It was dreadfully cold, it was snowing fast, and almost dark； the evening----the last evening of the old year was drawing in. But, cold and dark as it was, a poor little girl, with bare head and feet, was still wandering about the streets. When she left her home she had slippers on, but they were much too large for her； indeed, properly, they belonged to her mother, and had dropped off her feet whilst1 she was running very fast across the road, to get out of the way of two carriages. One of the slippers was not to be found, the other had been snatched up by a little boy, who ran off with it thinking it might serve him as a doll's cradle.

天氣非常非常冷，雪下得很大，夜幕已降臨。這是舊年最后的一夜——除夕之夜。盡管天氣是那么的寒冷和黑暗，一個貧窮的小女孩，光頭赤腳仍在大街上徘徊。當她離家出門的時候，腳上穿著一雙拖鞋，那是一雙相當大的拖鞋——的確太大了，那是她媽媽穿著合適的一雙拖鞋。當她匆忙橫穿馬路的時候，兩輛馬車飛快地闖過來，嚇得她把拖鞋跑丟了。一只怎么也找不到，另一只被一個小男孩搶跑了。他想，這只鞋可以當做玩具娃娃睡覺的搖籃。

So the little girl now walked on, her bare feet quite red and blue with the cold. She carried a small bundle of matches in her hand, and a good many more in her tattered apron. No one had bought any of them the live long day； no one had given her a single penny. Trembling with cold and hunger crept she on, the picture of sorrow: poor little child!

The snow-flakes fell on her long, fair hair, which curled in such pretty ringlets over her shoulders； but she thought not of her own beauty, or of the cold. Lights were glimmering through every window, and the savoir of roast goose reached her from several houses； it was New Year's eve, and it was of this that she thought.

現(xiàn)在這小女孩只好光著腳在街上行走，一雙腳步凍得又紅又青。她那破舊的圍裙兜著許多火柴，手里還拿著一小捆。可整整一天誰也沒有向她買過一根——誰也沒有給她一個銅板。她又餓又冷，哆哆嗦嗦地向前走著，這是一幅非常凄慘的景象：可憐的小姑娘！
雪花落在她那金黃色的頭發(fā)上——長長的卷發(fā)披散在肩上，看起來十分美麗，可她想不到自己的漂亮。從每扇窗子透出的亮光和飄出的烤鵝肉香味，使她想起的只是今天是除夕之夜。