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The Real Meaning of Christmas,It was the night before Christmas. Silver stars shone in the darkening blue sky. The last few people ran into stores. They bought last-minute presents for their family. The busy street turned quiet at last. Christmas tree s lights still shone through the store windows. The people of the town were safe at home. 今天已经是圣诞节前夜了。银亮亮的星星在漆黑又略微发蓝的空中闪烁着。最后一批人们拥入商店。他们在为其家人购买最后一刻前的礼物。最后繁忙的街道上寂静了下来。透过商店橱窗的玻璃可以看到圣诞树上的灯光依然在闪烁。镇子上的人们已经安全地呆在家里了。,Across the street sat an old man. His hair was soft and white. His face was aged - with lines of time. His eyes were deep and dark. He reached by his side. He lifted his warm bottle of drink to his cold mouth. It tasted good on a cold night like this.,在大街的拐角之处，坐着一位老人。他头发乱蓬蓬的并且发白了，他的脸上布满了皱纹显示出了时光的年轮。他的双眼深陷眼窝，但依旧发黑。他侧卧在地上。他将稍微有些热的瓶子中的水向冰冷的口中倒去。在这样的寒冷之夜，能够这样已经感觉很好了。,He counted his days earnings. Not bad. Maybe people felt the spirit of Christmas after all. People had thrown more money down today, as they passed him by. He must have gained more than twenty dollars! He could eat well next week! His mind wondered to the food he would buy. Maybe he would even buy some special Christmas food!,他数了一下今天叫乞的收入。还不错。毕竟在今天这样一个日子人们还是感觉到了圣诞节的意义。今天人们经过他身边时扔给他的钱比平时要多不少。说不定他已经有了20美元！下周他就可以吃得好点了。他的头脑在想该买些什么。也许他可以买一些特别的圣诞节食品！,The clock struck twelve. Time to sleep. The old man lay down on a long old seat in the town. He rested his head on his rolled up clothes. It was going to be cold night tonight. He closed his eyes and his mind took him back to when he was a small boy.,钟敲了十二下。该睡觉了。老人在镇上的一个旧长椅上躺了下来。他将自己的头枕在破旧的衣服上。今晚将是一个寒冷的夜晚。他闭上了双眼，思绪将他带回了儿时的时光。,He pictured his childhood home in London. He saw his mother and father. He saw his brothers and sisters. They all sat together around the dinner table - laughing. And what a dinner lay before them! They had a wonderful Christmas dinner. He could almost smell it now! The golden red fire gently warmed the room. He used to love watching that fire. He could watch it for hours. He remembered throwing pieces of paper in it. 他回想起了在伦敦时的家。他看到了爸爸和妈妈。他看到了兄弟姐妹。他们一起坐在餐桌旁边放声大笑。在他们的面前放着多么丰盛的一顿晚餐啊！他们可以享用一顿丰盛的圣诞节晚餐。现在他几乎可以闻到那晚餐的香味了！红红的火焰将房间烘得非常的暖和。他过去经常喜欢看那火焰。他可以将那火焰看数小时。他记起了将纸片扔进火焰中的情景。,He watched the paper burn to black ashes. His parents old music player filled the room with Christmas music. He laughed and played with his brothers and sisters. Together, they pulled the shiny paper from their presents. A shiny green train! Wow, it was the best present! He played with that train all day. He was never tired of it. The old man wondered now what happened to it.,他看着纸片慢慢地变成了黑色的灰烬。他的父母是古典音乐的演奏者，用圣诞节音乐笼罩了整个房间。他一边大笑一边与兄弟姐妹们玩。他们一起将礼物盒外边的闪光的包装纸撕开。是一列闪闪发光的绿色的火车！哇，这可是最好的礼物了！他整天地与这个玩具火车玩。他从来没有厌烦过。老人现在想知道紧接着发生了什么。,Which Christmas was he remembering? He could not remember the date. Many years had passed by since that time. He was an old man now. But he could still see that golden fire as if it were yesterday. And he could smell that dinner. He could see his mothers face clearly. He could see her soft brown hair tied back. He could picture her soft hands as she put his dinner on the table. She was beautiful. 他还可以记起是哪年的圣诞节了吗？他记不起具体的日期了。自从那以后已经过去好多年了。现在他已经是一个老头了。但他依然可以看到金黄色的火焰，就好象是昨天发生过的一样。并且他还可以闻到那顿晚餐的香味。他可以清楚地看到妈妈的脸庞。他能够看到妈妈挽起的柔软的褐色头发。当她将晚餐摆上餐桌时，他还可以勾勒出她那柔软的手的样子。她非常的漂亮。