At the same moment a loud knocking was heard in the drawer，where Idas doll Sophy lay with many other toys.Then the rough doll ran to the end of the table，laid himself flat down upon it，and began to pull the drawer out a little way.
这时抽屉里忽然响起了一阵很大的敲击声——小爱达的玩偶苏菲亚跟其他许多的玩具都睡在里面。那个扫烟囱的人赶快跑到桌子旁边去，趴在地下，拱起腰把抽屉顶出来了一点。
Then Sophy raised himself，and looked round quite astonished，“There must be a ball here tonight.”said Sophy.“Why did not somebody tell me？”
苏菲亚坐起来，向四周望了一眼，非常惊奇。“这儿今晚一定有一个舞会，”苏菲亚说。“为什么没有人告诉我呢？”
“Will you dance with me？”said the rough doll.
“你愿意跟我跳舞吗？”扫烟囱的人说。
“You are the right sort to dance with，certainly.”said she，turning her back upon him.
“你倒是一个蛮漂亮的舞伴！”她回答说，转过身去把背对着他。
Then she seated herself on the edge of the drawer，and thought that perhaps one of the flowers would ask her to dance，but none of them came.Then she coughed，“Hem，hem，ahem.”but for all that not one came.The shabby doll now danced quite alone，and not very badly，after all.As none of the flowers seemed to notice Sophy，she let herself down from the drawer to the floor，so as to make a very great noise.All the flowers came round her directly，and asked if she had hurt herself，especially those who had lain in her bed.But she was not hurt at all，and Idas flowers thanked her for the use of the nice bed，and were very kind to her.They led her into the middle of the room，where the moon shone，and danced with her，while all the other flowers formed a circle round them.Then Sophy was very happy，and said they might keep her bed，she did not mind lying in the drawer at all.But the flowers thanked her very much，and said，
于是她在抽屉边沿上坐下来。她以为一定会有一朵花儿来请她跳舞的，可是什么花儿也没有来。因此她就故意咳嗽了几声：“咳！咳！咳！”然而还是没有花儿来请她。扫烟囱的人这时独个儿在跳，而且跳得还不坏哩。苏菲亚看着没有什么花儿来理她，就故意从抽屉上掉下来，一直落到地板上，发出很大的响声。所有的花儿都跑过来，围着她，问她是不是跌伤了。这些花儿——尤其是曾经在她床上睡过的花儿——对她都非常亲切。可是她一点也没有跌伤。小爱达的花儿都因为睡过那张很舒服的床而对她表示谢意。他们把她捧得很高，请她到月亮正照着的地板中央来，和她一起跳舞。所有其余的花儿在她周围围成一个圆圈。现在苏菲亚可高兴了！她说他们可以随便用她的床，她自己睡在抽屉里也没关系。可是花儿们都很感激它，它们说：
“We cannot live long.Tomorrow morning we shall be quite dead；and you must tell little Ida to bury us in the garden，near to the grave of the canary，then，in the summer we shall wake up and be more beautiful than ever.”
“我们活不了多久。明天我们就要死了。但是请你告诉小爱达，叫她把我们埋葬在花园里——那个紧挨着金丝猴的坟墓。到明年夏天，我们就又可以活转来，长得更美丽了。”
“No，you must not die.”said Sophy，as she kissed the flowers.
“不成，你们不会死的！”苏菲亚说。她把这些花儿吻了一下。
Then the door of the room opened，and a number of beautiful flowers danced in.Ida could not imagine where they could come from，unless they were the flowers from the kings garden.First came two lovely roses，with little golden crowns(crown n.王冠，花冠，顶vt.加冕，顶上有，表彰，使圆满完成)on their heads，these were the king and queen.Beautiful stocks and carnations followed，bowing to every one present.They had also music with them.Large poppies(poppy n.［植］罂粟，深红色)and peonies had peashells for instruments，and blew into them till they were quite red in the face.The bunches of blue hyacinths and the little white snowdrops jingled their belllike flowers，as if they were real bells.Then came many more flowers，blue violets，purple heartsease，daisies，and lilies of the valley，and they all danced together，and kissed each other.It was very beautiful to behold.
