n we asked her about it, she explained that, when the little match girl lit a match, the tiny flame became for her a roaring christmas fire with gifts, friends and food around.

這也是她最深切的願望。”

this was also her deepest desire”.

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舊年的最後一個夜晚，天氣非常寒冷，天幾乎黑了，雪下得很大。

It was terribly cold and nearly dark on the last evening of the old year, and the snow was falling fast.

在寒冷和黑暗中，一個可憐的小女孩，光著頭赤著腳在街上徘徊。

In the cold and the darkness, a poor little girl, with bare head and naked feet, roamed through the streets.

她離開家的時候確實穿著一雙拖鞋，但它們沒什麼用。

It is true she had on a pair of slippers when she left home, but they were not of much use.

拖鞋很大，非常大，實際上，那是她媽媽穿過的，這個可憐的小傢伙在跑過馬路去躲避兩輛疾馳的馬車時把拖鞋弄丟了。

they were very large, so large, indeed, that they had belonged to her mother, and the poor little creature had lost them in running across the street to avoid two carriages that were rolling along at a terrible rate.

她找不到其中一隻拖鞋了，一個男孩撿起另一隻就跑了，還說等他自己有了孩子，可以把這隻拖鞋當搖籃用。

one of the slippers she could not find, and a boy seized upon the other and ran away with it, saying that he could use it as a cradle, when he had children of his own.

於是小女孩就光著她的小腳繼續走，小腳被凍得又紅又青。

So the little girl went on with her little naked feet, which were quite red and blue with the cold.

她在一條舊圍裙裡裝著許多火柴，手裡還拿著一捆。

In an old apron she carried a number of matches, and had a bundle of them in her hands.

一整天都沒有人買她的東西，甚至沒有一個人給她一個便士。