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At this, the dwarfs held up their little old hands, and looked quite perplexed.
矮人們看起來對他的這一舉動感到非常困惑不解，紛紛舉起他們飽經滄桑的小手。
"We can not make a bargain, it seems," said the poor man, "so I'll bid you all a good day."
窮人說：“看來我們沒法達成一致了，祝大家都有愉快的一天。”
The fragrance of the ham had by this time reached the remote parts of dwarf land.
此時此刻，火腿的香氣已經飄到了矮人國的深處，矮人們迫不及待地想得到火腿，
The dwarfs came flocking around in little troops, leaving their work of digging out precious ores, eager for the ham.
全都丟下手里正在挖掘的珍貴寶石，成群結隊向他簇擁過來。
"Let him have the old mill," said some of the newcomers;" it is quite out of order, and he don't know how to use it.
一些剛剛到達的矮人們說：“把那臺老磨粉機給他吧，反正也不能用了，況且他也不知道怎么用。
Let him have it, and we will have the ham.
給他吧，這樣火腿就歸我們了。
So the bargain was made.
交易就這么完成了。
The poor man took the old hand mill, which was a little thing not half so large as the ham, and went back to the woods.
那臺老舊的手工磨粉機非常小巧，還沒有火腿的一半大。窮人拿著它回到了森林里，
Here the old man showed him how to use it.
他的那位新朋友告訴了他如何操作。
All this had taken up a great deal of time, and it was midnight before he reached home.
整個過程花費了很長時間，他回到家時已經是后半夜了。
"Where in the world have you been?" said his wife.
“你到底上哪兒去了？”他妻子問道，
Here I have been waiting and waiting, and we have no wood to make a fire, nor anything to put into the porridge pot for our Christmas supper.
我在家里等啊等，既沒有木頭生火，也沒有任何食物能下鍋熬粥準備圣誕晚餐。
The house was dark and cold; but the poor man bade his wife wait and see what would happen.
屋子里又黑又冷，但窮人讓他妻子再等一會兒，看看會發生什么。
He placed the little hand mill on the table, and began to turn the crank.
他將那臺小小的手工磨粉機放在桌上，開始轉動手柄。
First, out there came some grand, lighted wax candles, and a fire on the hearth, and a porridge pot boiling over it, because in his mind he said they should come first.
首先出現的是一些華麗的燃燒著的蠟燭、壁爐里的火焰、一鍋沸騰著要流出來的粥，因為在他腦海里，他覺得這些應該最先出現。
Then he ground out a tablecloth, and dishes, and spoons, and knives and forks.
隨后他又不斷地磨啊磨，出現了一塊臺布、一些碟子、勺子和刀叉。
He was himself astonished at his good luck, as you may believe; and his wife was almost beside herself with joy and astonishment.
就像你想象的一樣，連他自己都驚訝于他的好運氣；他的妻子又高興又吃驚，幾乎不能自已。
Well, they had a capital supper;
于是，他們享用了一頓豐盛的晚餐。
and after it was eaten, they ground out of the mill every possible thing to make their house and themselves warm and comfortable.
用餐完畢，他們又磨出了能使他們的屋子和他們自己感到溫暖舒適的各種物品。
So they had a merry Christmas eve and morning.
這樣一來，他們度過了一個非常美妙的圣誕前夜和圣誕節清晨。
