不过那位商人的小姑娘却很生气，因为她爸爸的名字是叫做“彼得生”，她知道他的名字的结尾是“生”。因此她尽量做出一种骄傲的神情说：“但是我的爸爸能买一百块钱的麦芽糖，叫大家挤作一团地来抢！你的爸爸能吗？”
“Yes； and my papa，” said the little daughter of the editor of a paper，“my papa can put your papa and everybodys papa into the newspaper. All sorts of people are afraid of him，my mamma says，for he can do as he likes with the paper.” And the little maiden looked exceedinglyexceedingly adv.非常地，极度地 proud，as if she had been a real princess，who may be expected to look proud.
“是的，”一位作家的小女儿说，“但是我的爸爸能把你的爸爸和所有的爸爸写在报纸上发表。我的妈妈说大家都怕他，因为他统治着报纸。”这个小姑娘昂起头，好像一个真正的公主昂着头的那个样子。
But outside the door，which stood ajar，was a poor boy，peeping through the crack of the door. He was of such a lowly station that he had not been allowed even to enter the room. He had been turning the spit for the cook，and she had given him permission to stand behind the door and peep in at the welldressed children，who were having such a merry time within； and for him that was a great deal.
不过在那半掩着的门外站着一个穷苦的孩子。他正在朝门缝里望。这小家伙是那么微贱，他甚至还没有资格走进这个房间里来。他帮女厨子转了一会儿烤肉叉，因此她准许他站在门后偷偷地瞧这些漂亮的孩子在屋子里作乐。这对他说来已经是一件了不起的事情。
“Oh，if I could be one of them！” thought he，and then he heard what was said about names，which was quite enough to make him more unhappy. His parents at home had not even a penny to spare to buy a newspaper，much less could they write in one； and worse than all，his fathers name，and of course his own，ended in “sen”，and therefore he could never turn out well，which was a very sad thought. But after all，he had been born into the world，and the station of life had been chosen for him，therefore he must be contentcontent adj.满足的，满意的，愿意vt.使满足n.内容，容量，目录，满足。
“啊，如果我也在他们中间！”他想。于是他听到他们所讲的一些话。这些话无疑使他感到非常不快。他的父母在家里连一个买报纸的铜子也没有，更谈不上在报纸上写什么文章。最糟糕的是他爸爸的姓——因此也就是他自己的姓——是由一个“生”字结尾的！所以他决不会有什么前途的。这真叫人感到悲哀！不过他毕竟是生出来了，而且就他看来，出生得也很好。这是不用怀疑的。
And this is what happened on that evening. Many years passed，and most of the children became grownup persons.
这就是那个晚上的事情！从那以后，许多年过去了，孩子们都已成了大人。
There stood a splendid house in the town，filled with all kinds of beautiful and valuable objects. Everybody wished to see it，and people even came in from the country round to be permitted to view the treasures it contained. Which of the children whose prattle we have describeddescribe vt.描写，记述，形容，形容v.描述，could call this house his own？ One would suppose it very easy to guess. No，no； it is not so very easy. The house belonged to the poor little boy who had stood on that night behind the door. He had really become something great，although his name ended in “sen” —for it was Thorwaldsen.
这城里有一幢很漂亮的房子。它里面藏满了美丽的东西，大家都喜欢来参观一下，甚至住在城外的人也跑来看它。我们刚才谈到的那些孩子之中，谁能说这房子是自己的呢？是的，这是很容易弄清楚的！那并不太难。这幢房子是属于那个穷苦的孩子的——他已经成了一个伟大的人，虽然他的名字的结尾是一个“生”字——多瓦尔生。
And the three other children—the children of good birth，of money，and of intellectual pride，—well，they were respected and honored in the world，for they had been well provided for by birth and position，and they had no cause to reproachreproach v.责备 themselves with what they had thought and spoken on that evening long ago，for，after all，it was mere “childrens prattle”。
至于其余的三个孩子呢？那个有贵族血统的孩子，那个有钱的孩子，那个在精神上非常骄傲的孩子呢？唔，他们彼此都没有什么话说——他们都是一样的人。他们的命运都很好。那天晚上他们所想的和所讲的事情，不过都是孩子的闲话罢了。