A cold welcome
原文
What does 'a cold welcome' refer to?
On Wednesday evening, we went to the Town Hall.
It was the last day of the year
and a large crowd of people had gathered under the Town Hall clock.
It would strike twelve in twenty minutes' time.
Fifteen minutes passed and then,
at five to twelve, the clock stopped.
The big minute hand did not move.
We waited and waited,
but nothing happened.
Suddenly someone shouted.
'It's two minutes past twelve!
The clock has stopped!'
I looked at my watch.
It was true.
The big clock refused to welcome the New Year.
At that moment, everybody began to laugh and sing.
译文
“冷遇”(a cold welcome)指的是一种不热情、冷漠或甚至带有敌意的接待方式。
周三晚上,我们去了市政厅。
那是这一年中的最后一天。
一大群人聚集在市政厅的钟楼下方。
二十分钟后,钟声就会敲响十二下。
十五分钟过去了,然后……
在十二点差五分的时候,钟停了。
那个大型的分针一动也没有动。
我们等啊等啊,
但是什么事情都没有发生。
突然,有人喊了一声。
已经十二点过两分了!
“时钟停了!”
我看了看我的手表。
确实如此。
那座大钟拒绝迎接新年。
就在那一刻,所有人都开始大笑起来,还唱起了歌。