这个故事收集在《新的童话》第二卷第二辑里，主人公是一位基本上快要走完人生道路的老人和一个刚刚进入人生的小男孩。两人结成了在一般情况下不可能有的友谊。这是因为：正如小男孩所说的：“我觉得这儿（老房子）什么东西都可爱，而且旧时的回忆以及与回忆相关的事情都到这儿来拜访！”人生就是这样：平淡无奇的日子中也有使人（甚至对刚进入人世的孩子）留恋和喜爱的东西。
The Old House老房子
A very old house stood once in a street with several that were quite new and clean. The date of its erection had been carved on one of the beams，and surrounded by scrolls formed of tulips and hoptendrils，by this date it could be seen that the old house was nearly three hundred years old. Verses too were written over the windows in oldfashioned letters，and grotesquegrotesque adj.奇形怪状的n.奇形怪状的人（或物、图案等），奇异风格 faces，curiously carved，grinned at you from under the cornices. One story projected a long way over the other，and under the roof ran a leaden gutter，with a dragons head at the end. The rain was intended to pour out at the dragons mouth，but it ran out of his body instead，for there was a hole in the gutter. The other houses in the street were new and well built，with large window panes and smooth walls. Any one could see they had nothing to do with the old house. Perhaps they thought，“How long will that heap of rubbish remain here to be a disgrace to the whole street. The parapet projects so far forward that no one can see out of our windows what is going on in that direction. The stairs are as broad as the staircase of a castle，and as steep as if they led to a churchtower. The iron railing looks like the gate of a cemeterycemetery n.墓地，公墓，and there are brass knobs upon it. It is really too ridiculous.”
街上有一幢很古老的房子但看上去并不旧非常干净，它差不多有300年的历史，这一点，人们在它的大梁上就能看得出来：那上面刻着郁金香和牵藤的啤酒花花纹——在这中间刻着的是它建造的年月。在那窗子上面人们还能看到整首用古老的字体刻出来的诗篇。在每个窗子上的桁条上还刻着做出讥笑样子的脸谱。第二层楼比第一层楼向外突出很多；屋檐下有一个铅水笕刻着龙头。雨水原本应该是从龙的嘴里流出来的，但它却从它的腹部中冒出来了，因为水笕有一个洞。街上所有其它的房子都是很新的并建得很牢固；它们的墙很光滑，窗玻璃很宽，人们可以看得出，它们不想跟这座老房子有什么来往。它们无疑地在想：“那个老垃圾堆作为街上的一个笑柄还能存在多久呢？它的吊窗凸出墙外过远，谁也不能从我们的窗子这边看到那边所发生的事情。它的楼梯宽得像宫殿里的楼梯，高得像要通到一个教堂的塔里面去。它的铁栏杆像一个家庭墓窖的门——上面还安装着黄铜小球。这真好笑！”
Opposite to the old house were more nice new houses，which had just the same opinion as their neighbors.
它的对面也是整齐的新房子，它们也有同样的看法。
At the window of one of them sat a little boy with fresh rosy cheeks，and clear sparkling eyes，who was very fond of the old house，in sunshine or in moonlight. He would sit and look at the wall from which the plaster had in some places fallen off，and fancy all sorts of scenes which had been in former times. How the street must have looked when the houses had all gable roofs，open staircases，and guttersgutter n.水槽，檐槽，排水沟，贫民区vt.开沟于vi.流 with dragons at the spout. He could even see soldiers walking about with halberdshalberd n.戟。 Certainly it was a very good house to look at for amusement.
不过这儿有一个孩子坐在窗子里面。他有一副通红的面孔和一对明亮的眼睛。他十分喜欢这幢老房子，不论在太阳光里或在月光里都是这样。他看到那些泥灰掉落了的墙壁，就坐着幻想出许多奇怪的景象来——这条街、那些楼梯、吊窗和尖尖的山形墙，在古时会是怎么样的呢？他甚至能看到拿着戟的兵士，以及形状像龙和鲛的水笕。这真是一幢值得一看的房子！
An old man lived in it，who wore kneebreeches，a coat with large brass buttons，and a wig，which any one could see was a real wig. Every morning an old man came to clean the rooms，and to wait upon him，otherwise the old man in the kneebreeches would have been quite alone in the house. Sometimes he came to one of the windows and looked out，then the little boy nodded to him，and the old man nodded back again，till they became acquainted，and were friends，although they had never spoken to each other，but that was of no consequence.
一个老人住在那里面。他穿着一条天鹅绒的马裤，一件有大黄铜扣子的上衣，他还戴着一副假发——人们一眼就能看出这是真正的假发。有一个老仆人每天早晨来为他打扫房间和跑腿。除此之外，这座老房子里就只孤独地住着这位穿天鹅绒马裤的老人了。他偶然来到窗子跟前，朝外面望一眼。这时这个小孩就对他点点头，作为回答。他们就这样彼此结识了，而且成了朋友，虽然他们从来没有讲过一句话。但事实上也没有这个必要。
The little boy one day heard his parents say，“The old man opposite is very well off，but is terribly lonely.” The next Sunday morning the little boy wrapped something in a piece of paper and took it to the door of the old house，and said to the attendant who waited upon the old man，“Will you please give this from me to the gentleman who lives here，I have two tin soldiers，and this is one of them，and he shall have it，because I know he is terribly lonely.”
小孩曾经听到他的父母说过：“对面的那个老人很有钱，不过他是非常寂寞的！”在下一个星期天，这孩子用一张纸裹了一点东西，走到门口。当那个为这老人跑腿的佣人走过时，他就告诉他：“你可不可以把这东西带给对面的那个老人呢？我有两个锡兵。这是其中的一个，我要送给他，因为我明白他是非常寂寞的。”
And the old attendant nodded and looked very pleased，and then he carried the tin soldier into the house.
老仆人点了点头，表现出很快乐的样子，于是就把锡兵带到老房子里去了。
Afterwards he was sent over to ask the little boy if he would not like to pay a visit himself. His parents gave him permission，and so it was that he gained admission to the old house.
不久他就来问小孩，愿意不愿意亲自去造访一次。他的爸爸妈妈准许他去。因此他就去拜访那座老房子了。
The brassybrassy adj.像黄铜的，厚脸皮的n.铜头高尔夫球棍 knobs on the railings shone more brightly than ever，as if they had been polished on account of his visit，and on the door were carved trumpeters standing in tulips，and it seemed as if they were blowing with all their might，their cheeks were so puffed out. “Tantarara，the little boy is coming； Tantarara，the little boy is coming.”
台阶栏杆上的那些铜球比平时要亮得多，好像专门为了他的拜访而擦亮的。门上那些雕刻出来的号手——他们站在郁金香花里——都在狠劲地吹喇叭，他们的双颊比从前要圆得多。是的，他们在吹：“嗒—嗒—啦—啦！小朋友到来了！嗒—嗒—啦—啦！”
