这篇故事于1856年发表在《丹麦大众历书》上。它来源于匈牙利的一个古老的民间传说，但安徒生给它赋予了新的主题思想。犹太教和基督教是彼此排斥、势不两立的，但在安徒生的心中最大的宗教是“爱”。一切教派在它面前都会黯然失色——当然他的“爱”是通过基督来体现的。这也是安徒生的“上帝”观，事实上是他的“和平主义”和“人类一家”的思想的具体说明。
The Jewish Maiden犹太女子
In a charity schoolcharity school n.贫民学校，慈善学校，among the children，sat a little Jewish girl. She was a good，intelligent child，and very quick at her lessons，but the Scripturelesson class she was not allowed to join，for this was a Christian school. During the hour of this lesson，the Jewish girl was allowed to learn her geography，or to work her sum for the next day； and when her geography lesson was perfect，the book remained open before her，but she read not another word，for she sat silently listening to the words of the Christian teacher. He soon became aware that the little one was paying more attention to what he said than most of the other children. “Read your book，Sarah.” he said to her gently.
在一个慈善学校的许多孩子中，有一个小小的犹太女孩子。她又善良，又聪明，可以说是他们之中最聪明的一个孩子。但是有一种课程她不能听，那就是宗教这一课。不错，她是在一个基督教的学校中念书。她可以利用上这一课的时间去准备算术或温习地理，但是这些功课一下子就做完了。书摊在她面前，但是她并没有读。她在坐着静听。老师很快就注意到，她比任何其他的孩子都听得那样专心。“读你自己的书吧。”老师用热忱而温和的口气说。
But again and again he saw her dark，beaming eyes fixed upon him，and once，when he asked her a question，she could answer him even better than the other children. She had not only heard，but understood his words，and ponderedponder v.沉思，考虑 them in her heart. Her father，a poor but honest man，had placed his daughter at the school on the conditions that she should not be instructed in the Christian faith. But it might have caused confusionconfusion n.混乱，混淆，or raised discontent in the minds of the other children if she had been sent out of the room，so she remained，and now it was evident this could not go on. The teacher went to her father，and advised him to remove his daughter from the school，or to allow her to become a Christian. “I cannot any longer be an idle spectatorspectator n.观众（指比赛或表演） of those beaming eyes，which express such a deep and earnest longing for the words of the gospelgospel n.福音，<俗>信仰，真理。” said he.
她的一双黑得发亮的眼睛望着他。当他向她提问题时，她能回答得比其他的孩子都好。她把课全听了，领会了，而且记牢了。她的父亲是一个穷苦而正直的人。他曾向学校请求不要把基督教的课程教给这孩子听。不过如果教这一门功课的时候就叫她走开，那么学校里的别的孩子也许能会起反感，甚至引起他们胡思乱想。因此她就留在教室里，可是老这样下去是不对头的。老师去拜访她的父亲，请求他把女儿接回家去，或者干脆让萨拉做一个基督徒。“她的灵魂。她那对明亮的眼睛所表示的对教义的真诚和渴望，实在叫我不忍看下去！”老师说道。
Then the father burst into tears. “I know very little of the law of my fathers，” said he，“but Sarahs mother was firm in her belief as a daughter of Israel，and I vowed to her on her deathbed that our child should never be baptizedbaptize vt.给人施洗礼（作为入基督教的标志），洗炼，命名（作为洗礼仪式的一部分）。 I must keep my vow，it is to me even as a covenantcovenant n.契约，盟约v.缔结（盟约），立约 with God Himself.” And so the little Jewish girl left the Christian school.
父亲禁不住哭了起来，说：“我对于我们自己的宗教也懂得很少，不过她的妈妈是一个犹太人的女儿，而且信教十分深。当她躺在床上要断气的时候，我答应过她，说我决不会让我们的孩子受基督教的洗礼。我一定保持我的诺言，因为这等于是跟上帝订下的一个契约。”于是，犹太女孩子就离开了这个基督教学校。
Years rolled by. In one of the smallest provincialprovincial adj.省的 towns，in a humble household，lived a poor maiden of the Jewish faith，as a servant. Her hair was black as ebony，her eye dark as night，yet full of light and brilliancybrilliancy n.光辉，出色 so peculiar to the daughters of the east. It was Sarah. The expression in the face of the grownup maiden was still the same as when，a child，she sat on the schoolroom form listening with thoughtful eyes to the words of the Christian teacher. Every Sunday there sounded forth from a church close by the tones of an organ and the singing of the congregation. The Jewish girl heard them in the house where，industrious and faithful in all things，she performed her household duties.
许多年过去了。在尤兰的一个小市镇里有一个贫寒的人家，里面住着一个信仰犹太教的穷苦女佣人。她的头发似乌木一样发黑。她的眼睛深暗，可是像所有的东方女子一样，它们射出明朗的光辉。她是萨拉。她现在虽然是一个成年的女佣人，但是她脸上依然留下儿时的表情——单独坐在学校的凳子上。睁着一对大眼睛听课的时候那种孩子的表情。每礼拜天教堂的风琴奏出音乐，做礼拜的人唱出歌声。这些声音传到街上，飘到对面的一个屋子里去。这个犹太女子就在这屋子里勤劳地、忠诚地工作。
“Thou shalt keep the Sabbath holy.” said the voice of the law in her heart，but her Sabbath was a working day among the Christians，which was a great trouble to her. And then as the thought arose in her mind，“Does God reckon by days and hours？” Her conscienceconscience n.良心，道德心 felt satisfied on this question，and she found it a comfort to her，that on the Christian Sabbath she could have an hour for her own prayers undisturbed. The music and singing of the congregationcongregation n.集合，集会，[宗］圣会 sounded in her ears while at work in her kitchen，till the place itself became sacred to her. Then she would read in the Old Testament，that treasure and comfort to her people，and it was indeed the only Scriptures she could read. Faithfully in her inmost thoughts had she kept the words of her father to her teacher when she left the school，and the vow he had made to her dying mother that she should never receive Christian baptismbaptism n.浸洗，[喻］洗礼，严峻考验。 The New Testament must remain to her a sealed book，and yet she knew a great deal of its teaching，and the sound of the gospel truths still lingeredlinger v.逗留，闲荡，拖延，游移 among the recollections of her childhood.