many tears were shed for him, and little gerda wept bitterly for a long time
她说她知道他一定是死了；
she said she knew he must be dead;
他是在学校附近流过的河里淹死的。
that he was drowned in the river which flowed close by the school
哦，那些漫长的冬日确实非常沉闷。
oh, indeed those long winter days were very dreary
但最后春天带着温暖的阳光来了。
but at last spring came, with warm sunshine
“凯死了，走了。” 小格尔达说。
“kay is dead and gone,” said little gerda
“我不相信。” 阳光说。
“i don’t believe it,” said the sunshine
“他死了，走了。” 她对麻雀说。
“he is dead and gone,” she said to the sparrows
“我们不相信。” 它们回答道；
“we don’t believe it,” they replied;
最后小格尔达自己也开始怀疑了。
and at last little gerda began to doubt it herself
“我要穿上我的新红鞋，” 一天早晨她说，“凯还从未见过的那双，然后我要到河边去打听他的消息。”
“i will put on my new red shoes,” she said one morning, “those that kay has never seen, and then i will go down to the river, and ask for him”
当她亲吻还在熟睡的老祖母时，时间还很早；
it was quite early when she kissed her old grandmother, who was still asleep;
然后她穿上红鞋，独自一人走出城门向河边走去。
then she put on her red shoes, and went quite alone out of the town gates toward the river
“你真的把我的小伙伴从我身边带走了吗？”
“is it true that you have taken my little playmate away from me”
她对河流说。
said she to the river
“如果你把他还给我，我就把我的红鞋给你。”
“i will give you my red shoes if you will give him back to me”
而波浪似乎以一种奇怪的方式向她点头。
and it seemed as if the waves nodded to her in a strange manner
然后她脱下自己最喜欢的红鞋，把它们都扔进河里，但是它们落在岸边附近，小波浪又把它们冲回陆地，就好像河流不愿拿走她最心爱的东西，因为它们不能把小凯还给她。
then she took off her red shoes, which she liked better than anything else, and threw them both into the river, but they fell near the bank, and the little waves carried them back to the land, just as if the river would not take from her what she loved best, because they could not give her back little kay
但她觉得鞋子扔得还不够远。
but she thought the shoes had not been thrown out far enough
然后她爬进停在芦苇丛中的一条小船，又从船的另一头把鞋子扔进水里，但是船没有系牢。
then she crept into a boat that lay among the reeds, and threw the shoes again from the farther end of the boat into the water, but it was not fastened
她这一动让船滑离了岸边。
and her movement sent it gliding away from the land
当她看到这个情况时，她急忙向船尾跑去，但是还没等她跑到，船就已经离岸一码多远了，而且漂得比以前更快了。
when she saw this she hastened to reach the end of the boat, but before she could so it was more than a yard from the bank, and drifting away faster than ever
然后小格尔达非常害怕，开始哭起来，但是除了麻雀没有人听到她的哭声，而麻雀又不能把她带到岸上，它们只是沿着岸边飞，唱歌，好像是在安慰她：“我们在这儿！我们在这儿！” 船顺流而下；
then little gerda was very much frightened, and began to cry, but no one heard her except the sparrows, and they could not carry her to land, but they flew along by the shore, and sang, as if to fort her, “here we are! here we are!” the boat floated with the stream;
小格尔达静静地坐着，脚上只穿着袜子；
little gerda sat quite still with only her stockings on her feet;
红鞋在她后面漂着，但是她够不着，因为船总是在前面漂得很远。
the red shoes floated after her, but she could not reach them because the boat kept so much in advance
河两岸非常美丽。
the banks on each side of the river were very pretty
有美丽的花朵、古老的树木、倾斜的田野，牛和羊在田野里吃草，但是看不到一个人。
there were beautiful flowers, old trees, sloping fields, in which cows and sheep were grazing, but not a man to be seen
也许河流会把我带到小凯身边，格尔达想，然后她变得高兴起来，抬起头，看着美丽的绿色河岸；
perhaps the river will carry me to little kay, thought gerda, and then she became more cheerful, and raised her head, and looked at the beautiful green banks;
就这样船漂流了几个小时。