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本人的译文，请帮忙挑错,谢谢！

Mary Howitt was born in 1804, at Coleford, England. She wrote many charming stories for children in prose and verse, and also translated many from Swedish, Danish, and German authors. This story is arranged from one in a collection named "Peter Drake's Dream, and Other Stories." She died in 1888.
Mary Howitt1804出生于英格兰Coleford。他用散文或诗歌的形式写了很多动人的故事，也翻译了很多瑞士、丹麦和德国作家的作品。这个故事出自她的作品集"Peter Drake's Dream, and Other Stories."。她于1888年去世。
1. There were, in very ancient times, two brothers, one of whom was rich, and the other poor. Christmas was approaching, but the poor man had nothing in the house for a Christmas dinner; so he went to his brother and asked him for a trifling gift.
古时候有两个兄弟，一个很富有，一个很穷。圣诞节即将到来，但是穷兄弟没有任何东西做圣诞晚餐，因此他去找富哥哥，想要一份微不足道的圣诞礼物。
2. The rich man was ill-natured, and when he heard his brother's request he looked very surly. But as Christmas is a time when even the worst people give gifts, he took a fine ham down from the chimney, where it was hanging to smoke, threw it at his brother, and bade him begone and never to let him see his face again.
富哥哥可不是个善良的人，当他听说弟弟的要求后脸色很难看。但是圣诞节的时候即使是最坏的人也送圣诞礼物，他拿下了一块悬挂在烟囱上的火腿，扔给弟弟，吩咐他以后不要再来了。
3. The poor man thanked his brother for the ham, put it under his arm, and went his way. He had to pass through a great forest on his way home. When he had reached the thickest part of it, he saw an old man, with a long, white beard, hewing timber. "Good evening," said he to him.
弟弟说了些感谢的话，拿起火腿回家了。路上要穿过一片浓密的森林。走到森林中部的时候，看见一位留着长长的白胡子的老人在伐木。弟弟对老人说,“晚上好”。
4. "Good evening," returned the old man, raising himself up from his work, and looking at him. "That is a fine ham you are carrying." On this, the poor man told him all about it.
“晚上好”，老人回答说，站起身来看了看他，说“你带的火腿真不错”。弟弟把经过告诉了老人。
5. "It is lucky for you," said the old man, "that you have met with me. If you will take that ham into the land of the dwarfs, the entrance to which lies just under the roots of this tree, you can make a cap¬ital bargain with it; for the dwarfs are very fond of ham, and rarely get any. But mind what I say: you must not sell it for money, but demand for it the 'old hand mill which stands behind the door.' When you come back, I'll show you how to use it."
老人说，“遇到我，你要走运了，如果你把火腿带到矮人国，会卖个好价钱，矮人国的入口就在这棵树的根部，因为矮人都很喜欢火腿，可是不容易得到。但是听好我说的：你不能收他们的钱，一定要他们用‘门后的手磨’交换。回来的时候，我会告诉你怎么用手磨。”
6. The poor man thanked his new friend, who showed him the door under a stone below the roots of the tree, and by this door he entered into the land of the dwarfs. No sooner had he set his foot in it, than the dwarfs swarmed about him, attracted by the smell of the ham. They offered him queer, old-fashioned money and gold and silver ore for it; but he refused all their tempting offers, and said that he would sell it only for the old hand mill behind the door.
弟弟感谢了他的新朋友，老人指给他看了树根部的一块石头，门就走石头下面，弟弟就从这儿进了矮人国。刚一走进去，就有很多矮人围拢上来，火腿的香味把他们吸引来了。他们拿出一些奇怪的、样式古老的钱币和一些金银要和他交易，尽管有些诱人，可是他拒绝了，说只能用门后的旧手磨来交换火腿。
7. At this, the dwarfs held up their little old hands, and looked quite perplexed. "We can not make a bargain, it seems," said the poor man, "so I'll bid you all a good day."
对此，矮人们摆着手，显得很困惑。弟弟说“看来交易不成了，那么再见吧。”
8. The fragrance of the ham had by this time reached the remote parts of dwarf land. The dwarfs came flocking around in little troops, leaving their work of digging out precious ores, eager for the ham.
可是火腿的香味这时已经飘到了矮人国里最遥远的地方。更多的矮人们放下了挖掘金银矿的工作，三五成群地聚拢过来。
9. "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. Let him have it, and we will have the ham."
“就给他手磨吧”，一些刚走来的矮人说，“反正手磨已经又破又旧，他又不知道怎么用。就用来换火腿吧。”
10. So the bargain was made. 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. Here the old man showed him how to use it. All this had taken up a great deal of time, and it was midnight before he reached home.
就这样交易成功了。弟弟拿起手磨返回了森林，手磨还没有火腿的一半大呢。老人教给他手磨的用法。当然这花了不少时间，因此他到半夜才回到家里。
11. "Where in the world have you been?" said his wife. "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."
见到他回来，他妻子说，“你到底去哪了？我等啊等啊，我们生火的劈材没了，圣诞晚餐也没着落呢。”
12. The house was dark and cold; but the poor man bade his wife wait and see what would happen. He placed the little hand mill on the table, and began to turn the crank. 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. Then he ground out a table¬cloth, and dishes, and spoons, and knives and forks.
他们的家又冷又暗，可是弟弟让妻子等一下看接下来会发生什么。把小手磨放到桌上，他开始旋转手柄。先是磨出来了大蜡烛，接着是生着火的壁炉，上面还有一锅热气腾腾的粥呢。这是因为弟弟在心里默念了这些东西。然后桌布、碗碟、勺羮和刀叉也磨出来了。
13. He was himself astonished at his good luck, as you may believe; and his wife was almost beside her¬self with joy and astonishment. Well, they had a capital supper; and after it was eaten, they ground out of the mill every possible thing to make their house and themselves warm and comfortable. So they had a merry Christmas eve and morning.
他自己都为碰到的好运气感到吃惊，更别提他的妻子了。这样，他们就有了丰盛的圣诞晚餐，然后他们又磨出了能让他们的房子温暖舒适的所有东西。这个圣诞夜真是太快乐了。