GREAT-GREAT-GRANDMA’S CHRISTMAS IN ENGLAND

Betty and Percy sat up until eleven o’clock that Christmas Eve. It was such a merry time!

They saw the men bring in the Yule log. It was so big that it took three men to carry it, and then they had to bring it in on their shoulders.
three men carrying log

At one end of the hall was a large fireplace. I think you never saw one like it. Pots and kettles hungdecoration64decoration over the fire, and on each side were seats where the children could sit and eat apples and tell stories. You see, it was a very big fireplace.

The men rolled the Yule log into the fireplace and lighted the fire. How the sparks flew! How the fire roared up the chimney!

It lighted the great hall. It shone on the oak table where the supper was laid.

On the supper table were two wax candles. These candles were almost as tall as you are. They were wreathed with holly¹.

These were the Christmas candles and they burned the whole evening. The hall was trimmed with holly and mistletoe. The holly had bright green leaves and red berries, and the mistletoe had white berries.

A big bunch of mistletoe hung down from the ceiling before the fire. If anyone happened to stand under the mistletoe, she was kissed.

How many times Betty was kissed! First her father caught her under the mistletoe, then Uncle Edward, and then Grandpa.

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At eleven o’clock Nurse said that Betty and Percy must go to bed. They did not like to go one bit.

There was a fire in the fireplace in Betty’s bedroom, but it was very cold. In Great-Great-Grandma’s time there were no such things as stoves and furnaces.

Nurse undressed Betty, and then the little girl climbed up the steps into her bed. It was so big and high that she had to climb up five steps to get into it.

Then Nurse drew the curtains of the bed to keep out the cold.

Betty was almost asleep when she heard the Waits singing. The Waits always sang under the windows on Christmas Eve.

“Open the lattice, please, Nurse,” she said.

So Nurse opened one of the windows. It opened like a door, and had panes² of glass which were small and diamond-shaped.

The house Betty lived in was very, very large, and was called a castle.

This is what the Waits were singing:—

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“God rest ye, merry gentlemen,
Let nothing you dismay,
For Jesus Christ our Saviour³
Was born upon this day.”

Betty did not hear the next verse, because her eyes were shut and she was fast asleep.

When she waked up in the morning, the first thing she heard was another Christmas carol.

She slid down the side of the bed and ran to the window.

It was a lovely Christmas morning. The trees and ground and walks were covered with snow. How it glistened⁴ in the sunshine!

The singers were standing⁵ in a row under the window. There were seven of them, and they were all children from the village whom Betty had seen when she was driving with her mother.

How they were bundled up, and their cheeks were as red as roses!

They were singing this Christmas carol:—

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“I saw three ships come sailing in,
On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day;
I saw three ships come sailing in,
On Christmas Day in the morning.”

“Quick, quick, Nurse,” said Betty. “Please dress me as quickly as you can. I must run down with the Christmas boxes.”
Little girl being dressed by nurse
PLEASE DRESS ME AS QUICKLY AS YOU CAN.

So Nurse hurried, and Betty hurried, and in a little while she was ready, with a sprig of holly in her dress, and a bit of mistletoe in her hair.

Percy was ready, too, and they ran down the long staircase into the wide hall.

The Yule log was still burning,—it had burned all night. The door was opened, and the little singers came in to warm themselves by the fire.

Betty and Percy gave each of them a “Christmas box.” It wasn’t a box, it was a gift; but a Christmas gift was called a Christmas box in those days.

After the singers had looked at their gifts and had eaten a slice of plum cake, they went home.

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I cannot tell you everything that Betty and Percy did that day, but you may be sure they had a good time.

I must tell you about the Christmas dinner. It was served in the hall, on the big oak table that stood before the fire.

When dinner was ready they did not ring a bell, but the cook knocked three times with his rolling-pin on the door.

Two men stood in the hall, and when they heard the three knocks they sounded their trumpets⁶, the doors were opened, and all the family marched in to dinner.

I do not know just what they had to eat, but I know they had roast goose, and a plum pudding just as you do at Christmas time.

After dinner the children played games. And what do you think they played? First they played “Puss-puss-in-the-corner,” and then “Blind-man’s-buff.”

Isn’t it strange that Great-Great-Grandma should have played the very games you play, on that Christmas night more than two hundred years ago?

1 holly   

n.[植]冬青属灌木

参考例句：

• I recently acquired some wood from a holly tree.最近我从一棵冬青树上弄了些木料。
• People often decorate their houses with holly at Christmas.人们总是在圣诞节时用冬青来装饰房屋。

2 panes   

窗玻璃( pane的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sun caught the panes and flashed back at him. 阳光照到窗玻璃上，又反射到他身上。
• The window-panes are dim with steam. 玻璃窗上蒙上了一层蒸汽。

3 saviour   

n.拯救者，救星

参考例句：

• I saw myself as the saviour of my country.我幻想自己为国家的救星。
• The people clearly saw her as their saviour.人们显然把她看成了救星。

4 glistened   

v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Pearls of dew glistened on the grass. 草地上珠露晶莹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Her eyes glistened with tears. 她的眼里闪着泪花。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

6 trumpets   

喇叭( trumpet的名词复数 )； 小号； 喇叭形物； （尤指）绽开的水仙花

参考例句：

• A wreath was laid on the monument to a fanfare of trumpets. 在响亮的号角声中花圈被献在纪念碑前。
• A fanfare of trumpets heralded the arrival of the King. 嘹亮的小号声宣告了国王驾到。