The Night Before Christmas

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house；

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,

While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;

And mamma in her kerchief, and I in my cap,

Had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap,

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash,

Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow

Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,

I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.

More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,

And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:

Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer! and Vixen!

On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donder! and Blitzen!

To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!

Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!”

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,

When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky;

So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,

With the sleigh full of Toys, and St. Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof

The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.

As I drew in my head, and was turning around,

Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,

And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;

A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back,

And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.

His eyes-how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!

His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!

His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,

And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,

And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;

He had a broad face and a little round belly,

That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly.

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,

And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;

A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,

Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,

And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,

And laying his finger aside of his nose,

And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,

And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.

But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,

“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night.

漢語翻譯

聖誕節前夜，整間屋子靜悄悄；

萬物沉默，連老鼠也不吵不鬧；

在壁爐前，挂上長襪，動作是如此輕緩；

聖誕老人快快出現；

這是最殷切的期盼；

孩子們躺在小被窩裏，暖洋洋的那麽舒服；

美夢中的小糖果在腦海裏翩翩起舞；

媽媽裹著頭巾，我戴著睡帽，放下所有的心事，在冬夜裏睡個長覺；

突然，屋外的草坪傳來一陣聲響，我從床上一躍而起，要去細細端詳；

我沖到窗前，快的像一道電光；拉開了窗簾，拉開了窗框；

月光投入初雪的懷抱，萬物沐浴正午般的光芒，令人驚歎的事情發生啦！

吸引住我的目光，一只小雪橇，八只小馴鹿，還有一個駕車的小老頭，那麽歡快！那麽神速！我立刻明白，是聖誕老人在趕路！

雪橇比神鷹更迅即，聖誕老人吹著口哨，還要把每只馴鹿的名字叫：“快！飛毛腿！快！舞蹈家……飛過廊頂，躍過牆頭，快快向前，向前，一起向前！”

像飓風來臨時，枯葉隨風飄揚，只要遇到障礙，立刻飛向空中，飛過屋頂，飛向遠方，雪橇上裝滿玩具，還載著聖誕老人；

轉眼前，一道風閃過，我聽見屋頂傳來蹦跳聲，踢踏聲，每只小鹿蹄在歡騰，我從窗前縮回腦袋，轉過身來，剛好看見聖誕老人從煙囪裏跳下，他從頭到腳裹著皮衣，煙灰和塵土弄髒了衣服；

他背著一大包玩具，像一個小販打開了包裹，他的眼睛明亮閃光，他的酒窩快樂蕩漾，他的臉頰玫瑰般鮮紅，他的鼻子櫻桃般鮮亮，那滑稽的小嘴弓一般鼓起來，下巴上的胡須雪一般潔白，牙齒緊咬著，還未吸完的煙鬥噴出的煙霧像花環環繞著頭，臉胖乎乎的，小肚子圓滾滾的，一笑起來像一碗顫動的果凍，他又圓又胖，像個樂呵呵的老頑童；

我看著他，也忍不住笑嘻嘻，他轉過頭來，兩眼直眨巴，立刻讓我安心，什麽也不用害怕，他什麽也不說，只顧專心工作，把禮物裝滿所有的襪子，又急著轉身忙活，他伸出手指，放在鼻子邊上，又沖我點點頭……

他爬上了煙囪，他跳上雪橇，像馴鹿打了個忽閃，飛馳而去，雪橇越來越遠，我聽見他大聲的祝願:

祝所有人聖誕快樂！祝所有人晚安！