○ 圣诞贺词贺词慰问 ○
The teacher wanted to give me a reward, but--though twenty dollars was all I had in the world--her happiness at retrieving this special possession was such that to have accepted money would have spoiled something. We talked for a while, and I must have given her my address. I don't remember.
那老师要给我酬金，尽管我当时身边一共也不过20元钱，可看到她找回这件特别之物的巨大幸福时，接受她的钱无疑会破坏这种感觉。我们聊了一会儿。我很可能留下了我的地址。我记不得了。
The next six months were wretched. I was able to obtain only temporary employment here and there, for a small salary. But I put aside twenty-five or fifty cents when I could afford it for my lithe girl's Christmas presents. My last job ended the day before Christm
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as, my thirty-do1lar rent was soon due, and 1 had fifteen dollars to 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
