But only once did he stop, and that was to help a man in distress. When one sees a tent blown down and a lone man vainly trying to get it up again and anchor it while the wind is blowing a gale, he finds it hard to go on without giving a helping hand. So Pat lost half an hour and made a friend—a thing for which he had cause to be thankful later.
但他中途只停了一次，去帮助一个陷入困境的人。若一个人看到有个帐篷被风吹倒了，另一个人孤零零地试图在大风中把它扶起来锚定，却只是徒劳时，他发现自己很难不伸出援手而继续前行。于是帕特花了半个小时与那个人成为了朋友，他后来很感激自己做了这件事。
“Of course,” he muttered to himself, “I’m Santy Claus this night, but I never knew the old man had such a hard job of it.”
“当然，”他自言自语道，“今晚我是圣诞老人，但我从来不知道圣诞老人的工作这么辛苦。”
When he finally reached Traverse City, he found the stores open and doing a brisk Christmas-eve trade. The shopping took time, and further time was required to get thoroughly warmed and rested. The sixteen-mile trip down, facing the wind, had been hard; the fact that it had come after a day’s work had made it harder; the wind had chilled him; and it required all his courage to face the return journey.
当他终于到达特拉弗斯城时，他发现商店还在开门营业，而且圣诞夜生意兴隆。买东西花了不少时间，而且他还需要更多的时间来彻底暖和过来并休息一下。迎着风走了16英里的旅途很是艰难；他一整天都在劳作，使这段旅程变得更加艰难；风使他感到寒冷；他需要所有的勇气来面对返程。
But he started as soon as he was in condition to do so. He had bought a big sled; on this he had packed his purchases, including a whole pig that was to provide the holiday luxury of fresh meat. The load was not a particularly heavy one, but any load would seem heavy in such circumstances.
但他一休整好就出发了。他买了一个大雪橇；他把买来的东西打包放在上面，包括一整头猪，买猪是为了给圣诞节提供新鲜的肉类。负载不是特别重，但在这种情况下，任何负载都会显得很重。
“The sled weighs a ton!” he growled, although he knew his own weariness was largely to blame for the trouble he experienced.
“这个雪橇重一吨！”他咆哮着，尽管他知道疲乏是他遇到麻烦的主要原因。
He resolutely pushed on until he came to the tent that he had helped to anchor on his down trip; here he stopped to speak to the fisherman.
他坚定地往前走，直到走到了之前前行过程中自己帮助锚定的帐篷；他停在这里和渔夫说话。
“You look bad,” remarked the man.
“你看起来很糟糕，”那人说。
“’Tis the way I feel,” returned Pat.
“我感觉很糟糕，”帕特回答说。
“Come inside out of the wind and rest,” urged the fisherman.
“快进来避会风，休息一下，”渔夫催促道。
“Got to go on，” said Pat.
帕特说：“我得继续走了。”
“Why?” asked the fisherman.
“为什么？渔夫问道。
“I’m Santy Claus,” was the reply.
“我是圣诞老人，”帕特回答说。
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