It was Saturday night, and the widow of the Pine Cottage sat by her blazing fagots, with her five tattered children at her side,
一个周六的夜晚，一座松木搭建的小屋里，一位寡妇坐在燃烧的火堆旁，五个衣衫褴褛的孩子依偎在她的身边。
endeavoring by listening to the artlessness of their prattle to dissipate the heavy gloom that pressed upon her mind.
她强打精神，听着周围咿呀吵闹，孩子们不谙人世的纯真，或许消散她内心些许沉重阴霾。
For a year, her own feeble hand had provided for her helpless family, for she had no supporter: she thought of no friend in all the wide, unfriendly world around.
一年来，她用羸弱的双手独自撑起这个呼告无门的家。在这个偌大寒冷的世界上，她举目无亲，无所可依。
But that mysterious Providence, the wisdom of whose ways is above human comprehension, had visited her with wasting sickness, and her little means had become exhausted.
然而，天意神秘不可知。那位超越人类认知的睿者，目睹了她的病弱之躯，她那微薄家产逐渐消耗殆尽。
It was now, too, midwinter, and the snow lay heavy and deep through all the surrounding forests, while storms still seemed gathering in the heavens,
适逢仲冬，四周森林莽野，雪下得很大，很厚，暴风雪仍在天空不断聚集，
and the driving wind roared amid the neighboring pines, and rocked her puny mansion.
狂风在松林里呼啸翻卷，摇撼着她和她的孩子那间可怜的木屋。
The last herring smoked upon the coals before her;
最后一条鲱鱼在她面前炉火上燎起轻烟，
it was the only article of food she possessed,
那是她仅剩的最后一点食物。
and no wonder her forlorn, desolate state brought up in her lone bosom all the anxieties of a mother when she looked upon her children:
毫不奇怪，她看着玩耍的孩子们，一丝绝望情绪在她无助的内心蔓延，那是一个母亲的呼救无门；
and no wonder, forlorn as she was, if she suffered the heart swellings of despair to rise,
毋庸多说，她倍感孤独，她还是感觉到最后的绝望在她心底慢慢隆起，隆起那道彻骨的冰凉。
even though she knew that He, whose promise is to the widow and to the orphan, can not forget his word.
尽管她明白，对一户孤儿寡母来说，上帝不会忘记它的诺言。
