仙女的新年礼物     作者爱蜜尔.波尔森    江铭辉译

二个小孩子在玩耍，一天，有一个仙女突然出现在他们前面，她说：「我我要送给你们新年礼物。」说着，便给每位小朋友一人一包礼物，就瞬间不见了。
卡尔和菲利浦将包裹打开，发现里面是二本美丽的书，每一页都像刚从天空飘落的雪花一样的白净纯洁。
又过了好几个月，仙女又出现在孩子们的前面，「我又另外带来两本书送给你们。」她说，「但是我要将第一次送给你们的书本带回去还给送你们的光阴之父。」
「我能不能再保留它一些时候？」菲利浦问，「我近来几乎没有想到它，我想打开在最后一页画上一些东西。」天使说:「不行，我必须照它原来的样子拿走。」
卡尔说:「我想能将我将书本再看一遍，以前，我每次只能看一页，因为每页一翻过便黏着紧紧地，同时每天我无法翻开超过一页。」
仙女说：「好吧！卡尔你可以再看你的书，菲利浦也看他的书。」说着，她为他们二人点燃两盏小银灯。当仙女翻动书本时，二位小朋友借着小银灯的灯光看书上各页的内容。

 
图：仙女每年送给小朋友一本洁白新书，小朋友只要表现良好，年底时该书就会画上美丽的图案。

观看时，小朋友们感到非常疑惑，这会是一年前仙女刚送出的同一本书吗？它们原先是清洁、白净的，纯洁和美丽像天空刚飘下的雪花一样。其中有一页还特别难看，上面满是污点和潦草的字和图画，下一页则是一幅美丽的小图案。有几页，页边加上金色、银色和绮丽的彩色的图案，和其它美丽的花朵，还有几页，绘着一道非常漂亮、柔和的彩虹。可是即使是最美丽的书页上，仍然有少许污点和潦草图案。
看完后，卡尔和菲利浦望着仙女。一齐说：「谁把这些加在书本上？记得当初我们翻开的时候，每页都是白白、干干净净的，但是现在整本书却没有一个地方是空白的。」
仙女笑着对二个小孩说：「好吧，让我向你们解释这些图画的意义吧！」
「菲利浦你看，这一页，上面画着盛开的玫瑰花，是说你曾经将心爱的玩具给了小朋友；这只美丽的小鸟，看起来好像在尽情地欢唱，意思是说你在前几天下定决心，不再和人争吵，并且努力做到仁爱，友善。」
菲利浦问，「可是，为什么绘上这个污点呢？」
「这！」仙女叹息说：「那一个是你有一天撒谎，这一个是说你没有听妈妈的话。包括卡尔在内，你们书上所有的污点和潦草的图案，都是代表你们不好的行为。当你们表现优良时，就会在你们书上画上一幅美丽的图案。」
卡尔和菲利浦同声说：「呵！但愿我们能重新拥有这本书。」
仙女说：「那是不可能的，看！今年已过去，它们都已被记上日期，现在，只能把它们归放在『光阴之父』的书架上，然而，我每年会再带给你们每人一本新书。希望你们使书本描绘出较往年更美丽的图案。
说完，仙女便不见了，留下两位小朋友，每人手中各一本新书，第一页是洁白的。同时在书的背面用金字写着：「新年快乐！」
The Fairy's New Year Gift By Emilie Poulsson（原文）
Two little boys were at play one day when a Fairy suddenly appeared before them and said, "I have been sent to give you New Year presents."
She handed to each child a package, and in an instant was gone.
Carl and Philip opened the packages and found in them two beautiful books, with pages as pure and white as the snow when it first falls.
Many months passed and the Fairy came again to the boys. "I have brought you each another book?" said she, "and will take the first ones back to Father Time who sent them to you."
"May I not keep mine a little longer?" asked Philip. "I have hardly thought about it lately. I'd like to paint something on the last leaf that lies open."
"No," said the Fairy; "I must take it just as it is."
"I wish that I could look through mine just once," said Carl; "I have only seen one page at a time, for when the leaf turns over it sticks fast, and I can never open the book at more than one place each day."
"You shall look at your book," said the Fairy, "and Philip, at his." And she lit for them two little silver lamps, by the light of which they saw the pages as she turned them.
The boys looked in wonder. Could it be that these were the same fair books she had given them a year ago? Where were the clean, white pages, as pure and beautiful as the snow when it first falls? Here was a page with ugly, black spots and scratches upon it; while the very next page showed a lovely little picture. Some pages were decorated with gold and silver and gorgeous colors, others with beautiful flowers, and still others with a rainbow of softest, most delicate brightness. Yet even on the most beautiful of the pages there were ugly blots and scratches.
Carl and Philip looked up at the Fairy at last.
"Who did this?" they asked. "Every page was white and fair as we opened to it; yet now there is not a single blank place in the whole book!"
"Shall I explain some of the pictures to you?" said the Fairy, smiling at the two little boys.
"See, Philip, the spray of roses blossomed on this page when you let the baby have your playthings; and this pretty bird, that looks as if it were singing with all its might, would never have been on this page if you had not tried to be kind and pleasant the other day, instead of quarreling."
"But what makes this blot?" asked Philip.
"That," said the Fairy sadly; "that came when you told an untruth one day, and this when you did not mind mamma. All these blots and scratches that look so ugly, both in your book and in Carl's, were made when you were naughty. Each pretty thing in your books came on its page when you were good."
"Oh, if we could only have the books again!" said Carl and Philip.
"That cannot be," said the Fairy. "See! they are dated for this year, and they must now go back into Father Time's bookcase, but I have brought you each a new one. Perhaps you can make these more beautiful than the others."
So saying, she vanished, and the boys were left alone, but each held in his hand a new book open at the first page.
And on the back of this book was written in letters of gold, "For the New Year."