When a light passenger plane flew off course some time ago, it crashed in the mountains and its pilot was killed.

不久前，一架轻型客机偏离了航线，在山区坠毁，飞行员丧生。

The only passengers, a young woman and her two baby daughters, were unhurt.

机上仅有的乘客，一位年轻的妇女和她的两个女婴却平安无事。

It was the middle of winter. Snow lay thick on the ground.

此时正值隆冬季节，地上积着厚厚的雪。

The woman knew that the nearest village was miles away.

这位妇女知道，即使最近的村庄也有数英里远。

When it grew dark, she turned a suitcase into a bed and put the children inside it, covering them with all the clothes she could find.

天黑下来的时候，她把提箱当作小床，把两个孩子放了进去，又把所有能找到的衣服都盖在了孩子们身上。

During the night, it got terribly cold.

夜里，天冷得厉害。

The woman kept as near as she could to the children and even tried to get into the case herself, but it was too small.

这位妇女尽可能地靠近孩子，甚至自己也想钻进箱子里去，只是箱子太小了。

Early next morning, she heard planes passing overhead and wondered how she could send a signal.

第二天一大早，她听到头顶上有飞机飞过，但不知道怎样才能发个信号。

Then she had an idea.

后来她有了一个主意。

She stamped out the letters "SOS" in the snow.

她在雪地上踩出了“SOS”这3个字母。

Fortunately, a pilot saw the signal and sent a message by radio to the nearest town.

幸运得很，一位飞行员看到这个信号，用无线电给最近的城镇发了报。

It was not long before a helicopter arrived on the scene to rescue the survivors of the plane crash.

不久，一架直升飞机飞抵飞机失事现场，来搭救这几个幸存者。