箱子很高，孩子们知道未经允许不能爬上去，不过，他们经常被允许一起走出去，坐在玫瑰树下的小凳子上，或者安静地玩耍。

the boxes were very high, and the children knew they must not climb upon them, without permission, but they were often, however, allowed to step out together and sit upon their little stools under the rose - bushes, or play quietly

冬天，所有这些乐趣都结束了，因为窗户有时会完全被冻住。

in winter all this pleasure came to an end, for the windows were sometimes quite frozen over

但是那时他们会在炉子上加热铜币，然后把温热的铜币贴在结冰的窗玻璃上；

but then they would warm copper pennies on the stove, and hold the warm pennies against the frozen pane;

很快就会有一个小圆洞，透过这个洞他们可以偷看，小男孩和小女孩温柔明亮的眼睛会透过每个窗户上的洞互相凝视。

there would be very soon a little round hole through which they could peep, and the soft bright eyes of the little boy and girl would beam through the hole at each window as they looked at each other

他们的名字是凯和格尔达。

their names were kay and gerda

夏天，他们从窗户一跳就能在一起，但冬天他们得上下长长的楼梯，穿过雪地才能见面。

in summer they could be together with one jump from the window, but in winter they had to go up and down the long staircase, and out through the snow before they could meet

“看，白蜜蜂在成群飞舞呢。” 一天下雪的时候，凯的老祖母说道。

“see there are the white bees swarming,” said kay’s old grandmother one day when it was snowing

“它们有蜂王吗？”

“have they a queen bee”

小男孩问道，因为他知道真正的蜜蜂有蜂王。

asked the little boy, for he knew that the real bees had a queen

“当然有了。” 祖母说。

“to be sure they have,” said the grandmother

“她正在蜂群最密集的地方飞舞呢。

“she is flying there where the swarm is thickest

她是它们当中最大的，而且从不留在地面上，而是飞向乌云。

she is the largest of them all, and never remains on the earth, but flies up to the dark clouds

她经常在午夜时分飞过城镇的街道，往窗户里看，这时窗玻璃上的冰就会冻成奇妙的形状，像花朵和城堡。”

often at midnight she flies through the streets of the town, and looks in at the windows, then the ice freezes on the panes into wonderful shapes, that look like flowers and castles”

“是的，我见过。” 两个孩子都说，他们知道这一定是真的。

“yes, i have seen them,” said both the children, and they knew it must be true

“白雪皇后能进到这里来吗？”

“can the snow queen e in here”

小女孩问道。

asked the little girl

“只要她来，” 男孩说，“我就把她放在炉子上，然后她就会融化。”

“only let her e,” said the boy, “i’ll set her on the stove and then she’ll melt”

然后祖母抚平他的头发，又给他讲了一些故事。

then the grandmother smoothed his hair and told him some more tales

一天晚上，小凯在家，衣服脱了一半，他爬上窗边的椅子，从小洞往外偷看。

one evening, when little kay was at home, half undressed, he climbed on a chair by the window and peeped out through the little hole

几片雪花正在飘落，其中一片比其他的都大，落在了一个花箱的边缘。

a few flakes of snow were falling, and one of them, rather larger than the rest, alighted on the edge of one of the flower boxes

这片雪花变得越来越大，最后变成了一个女人的模样，她穿着白色薄纱衣服，看起来就像数百万片闪烁的雪花连在一起。

this snow - flake grew larger and larger, till at last it became the figure of a woman, dressed in garments of white gauze, which looked like millions of starry snow - flakes linked together

她美丽动人，但却是冰做的 —— 闪闪发光的冰。

she was fair and beautiful, but made of ice — shining and glittering ice

她仍然是活的，她的眼睛像明亮的星星一样闪烁，但她的目光中既没有平静也没有安宁。

still she was alive and her eyes sparkled like bright stars, but there was neither peace nor rest in their glance

她朝窗户点头并挥手。

she nodded towards the window and waved her hand

小男孩吓坏了，从椅子上跳了起来；

the little boy was frightened and sprang from the chair;

就在同一时刻，好像有一只大鸟从窗户飞过。

at the same moment it seemed as if a large bird flew by the window

第二天出现了一场大霜冻，很快春天就来了。

on the following day there was a clear frost, and very soon came the spring

阳光照耀；

the sun shone;