A MOTHER sat by her little child; she was very sorrowful, fearing that it would die. Its little face was pale, and its eyes were closed. The child drew its breath with difficulty, and sometimes as deeply as if it were sighing; and then the mother looked more sorrowfully than before on the little creature .

There was a knock at the door, and a poor old man came in, wrapped up in something that looked like a great horse-cloth, for that keeps one warm; and he needed it, for it was cold winter. Without, everything was covered with ice and snow, and the wind blew so sharply that it cut one's face.

And as the old man trembled with cold, and the child was quiet for a moment, the mother went and put some beer on the stove in a little pot, to warm it for him. The old man sat down and rocked the cradle, and the mother seated herself on a chair by him, looked at her sick child that drew its breath so painfully, and lifted the little hand.

“You think I shall keep it, do you not? ”she asked.“The good God will not take it from me!”

And the old man----he was Death----nodded in such a strange way, that it might just as well mean yes as no. And the mother cast down her eyes, and tears rolled down her cheeks.Her head became heavy: for three days and three nights she had not closed her eyes; and now she slept, but only for a minute; then she started up and shivered with cold.

“What is that?”she asked, and looked round on all sides; but the old man was gone, and her little child was gone; he had taken it with him. And there in the corner the old clock was humming and whirring; the heavy leaden weight ran down to the floor----plump!----and the clock stopped.

But the poor mother rushed out of the house crying for her child.

Out in the snow sat a woman in long black garments,and she said,“Death has been with you in your room; I saw him hasten away with your child: he strides faster than the wind, and never brings back what he has taken away.

Only tell me which way he has gone, said the mother.“Tell me the way, and I will find him.”

“I know him, said the woman in the black garments;“but before I tell you, you must sing me all the songs that you have sung to your child. I love those songs; I have heard them before. I am Night, and I saw your tears when you sang them.”

“I will sing them all,all!”said the mother.“But do not detain me, that I may overtake him, and find my child.”

But Night sat dumb and still. Then the mother wrung¹ her hands, and sang and wept. And there were many songs, but yet more tears, and then Night said,“Go to the right into the dark fir wood; for I saw Death take that path with your little child.”

Deep in the forest there was a cross-road, and she did not know which way to take. There stood a thorn bush,with not a leaf nor a blossom upon it; for it was in the cold winter-time, and icicles hung from the

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1 wrung
绞( wring的过去式和过去分词 )； 握紧（尤指别人的手）； 把（湿衣服）拧干； 绞掉（水）
参考例句：
He has wrung the words from their true meaning. 他曲解这些字的真正意义。 He wrung my hand warmly. 他热情地紧握我的手。

2 twigs
细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 )
参考例句：
Some birds build nests of twigs. 一些鸟用树枝筑巢。 Willow twigs are pliable. 柳条很软。

3 bosom
n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的
参考例句：
She drew a little book from her bosom.她从怀里取出一本小册子。 A dark jealousy stirred in his bosom.他内心生出一阵恶毒的嫉妒。

4 oozed
v.（浓液等）慢慢地冒出，渗出( ooze的过去式和过去分词 )；使（液体）缓缓流出；（浓液）渗出，慢慢流出
参考例句：
Blood oozed out of the wound. 血从伤口慢慢流出来。 Mud oozed from underground. 泥浆从地下冒出来。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 sufficiently
adv.足够地，充分地
参考例句：
It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。 The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。

6 wade
v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉
参考例句：
We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。 We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

7 wrought
v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的
参考例句：
Events in Paris wrought a change in British opinion towards France and Germany.巴黎发生的事件改变了英国对法国和德国的看法。 It's a walking stick with a gold head wrought in the form of a flower.那是一个金质花形包头的拐杖。

8 afflicted
使受痛苦，折磨( afflict的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
About 40% of the country's population is afflicted with the disease. 全国40%左右的人口患有这种疾病。 A terrible restlessness that was like to hunger afflicted Martin Eden. 一阵可怕的、跟饥饿差不多的不安情绪折磨着马丁·伊登。

9 costly
adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的
参考例句：
It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。 This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

10 wafted
v.吹送，飘送，（使）浮动( waft的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
The sound of their voices wafted across the lake. 他们的声音飘过湖面传到了另一边。 A delicious smell of freshly baked bread wafted across the garden. 花园中飘过一股刚出炉面包的香味。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 crabs
n.蟹( crab的名词复数 )；阴虱寄生病；蟹肉v.捕蟹( crab的第三人称单数 )
参考例句：
As we walked along the seashore we saw lots of tiny crabs. 我们在海岸上散步时看到很多小蟹。 来自《简明英汉词典》 The fish and crabs scavenge for decaying tissue. 鱼和蟹搜寻腐烂的组织为食。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 gallant
adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的
参考例句：
Huang Jiguang's gallant deed is known by all men. 黄继光的英勇事迹尽人皆知。 These gallant soldiers will protect our country.这些勇敢的士兵会保卫我们的国家的。

13 scattered
adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的
参考例句：
Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

14 moss
n.苔，藓，地衣
参考例句：
Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。 He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

15 bent
n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的
参考例句：
He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。 We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

16 implored
恳求或乞求（某人）( implore的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
She implored him to stay. 她恳求他留下。 She implored him with tears in her eyes to forgive her. 她含泪哀求他原谅她。

17 frustrate
v.使失望；使沮丧；使厌烦
参考例句：
But this didn't frustrate Einstein.He was content to go as far as he could.但这并没有使爱因斯坦灰心，他对能够更深入地研究而感到满意。 They made their preparations to frustrate the conspiracy.他们作好准备挫败这个阴谋。

18 blessing
n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿
参考例句：
The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。 A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

19 diffused
散布的，普及的，扩散的
参考例句：
A drop of milk diffused in the water. 一滴牛奶在水中扩散开来。 Gases and liquids diffused. 气体和液体慢慢混合了。

20 misery
n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦
参考例句：
Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。 He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。

21 woe
n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌
参考例句：
Our two peoples are brothers sharing weal and woe.我们两国人民是患难与共的兄弟。 A man is well or woe as he thinks himself so.自认祸是祸，自认福是福。

22 entreaties
n.恳求，乞求( entreaty的名词复数 )
参考例句：
He began with entreaties and ended with a threat. 他先是恳求，最后是威胁。 来自《简明英汉词典》 The tyrant was deaf to the entreaties of the slaves. 暴君听不到奴隶们的哀鸣。 来自《简明英汉词典》