A Christmas Surprise

It was two days before Christmas. Harry, Cornelius, Monty and I were busy building a snowman when Fritz appeared with his little niece Emily and introduced her.

“Emily is from the South and has never seen snow before,” Fritz told us. “She doesn’t know much about our winters.”

It turned out that Emily didn’t know much about Christmas also. ”Who is Santa Claus, Waldo?” she asked me, shivering in the cold air.

“Santa Claus,” I explained, “brings presents and toys to human children at Christmas time.”

“Does he bring presents to animal children also?” Emily asked.

“Well,” I said, “he hasn’t been around this part of the forest for many years. I guess he is too busy visiting all the human children to have much time left for animals.”

“Do you think he will come if I write to him?” Emily asked.

“I don’t think so,” said Monty. “I’ve never seen him, myself.”

“Neither have I,” Harry added, shaking his head.

“You see. Santa Claus is only for human children,” Fritz said to Emily. “So forget about the whole idea. Let’s go home now before you catch a cold.”

Early the next morning I saw Emily pulling Fritz toward the mailbox.

“I wrote a letter to Santa Claus,” she said, waving a large envelope, “and I asked him to come and bring me a present!”

“Good luck!” I said. “But don’t get your hopes up too high. I don’t want you to be disappointed if he doesn’t come.”

“He will – you’ll see!” Emily cried.

Poor Emily, I thought. Christmas Day was tomorrow. She was setting herself up for a big disappointment. I was sure.

Suddenly I had an idea. If Emily wanted to see Santa, she would, I decided.

I quickly went to town and bought a few things for a surprise. I was very pleased with my idea and could hardly wait to see Emily’s eyes on Christmas morning!

The next day, I got up very early to get ready. I put on the red Santa Claus suit that I had bought.

I looked at myself in the mirror. I was delighted! Even my own mother wouldn’t have recognized me.

I put on my boots and tried out a few Ho, Ho, Hos. Then off I went, carrying a present for Emily.

When I was near Fritz’s house, I noticed many other tracks in the snow leading to his front door.

I guessed Fritz was having a big Christmas party. It’s strange that I didn’t get an invitation, I thought. But it was Christmas, and Santa was always welcome on a day like that!

Then I knocked.

I could hear little Emily’s footsteps coming to the door.

“Hi, Waldo!” Emily cried as she opened the door. “I’m so happy you could come too. We were expecting you. Please come in.”

Expecting me? Waldo? How did she know it was me? Didn’t I look like Santa Claus?

When I was near Fritz’s house, I noticed many other tracks in the snow leading to his front door.

I guessed Fritz was having a big Christmas party. It’s strange that I didn’t get an invitation, I thought. But it was Christmas, and Santa was always welcome on a day like that!

Then I knocked.

I could hear little Emily’s footsteps coming to the door.

“Hi, Waldo!” Emily cried as she opened the door. “I’m so happy you could come too. We were expecting you. Please come in.”

Expecting me? Waldo? How did she know it was me? Didn’t I look like Santa Claus?

I didn’t even have the time to try out any of my Ho, Ho, Hos but followed her into the living room.

There were Fritz, Monty, Cornelius, and Harry, sitting on the sofa and having tea. And each one was dressed up as Santa Claus!

“We didn’t want Emily to be disappointed!” Monty explained.

“I know, I know!” I said. “I thought of the same surprise. Merry Christmas to all of you!”

Soon Emily opened all her presents. There was a beautiful jacket from Fritz, a pair of warm winter pants from Monty, a woolen cap from Harry, and mittens from Cornelius.

Then Emily opened my gift. “Oh, red boots – my favorite color!” she said happily. “Let’s all go outside and play in the snow. I won’t be cold now!” she added.

Suddenly there was a loud knock at the door.

“Who could that be?” asked Fritz. “Everybody is here already.”

We cautiously went to the door.

But by the time Fritz opened the door, the visitor had already left. We could see the back of his sleigh disappearing behind the snow-covered tops of the fir trees.

“Santa Claus!” called Emily as loud as she could. But all we heard was a faint “Ho, ho, ho!”

“Look, he brought me a present!” Emily said. She pointed to a beautiful red sled. Hanging from it was a label that read FOR EMILY FROM SANTA CLAUS.

“I knew he would come! I knew it!” cried Emily as she danced around her new sled.

This was certainly one of the best Christmas Days we had ever had! And Emily enjoyed riding on her special sled – pulled by five Santa Clauses!

