在辽远的海极
这篇作品最先发表在《丹麦大众历书》里。安徒生在这里热忱地歌诵了上帝——这也是他儿时在他笃信上帝的父母的影响下所形成的信念的再现。“雪屋里是一片漆黑，但是他的头底下放着《圣经》，他的心里充满了信心和希望。‘在这海极的地方’，上帝在他的身边，家也在他的身边！”对安徒生说来，上帝不是抽象的“神”，而是“信心”和“希望”的化身。人在困难的时候需要精神力量的支持，但安徒生在当时的现实社会中找不到这种力量，他只有在“上帝”身上寻求出路，他的出发点是人民，特别是那些善良勤劳的人民。
SOME years ago，large ships were sent towards the north pole，to explore the distant coasts，and to try how far men could penetrate (penetrate vi.刺入，看穿，渗透，弥漫vt.穿透，渗透，看穿，洞察)into those unknown regions.For more than a year one of these ships had been pushing its way northward，amid snow and ice，and the sailors had endured many hardships，till at length winter set in，and the sun entirely disappeared.For many weeks there would be constant night.All around，as far as the eye could reach，nothing could be seen but fields of ice，in which the ship remained stuck fast.The snow lay piled up in great heaps，and of these the sailors made huts，in the form of beehives，some of them as large and spacious (spacious adj.广大的，大规模的)as one of the“Hunsgraves”，and others only containing room enough to hold three or four men.
曾经，有几艘大船开到北极去；它们的目的是要发现陆地和海的界线，与此同时也要试验一下，人类到底能向前走多远。它们在雾和冰中已航行了好几年，而且也吃过不少的苦头。现在冬天开始了，太阳已不见了。漫长的黑夜将要一连持续好几个星期。周围是一望无际的冰块。船只已凝结在冰块的中间。雪堆积得很高；从雪堆中人们建立起蜂巢似的小屋——有的十分大，像我们的古冢；有的还要大，可以容纳三四个人。
It was not quite dark.The northern lights shot forth red and blue flames，like continuous fireworks，and the snow glittered，and reflected back the light，so that the night here was one long twilight.When the moon was brightest，the natives came in crowds to see the sailors.They had a very singular appearance in their rough，hairy dresses of fur，and riding in sledges over the ice.They brought with them furs and skins in great abundance，so that the snowhouses were soon provided with warm carpets，and the furs also served for the sailors to wrap themselves in，when they slept under the roofs of snow，while outside it was freezing with a cold far more severe than in the winter with us.
可是这儿并不是漆黑一团；北极光发出红色和蓝色的光彩，像永远不灭的、大朵的焰火。雪发出亮光，大自然变成一片黄昏的彩霞。当月亮最亮的时候，当地的土人就成群结队地走出来。他们穿着毛茸茸的皮衣服，样子十分新奇。他们坐着用冰块制作成的雪橇，运输大捆的兽皮，为了使他们的雪屋能够铺上温暖的地毡。这些兽皮还可以当作被子和褥子用。当外面正在结冰、冷得比我们严寒的冬天还要寒冷的时候，水手们就能裹着这些被子睡觉。
In our country it was still autumn，though late in the season，and they thought of that in their distant exile (exile n.放逐，充军，流放，流犯，被放逐者vt.放逐，流放，使背井离乡)，and often pictured to themselves the yellow leaves on the trees at home.Their watches pointed to the hours of evening，and time to go to sleep，although in these regions it was now always night.
在我们住的地方，这还不过是秋天。住在冰天雪地里的他们也不由想起了这件事。他们记起了故乡的太阳光，同时也免不了记起了挂在树上的红叶。钟上的时针指明这正是夜晚和睡觉的时候。