My older brother Lars went skiing every night in his blue sweater. Tonight he skied so fast that he nearly ran into our house.
　　我哥哥拉尔斯每天晚上都穿着他的蓝色毛衣滑雪。今晚他滑得如此之快，以至于差点儿冲进我们的房子。
　　“I saw a nisse！” Lars called to Ma. “I told you so！I’m going back to find him.” Ma did not
　　believe in elves3. She did not believe they lived in the woods behind our house， protecting4 our home.
　　“我看到一个尼森！”拉尔斯打电话给妈妈，“我早就告诉过你了！我要回去找它。”妈妈不相信有精灵。她不相信它们住在我们屋子后面的树林中，保护着我们的家。
　　But Dad did. Long ago， he told me and Lars a secret5： A good nisse would turn to stone if a grown-up looked into its eyes. A bad one would not. Lars did not believe there were any good nisses left.
　　但是爸爸相信。很久以前，他告诉我和拉尔斯一个秘密：如果大人看着尼森的眼睛，好的尼森会变成石头，坏的不会。拉尔斯不相信世上有好尼森。
　　But I knew there were still good nisses. Whenever I found silver6 coins on the ground or woke up to new snow， I knew a nisse was near.
　　但是我知道還是有好尼森的。每当我在地上发现银币，或被刚下的雪唤醒，我就知道附近有一个尼森。
　　“Martin！” Dad whispered7. “You have to find the nisse before your brother does. What if it’s a good one？” I went outside， put on my skis， and looked around the house.
　　“马丁！”爸爸小声说，“你必须在你哥哥之前找到尼森。如果是好的那怎么办？”我跑到外面，穿上滑雪板，然后在房子周围寻找。
　　I quietly followed Lars. He held a camera to take a picture of the nisse. If he had a picture， Ma might believe a bad nisse lost the keys yesterday， not him. But I was afraid the nisse was good—and Lars would turn it to stone. I had to find it first. I looked and looked and looked for the nisse， but I didn’t see anything at all.
　　我悄悄地跟着拉尔斯。他拿着照相机想为尼森拍照片。如果有照片，妈妈可能会相信是坏尼森昨天弄丢了钥匙，而不是他。但是我担心是好尼森——拉尔斯会把它变成石头。我必须先找到它。我看了又看，但是什么也没看见。
　　Maybe Ma was right. Maybe Dad was wrong. Maybe there were no nisses. I was about to speed up and caught Lars， so we could go home and eat. But suddenly he stopped and started to turn around. I hid behind a tree.
　　也许妈妈是对的，爸爸可能是错的，也许世上没有尼森。我马上加速赶上拉尔斯了，这样我们可以回家吃饭。但是突然间他停了下来，开始转身。我躲在一棵树后面。
　　I saw a little hat—a nisse hat， all pointy8 and red. The hat moved. The nisse was under his hat！Lars heard my sounds of surprise and started to laugh.
　　我看到一顶小帽子，是一顶尼森式的帽子，尖尖的红色帽子。帽子动了，尼森在它的帽子下面！拉尔斯听到了我惊讶的声音，笑了起来。
　　“Come out， Martin！” Lars said. “I see you！Come out and help me to find the nisse.”
　　“出来，马丁！”拉尔斯说。“我看见你了！出来帮我找尼森。”
　　“No！ No！” The nisse whispered， “He’ll turn me to stone.” The nisse hid under the tree’s roots9， his small hand holding up his red hat.
　　“不！不！”那个尼森小声说。“他会把我变成石头。”尼森弯腰躲在树根下，它的小手举着它的红色帽子。
　　I knew what the nisse needed me to do. Putting the nisse’s hat on， I skied out from behind the tree.
　　我知道尼森需要我做什么。我戴上尼森的帽子，从树后滑出来。
　　“Martin！” Lars looked at the hat and laughed， “It’s you！”
　　“马丁！”拉尔斯看着帽子笑了，“原来是你啊！”