这时客厅的门忽然开了。一大群美丽的花儿跳着舞走进来。小爱达想不出他们是从什么地方来的。他们一定是国王宫殿里的那些花儿。最先进来的是两朵鲜艳的玫瑰花。他们都戴着一顶金皇冠——原来他们就是花王和花后。随后跟进来了一群美丽的紫兰花和荷兰石竹花。他们向大家致敬。他们还带来了一个乐队。大朵的罂粟花和牡丹花使劲地吹着豆荚，把脸都吹红了。蓝色的风信子和小小的白色雪形花发出叮当叮当的响声，好像它们身上戴有铃似的。这音乐真有些滑稽！不一会儿，许多别的花儿也来了，它们一起跳着舞。蓝色的堇菜花、粉红的樱草花、雏菊花、铃兰花都来了。这些花儿互相拥抱接吻。它们看起来真是美极了！
At last the flowers wished each other goodnight.Then little Ida crept back into her bed again，and dreamt of all she had seen.When she arose the next morning，she went quickly to the little table，to see if the flowers were still there.She drew aside the curtains of the little bed.There they all lay，but quite faded，much more so than the day before.Sophy was lying in the drawer where Ida had placed her，but she looked very sleepy.
最后这些花儿互相道着晚安。于是小爱达也上床去睡了。她所见到的这一切情景，又在她的梦里出现了。当她第二天早晨起来的时候，她急忙跑到小桌子那儿去，看看花儿是不是还在。她把遮着小床的帐子向两边拉开。是的，花儿全在，可是比起昨天来，它们显得更枯萎了。苏菲亚仍然躺在抽屉里——小爱达曾把她送到那的。她看起来好像还没有睡醒似的。
“Do you remember what the flowers told you to say to me？”said little Ida.But Sophy looked quite stupid，and said not a single word.
“你还记得你跟我说的话吗？”小爱达问。苏菲亚显得傻乎乎的，她一句话也不说。
“You are not kind at all，”said Ida；“and yet they all danced with you.”
“你太不好了！”小爱达说。“但是他们毕竟跟你一起跳了舞呀。”
Then she took a little paper box，on which were painted beautiful birds，and laid the dead flowers in it.
于是她取出一个小小的纸盒子，上面绘着一些美丽的鸟儿。她打开盒子，把死了的花儿都装了进去。
“This shall be your pretty coffin(coffin n.棺材)，”she said，“and by and by，when my cousins(cousin n.堂兄弟姊妹，表兄弟姊妹)come to visit me，they shall help me to bury you out in the garden，so that next summer you may grow up again more beautiful than ever.”
“这就是你们的漂亮棺材！”她说，“等我那两位表兄弟来看我的时候，他们会帮我把你们葬在花园里，好叫你们在来年夏天再长出来，成为更美丽的花朵。”
Her cousins were two goodtempered boys，whose names were James and Adolphus.Their father had given them each a bow and arrow，and they had brought them to show Ida.She told them about the poor flowers which were dead，and as soon as they obtained permission，they went with her to bury them.The two boys walked first，with their crossbows on their shoulders，and little Ida followed，carrying the pretty box containing the dead flowers.They dug a little grave in the garden.Ida kissed her flowers and then laid them，with the box，in the earth.James and Adolphus then fired their crossbows over the grave，as they had neither guns nor cannons.
她的表兄弟是两个活泼的孩子，一个叫约那斯，一个叫亚多尔夫。他们的父亲送给了他们两张弓和箭，他们把这东西也一起带来给小爱达看。她把那些已经死去了的可怜的花儿的故事全部告诉给他们。他们为这些花儿举行葬礼。这两个孩子肩上背着弓，走在前面；小爱达托着那装着死去的花儿的美丽匣子，走在后面。他们在花园里掘了一个小小的坟墓。小爱达先吻了吻这些花，然后把他们连匣子一起埋在土里。约那斯和亚多尔夫在坟上射着箭，作为敬礼，因为他们既没有枪，又没有炮。