣诞老人笑了。他拥抱了我一下，让小矮人从一个驯鹿的挽具上剪下银铃。小矮人把银铃抛给圣诞老人。圣诞老人站起来，把银铃高高举过头顶，大声说：“第一份圣诞礼物！”

A clock struck midnight as the elves roared the approval, Santa handed the bell to me, and I put it in my bathrobe pocket.

小矮人们又齐声欢呼起来，午夜的钟声响了。圣诞老人把银铃递给我，我把它放进睡袍的口袋里。

The conductor helped me down from the sleigh. Santa shouted out the reindeers' names and cracked his whip. His team charged forward and climbed into the air. Santa circled once above us, then disappeared in the cold, dark polar sky.

列车长把我从雪橇抱下来。圣诞老人喊着驯鹿的名字，响亮地抽了一下鞭子。驯鹿拉着雪橇向前猛冲，然后飞到了空中。圣诞老人在我们头顶上方盘旋了一圈，然后就消失在了寒冷漆黑的北极天空里。

As soon as we were back inside the Polar Express, the other children asked to see the bell. I reached into my pocket, but the only thing I felt was a hole. I had lost the silver bell from Santa Claus's sleigh. "Let's hurry outside and look for it," one of the children said. But the train gave a sudden lurch and started moving. We were on our way home.

一回到极地特快里，其他孩子就要看我银铃。我把手伸进口袋里，可是只摸到了一个洞。我把圣诞老人雪橇上的银铃弄丢了！“我们快去外面找找吧。”有一个孩子说。可是这时火车突然晃了一下，接着就开动了。我们已经在回家的路上了。

It broke my heart to lose the bell. When the train reached my house, I sadly left the other children. I stood at my doorway and waved goodbye.

银铃丢了，我的心都碎了。火车开到我家的时候，我伤心地离开了其他孩子。我站在家门口，跟他们挥手告别。

The conductor said something from the moving train but I couldn't hear him. "What?" I yelled out. He cupped his hands around his mouth. "MERRY CHRISTMAS," he shouted. The Polar Express let out a loud blast from its whistle and sped away.

列车长站在开动的火车上说了句什么，可我听不见。“什么？”我朝他喊道。他把手拢在嘴边，大声说：“圣诞快乐！”极地特快鸣响了汽笛，快速开走了。

On Christmas morning my little sister Sarah and I opened our presents. When it looked as if everything had been unwrapped, Sarah found one last small box behind the tree. It had my name on it. Inside was the silver bell! There was a note: "Found this on the seat of my sleigh. Mend that hole in your pocket." Signed, "Mr. C."

圣诞节的早上，我和妹妹萨拉开始拆礼物。我们以为所有的礼物都拆完了，但萨拉突然发现圣诞树后面还有一个小盒子。盒子上写着我的名字，里面装的是那个银铃！还有一张纸条，上面写着：“我在雪橇的座位上发现了这个银铃。别忘了把口袋上的洞补好。” 署名是“圣诞老人”。

I shook the bell. It made the most beautiful sound my sister and I had ever heard. But my mother said, "Oh, that's too bad." "Yes," said my father, "it's broken." When I'd shaken the bell, my parents had not heard a sound.

我摇了摇银铃，他发出了极为美妙的声音，我和妹妹还从来没听到过这样的声音。

可是妈妈却说：“噢，真可惜。”

“是啊，”爸爸也说，“这个银铃坏了。”

我摇银铃的时候，爸爸和妈妈什么也都没有听到。

At one time most of my friends could hear the bell, but as years passed, it fell silent for all of them. Even Sarah found one Christmas that she could no longer hear its sweet sound. Though I've grown old, the bell still rings for me as it does for all who truly believe.

过去，我的小伙伴们大都能听到银铃声，但是，随着岁月的流逝，这铃声渐渐沉寂。某一年的圣诞节，就连莎拉也发现，她再也听不到这甜美的银铃声了。而我，虽然已经长大了，但银铃依旧会在我耳边响起，它会为所有真正相信它的人响起。