o my name--which Peggy and I would need for food. She was home from convent boarding school and was excitedly looking forward to her gifs next day, which I had already Purchased. I had bough her a small tree, and we were going to decorate it that night.

接下来的半年里我的境况很凄凉。我设法四处打点零工，挣些微薄的薪水。但我尽可能每个月存25或50美分以备给小女儿买圣诞礼物。就在圣诞节的前一天，我又失去了工作。30元的房租很快就到期了，而我一共只有15元——这是佩吉和我的生活费。她从女修道院办的寄宿学校回来了，十分激动地等着第二天的礼物，那是我早就买好了的。我给她买了一棵小树，打算晚上再装饰。

The air was full of the sound of Christmas merriment as I walked from the streetcar to my small apartment. Bells rang and children shouted in the bitter dusk of the evening, and windows were lighted and everyone was running and laughing. But there should be no Christmas for me, I knew, no gifts, no remembrance whatsoever. As l struggled through the snowdrifts, l had just about reached the lowest Point in my life. Unless a miracle happened, I would be homeless in January, foodless, jobless. I had prayed steadily for weeks, and there had been no answer but this coldness and darkness, this harsh air, this abandonment. God and men had completely forgotten me. I felt so helpless and so lonely. What was to become of us?

我下了电车一路走回家，空中弥漫着圣诞节的欢乐气氛。铃儿叮当响着，孩子们在寒风刺骨的黄昏里叫喊着；四周是万家灯火，每个人在奔跑着，欢笑着。但我知道，对我来说，将没有圣诞节可言，没有礼物，没有怀念，什么都没有。处在人生低谷的我在暴风雪中艰难地行走着。除非奇迹出现，要不我在1月份便将无家可归，没有食物，也没有工作。我已经坚持祈祷了好几个星期，但没有任何回应，只有这寒冷，这黑暗，这刺骨的风，还有这被遗弃的痛苦。上帝和人类都把我完全遗忘了。我感到自己那么无力，那么孤独。我们的命运将如何呢？

I looked in my mail box. There were only bills in it, a sheaf of them, and two white envelopes which I was sure contained more bills. I went up three dusty flights of stairs and I cried, shivering in my thin coat. But I made myself smile so I could greet my little daughter with a Pretense of happiness. She opened the door for me and threw herself in my arms, screaming joyously and demanding that we decorate the tree immediately.

回到家我打开邮箱，只有一把账单，还有两个白色的信封，肯定里面装的也是账单。我爬上三层积满灰尘的楼梯，禁不住凄然泪下，又加衣衫单薄冷得直打哆嗦。但我擦擦眼泪，强挤出笑容，要让自己在女儿面前露出喜悦之情。她打开门，直扑我的怀抱，欣喜地喊叫着要马上装饰圣诞树。

Peggy had proudly set our kitchen table for our evening meal and put pans out and three cans of food which would be our dinner. For some reason, when I looked at those pans and cans, I felt brokenhearted. We would have only hamburgers for our Christmas dinner tomorrow. I stood in the cold little kitchen, misery overwhelmed me. For the first time in my life, I doubted the existence and his mercy, and the coldness in my heart was colder than ice.

佩吉已自豪地支好了桌子，摆上盘子和3个罐头，这就是我们的晚餐。不知道为什么，当我看着那些盘子和罐头时，我心痛欲碎。明天的圣诞晚餐我们将只有汉堡包。我站立在又冷又窄小的厨房里，满腹悲伤。有生以来我第一次怀疑仁慈上帝的存在，心里比冰雪还要冷。

The doorbell rang and Peggy ran fleetly to answer it, calling that it must be Santa Claus. Then I heard a man talking heartily to her and went to the door. He was a delivery man, and his arms wer

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