The Beautiful Tree 美丽的树

It was the day before Christmas, and a beautiful Christmas tree stood in the middle of a large room. 圣诞节前一天，一棵美丽的圣诞树立在一间大房子中央。

The tree was trimmed with nuts and candy and bright-colored candles. 树上装饰着坚果、糖果和多彩的蜡烛。

Its branches were full of toys, and on the very top a silver star was shining. 树枝上满是玩具，最上面有一颗银星闪闪发光。

The doors of the room were shut.  房间的门被关上了。

"The children must not see the tree until morning."said their parents. “孩子们必须到早晨才能看到圣诞树。”他们的父母说。

But the big black cat had seen the Christmas tree with her great green eyes. 但是大黑猫那双绿色的大眼睛看到了它。

The little gray kitten had seen it with her round blue eyes. 小灰猫那圆圆的蓝眼睛看见了它。

The big house dog had seen it with his kind brown eyes. 大狗那和善的棕色眼睛看见了它。

The yellow bird had seen it with his wise bright eyes. 黄鸟那聪慧明亮的眼睛看见了它。

Even the wee mice from the attic had taken a peep when no one else was near. 甚至连阁楼上的小老鼠也在周围没人的时候偷看了一眼。

But the little gray spiders had not had even one peep at the Christmas tree. 但是，小灰蜘蛛甚至一眼都没偷看过。

You see, the spiders like to spin their webs in dark, warm corners. 你知道的，蜘蛛喜欢在黑暗、温暖的角落织网。

They had made webs in nearly all the dark corners of the house. 它们几乎在所有黑暗的角落里都结了网。

Just a few days before Christmas, the mother had cleaned the house. 就在圣诞节前几天，母亲打扫了房子。

When she swept and dusted the dark corners, all the spiders had to run away. 当她扫过黑暗角落时，所有的蜘蛛都跑了。

Dear me, how the spiders had to run! 哎呀，蜘蛛是怎么跑的？

Some ran upstairs to the attic and hid in the dark corners there, 有些蜘蛛跑到楼上的阁楼，躲在了黑暗的角落里。

and some ran downstairs to the cellar and hid in the dark corners there. 有些跑到了楼下的地窖，躲在黑暗的角落里。

They could not see the Christmas tree, and they felt very sad. 它们看不到圣诞树了，感到很伤心。

At last they went to the Christmas Fairy and told her all about it. 最后，它们去找圣诞仙女，并把一切都告诉了她。

"Dear Fairy" they said, "please be kind and help us to see the Christmas tree.  “亲爱的仙女，”它们说，“请发发慈悲，帮我们去看看圣诞树吧。

Spiders love beautiful things, too." 蜘蛛也喜欢美丽的东西。”

The Christmas Fairy said, "You shall see the tree. 圣诞仙女说：“你们会看到圣诞树的。

Just wait. I promise to send for you soon." 等等，我保证很快就送你们过去。”