在奥利六岁生日那天，他爸爸送给他一副滑雪板。他以前从来没有“真正”的滑雪板，他那副滑雪板是约翰——那个工头的儿子——用几片厚木板给他做的。因此，你可以想象得到，他是多么渴望赶紧去试一试他的新滑雪板啊！

可是，那一年的冬天似乎不想来了。当然，天上也会不时地飘下一点点雪花，但还没等地面完全变白，那些雪就融化了。所以，奥利观望啊，等待啊，企盼啊，渴望着冬天快点儿来到，他甚至感到疑惑：“今年的冬天还会来吗？”

On Ollie’s sixth birthday, his father gave him a pair of skis. He hadn’t had proper skis before, just a pair that the foreman’s son, John, had made for him out of bits of plank — so you can imagine how much he wanted to try them out.

But winter did not seem to want to come that year. Now and then, of course, it snowed a bit, but even before the ground was white all over, the snow melted again. So Ollie watched and waited and longed for winter and wondered, “Will it ever come this year?”

但到最后，冬天终于来了。

圣诞节前的一两个星期，大片大片的雪花开始飘落下来，大雪整整下了两天两夜都没有停。所有的一切都被一层厚厚的白色毯子覆盖。第三天早晨，当奥利醒来时，湛蓝的天际晴空万里，地面上的积雪亮晶晶的，仿佛几百万颗星星在同时闪烁。

奥利太兴奋了，在他的床上连翻了三个跟头。他手忙脚乱地穿上衣服，根本没有在意它们穿的方法和顺序对不对。然后，他就一路跑着去见他的妈妈了。

“妈妈，妈妈，我能现在就出去吗，马上就出去？”

“听着，孩子，”他妈妈说，“你必须先吃点早餐。还有，别忘了你的手套，因为今天外面很冷。”

But in the end it did.

A week or two before Christmas, snow began falling in big flakes, and it went on for two whole days and nights without stopping. Everything was covered with a thick white blanket. And when Ollie woke on the third morning, the sky was shining blue and the snow sparkled like millions of stars.

Ollie was so excited, he went head over heels three times on his bed without stopping. He scrambled into his clothes, not caring if they went on the right way round or not. Then he ran in to see his mother.

“Mum, Mum, can I go out now, this minute?”

“Listen,” said his mother. “You must have some breakfast first. And don’t forget your mittens, because it’s cold today.”

奥利狼吞虎咽地喝完了他的麦片粥和牛奶。他妈妈帮他穿戴好厚厚的外套和长手套，在他的两个衣袋里各塞了一块三明治，并告诉他，他可以一直在外面玩到晚饭前再回来。然后，他向妈妈和小弟弟挥手道别，紧紧系好他的新滑雪板，滑过厚厚的洁白的雪，朝着森林滑去。

Ollie gulped down his porridge and milk. His mother helped him into his thick coat and long mittens, stuffed a sandwich into both pockets, and told him that he could stay out until dinner time. Then he waved goodbye to his mother and his little brother and, fastening on his new skis, he skied over the thick, white snow towards the forest.

森林里的树木简直美极了！当他滑到森林的更深处时，那些树木看起来更加妙不可言。他仿佛是来到了一座魔幻般的宫殿，奥利自言自语地说道：“谢谢您啊，‘冬天之王’。您终于来了，我实在是太高兴了！”

接下来的一瞬间，他吃惊得几乎仰面摔倒在地，因为一位老人正好站在他的面前，老人从头到脚都闪着白光。奥利目不转睛地盯着他。“您是‘冬天之王’吗？”他问道。

“噢，不是，”老人说，“我只是‘霜神杰克’。你觉得今天的森林怎么样啊？”

“这是您做的吗？”奥利问道，“您是怎样让它到处闪光的呢？”

“这很容易啊。”“霜神杰克”说道，接着就对奥利的外套吹了一口气。他的哈气像一朵白云般悬挂了一会儿，当哈气消失时，奥利的外套就被一层亮晶晶的白霜覆盖了。

The trees were so pretty! And as he went deeper into the forest, they looked even more wonderful. It was like going into an enchanted palace, and Ollie said to himself, “Thank you, King Winter. I’m so glad you came!”

The next moment he almost fell over backwards with surprise, for there in front of him stood an old man, glittering white from head to toe. Ollie stared at him. “Are you King Winter?” he asked.

“Oh no,” said the old man. “I’m only Jack Frost. What do you think of the forest today?”

“Did you do it?” asked Ollie. “How did you make it all sparkle?”

“It’s easy,” said Jack Frost, and he breathed on Ollie’s coat. His breath hung like a white cloud, and when it disappeared, Ollie’s coat was covered with glistening hoar frost.

然后，他呵呵地笑了起来，在奥利的耳朵上捏了一下。“你是个明智的小家伙，”他说，“如果让寒风稍微刺痛一点点你的脸颊，我想你不会介意吧。刚才你已经喊出了‘冬天之王’的名字，所以，你可能愿意与我一起去拜访他，他的宫殿就在这个森林里。”

“噢，是的，请您带我去吧！”奥利兴奋地说。于是，他们一起向森林深处滑去，“霜神杰克”在前面引路，奥利跟在后面。

Then he laughed and gave Ollie’s ear a little pinch. “You’re a sharp lad,” he said, “and I don’t think you mind if the cold wind stings your face a bit. You called out King Winter’s name a moment ago, so maybe you’d like to come with me to his palace here in the forest.”

“Oh, yes please!” said Ollie excitedly. So off they went through the forest, Jack Frost first and Ollie following. LH96nG1L24mhDstD+9/ozLmM9pKnBbyd5wl6kovCHktd6AAsuYvVMFSd/zbhDpog