译文

圣诞惊喜

那是圣诞节的前两天。哈里、科尼利厄斯、蒙蒂和我正忙着堆雪人，弗里茨带着他的小侄女艾米丽出现了，并向我们介绍了她。

"艾米丽来自南方，从来没见过雪，"弗里茨告诉我们。"她不太了解我们的冬天"

原来，艾米莉对圣诞节也不甚了解。"谁是圣诞老人，瓦尔多？"她问我，在寒风中瑟瑟发抖。

"圣诞老人，"我解释说，"在圣诞节的时候给人类的孩子带来礼物和玩具。"

"他也会给动物的孩子们带礼物吗？" 艾米莉问。

"嗯，"我说，"他已经很多年没来这片森林了。我猜他忙着看望所有人类的孩子，没时间陪动物们了。"

"如果我写信给他，你觉得他会来吗？" 艾米莉问。

"我想不会。"蒙蒂说。"我从没见过他。"

"我也没见过，"哈里摇着头补充道。

你看 圣诞老人只适合人类的孩子，"弗里茨对艾米丽说。"所以，别再想什么圣诞老人了。我们回家吧，免得你感冒了。"

第二天一大早，我就看见艾米莉拉着 弗里茨往信箱走去。

"我给圣诞老人写了封信，"她挥舞着一个大信封说 "我请他来给我带礼物！"

"祝你好运！" 我说 "但别抱太大希望。如果他不来，我可不想让你失望。"

"他会来的，你等着瞧吧！" 艾米丽哭着说。

我想，可怜的艾米丽。明天就是圣诞节了。她这是在让自己大失所望。我确信

我突然有了个主意 如果爱米丽想见圣诞老人，她会的，我决定了。

我赶紧去镇上买了一些东西，准备给她一个惊喜。我对自己的想法非常满意，迫不及待地想在圣诞节早上看到艾米莉的眼睛！

第二天，我很早就起床准备。我穿上了买来的红色圣诞老人套装。

我看着镜子里的自己。我高兴极了！连我妈妈都认不出我了。

我穿上靴子，试了几下 "吼，吼，吼"。然后我就出发了，带着给艾米丽的礼物。

当我走到弗里茨家附近时，我发现雪地上还有许多通往他家前门的脚印。

我猜弗里茨正在开一个盛大的圣诞派对。我想，奇怪的是我没有收到邀请。但今天是圣诞节，圣诞老人在这样的日子里总是受欢迎的！

然后我敲了敲门。

我听到小艾米丽的脚步声传来

"嗨，瓦尔多！" 艾米莉边哭边开门 "真高兴你也能来。我们正等着你呢。请进

等我？瓦尔多？她怎么知道是我？我看起来不像圣诞老人吗？

当我走到弗里茨家附近时，我发现雪地上还有许多通往他家前门的脚印。

我猜弗里茨正在开一个盛大的圣诞派对。我想，奇怪的是我没有收到邀请。但今天是圣诞节，圣诞老人在这样的日子里总是受欢迎的！

然后我敲了敲门。

我听到小艾米丽的脚步声传来

"嗨，瓦尔多！" 艾米莉边哭边开门 "真高兴你也能来。我们正等着你呢。请进

等我？瓦尔多？她怎么知道是我？我看起来不像圣诞老人吗？

我连 "嗬、嗬、嗬 "都没来得及说，就跟着她走进了客厅。

弗里茨、蒙蒂、科尼利厄斯和哈里正坐在沙发上喝茶。每个人都打扮成圣诞老人的样子！

"我们不想让艾米莉失望！" 蒙蒂解释道。

"我知道，我知道！" 我说 "我也想过同样的惊喜 祝大家圣诞快乐！"

很快，艾米莉打开了所有的礼物。弗里茨送了一件漂亮的夹克，蒙蒂送了一条保暖的冬裤，哈里送了一顶羊毛帽，科尼利厄斯送了一双手套。

然后，艾米莉打开了我的礼物。"哦，红靴子--我最喜欢的颜色！"她高兴地说。"我们一起出去玩雪吧。我现在不会冷了！"她补充道。

突然，一阵急促的敲门声响起。

"会是谁呢？"弗里茨问。"大家都来了

我们小心翼翼地去开门。

但当弗里茨打开门时，来访者已经离开了。我们可以看到他的雪橇背影消失在白雪覆盖的枞树树梢后面。

"圣诞老人！"艾米丽拼命地叫着。但我们只听到一声微弱的 "嗬，嗬，嗬！"

"看，他给我带来了礼物！" 艾米莉说。她指着一个漂亮的红色雪橇。雪橇上挂着一个标签，上面写着 "圣诞老人给爱米丽的礼物"。

"我就知道他会来！我就知道！"艾米莉一边哭一边围着她的新雪橇手舞足蹈。

这无疑是我们度过的最美好的圣诞节之一！艾米莉很喜欢坐她的特别雪橇--由五个圣诞老人拉着的雪橇！