,It was thoughts like these that kept him strong. His mind had no limits. And at times like this, the old mans memories stopped him from being alone. 就是这些记忆使他打起了精神。他的思绪漫无边际。就在此时，老人的回忆被孤独打断了。,The town remained quiet. Children and families went to bed. The night passed and morning came. Families got up and put on their best clothes. They attended church. In the church, the children lit small candles. The priest spoke of the meaning of Christmas. He spoke of Jesus. He said that Jesus was like a light coming into the dark world. 小镇静悄悄的。孩子们与家人都入睡了。黑夜过去，早晨到来了。人们起了床然后穿上最漂亮的衣服。他们参加了教堂的布道会。在教堂中，孩子们点亮起了蜡烛。牧师谈起了圣诞节的意义。他谈到了耶稣。他说耶稣就如同是来到黑暗世界中的一盏明灯。,The candle lights were to help the children remember this. The priest spoke of the baby Jesus born on Christmas Day.The spirit of Christmas, he said, rests in this child. We must not think of it as some old Christmas story. We must look at the deeper meaning. 点亮蜡烛就是为了让孩子们记住这一点。牧师谈到了幼年耶稣在圣诞节出生。他说：“圣诞节的意义存在于孩子们的身上。我们不能将此看作是一些古老的圣诞节故事。我们要体会其中的深刻含义。,The child grew up and became a man. His spirit lives on today. Jesus taught us to show kindness to all people. He said to show love to our enemies. He said to visit people in prison. And He said to care for the poor and the sick. At Christmas time, love came to earth. It is up to us, said the priest, to carry this love with us. And it is up to us to show it to the world - like a light. 孩子们会长大成人。他的精神会延续到今天。耶稣教导我们要向所有的人们展现关爱。他说要对我们的敌人展现爱心。他说要去看望在监狱中的人们。他也说要照顾穷人和病人。在圣诞节的时刻，爱来到了人间。对于我们来说，要将爱心永远留在身边。对于我们来说。要如同一盏灯一样将它向世界展现。”,The people left the church. The children were excited. They wanted to get home and open their presents. They hurried back to their cars. On the way, they passed by the old man, resting on his seat. He was still lying down. But his eyes were open. 人们离开了教堂。孩子们兴奋异常。他们想回家打开礼物。他们匆忙地跑向汽车。在路上，他们经过了在椅子上休息的老人。他仍旧在躺着。但他的双眼睁着。,From under his hat, he watched the families pass by. He watched the children run and laugh. He watched the parents talking together. 透过帽子，他注视着路过的人们。他看到孩子们边跑边笑。他看到父母们边走边聊。,Many of them did not even see the old man. Some of them saw him, but felt afraid. And some of them felt guilty for a minute, until they passed him by. And a few crossed the street. They felt uneasy. 许多人甚至都没有注意到这位老人。一些人看到了他，但感到有些害怕。一些人在一刹那感到有罪，直到他们经过他的身边。一些人路过大街，感到有些恶心。,But a small boy walked with his mother and father. His eyes met the old mans dark eyes. The boys mother pulled his hand. But the boy stopped. He looked at the old mans torn clothes. He saw a hole in the mans shoe. The boy reached into his clothes pocket. He pulled out the candle from the church. Then, he sat down by the old man. The young boy said, 但一个小男孩与其父母走了过来。他的眼睛看到了老人的黑色的双眼。男孩的妈妈拉着他的手。但男孩停了下来。他看了一下老人破旧的衣服。他看到老人鞋子上的窟窿。男孩将手伸向了自己的衣袋。他将从教堂中带来的蜡烛拿了出来。然后，他坐到老人的身边。小男孩说，, Jesus is like a light in this world. He can light our hearts and minds. Then we can know and show his love. I want you to have this candle light - so that you can remember this. “在世界上耶稣就如同是一盏灯。他能够照亮我们的身心。然后我们才能够领悟，才能够展现爱心。我想让你点亮这只蜡烛以使你能够明白这个道理。”,The old mans eyes filled with tears. The young boy was the first person to speak to him that Christmas. He took the candle from the boys hands. And he said, Thank you son. Jesus light is in your heart already. You know the real meaning of Christmas. 老人的双眼充满了泪水。这个小男孩是那个圣诞节第一个和他讲话的人。他从男孩手中接过了蜡烛，然后说道：“谢谢你，孩子。耶稣的灯早已经在你的心里了。你懂得了圣诞节的真实意义。”,
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