English Original
A father was sitting at dinner with his wife, children, and a visiting friend. As the clock struck twelve, the stranger saw the door open and a very pale child in snow-white clothes enter.
It neither looked around nor spoke, but went straight into the next room. Soon it returned and left just as quietly. This happened again on the second and third days. Finally, the stranger asked the father who the beautiful child was that entered the next room each noon. "I have never seen it," he replied, nor did he know who it could be.
The next day, when the child appeared again, the stranger pointed it out, but the father, mother, and children saw nothing. The stranger then rose, went to the room door, opened it slightly, and peeked inside.
He saw the child sitting on the floor, diligently digging and searching among the crevices between the floorboards. Upon seeing the stranger, it vanished. He described exactly what he had seen, and the mother recognized the child. "Ah," she said, "it is my dear child who died a month ago."
They lifted the floorboards and found two farthings. The child had once received them from its mother to give to a poor man. Instead, it thought, "You could buy yourself a biscuit with that," kept the coins, and hid them between the boards. Therefore, it found no rest in its grave and returned each noon to search for the farthings. The parents immediately gave the money to a poor man, and after that, the child was never seen again.
中文翻译
一天，一位父亲正与妻子、孩子们以及一位来访的好友共进晚餐。当时钟敲响十二点时，这位陌生人看到门开了，一个穿着雪白衣服、面色极其苍白的孩子走了进来。
孩子既没有环顾四周，也没有说话，而是径直走进了隔壁房间。不久后它又回来，同样安静地离开了。第二天和第三天，同样的事情再次发生。最后，陌生人问父亲，每天中午走进隔壁房间的那个漂亮孩子是谁家的？父亲回答说：“我从未见过它。” 他也不知道那会是谁的孩子。
次日，当孩子再次出现时，陌生人指给父亲看，但父亲、母亲和孩子们却什么也没看见。于是陌生人起身，走到房间门口，将门微微打开一条缝，向里窥视。
他看见孩子坐在地上，正勤勉地在地板板的裂缝间挖掘和寻找。一看到陌生人，孩子就消失了。他详细描述了自己所见，母亲认出了那个孩子。“啊，”她说，“那是我一个月前死去的亲爱的孩子。”
他们撬开地板，发现了两枚半便士硬币。这孩子曾从母亲那里得到这些钱，本应施舍给一个穷人。然而，它却想：“你可以用这个给自己买块饼干。”于是它留下了硬币，并把它们藏在了地板缝隙里。正因如此，它在坟墓中不得安宁，每天中午都回来寻找这些半便士。父母立刻将钱给了一个穷人，此后，那个孩子就再也没有出现过。