星期三晚上，我们去了市政厅。
On Wednesday evening, we went to the Town Hall.
那是一年的最后一天，一大群人已经聚集在市政厅的大钟下面。
It was the last day of the year and a large crowd of people had gathered under the Town Hall clock.
再过二十分钟，大钟就要敲十二下了。
It would strike twelve in twenty minutes' time.
十五分钟过去了，然后，在十一点五十五分的时候，大钟停了。
Fifteen minutes passed and then, at five to twelve, the clock stopped.
大分针没有移动。
The big minute hand did not move.
我们等了又等，可是什么事情也没有发生。
We waited and waited, but nothing happened.
突然，有人大喊："已经十二点零二分了！钟停了！"
Suddenly someone shouted, "It's two minutes past twelve! The clock has stopped!"
我看了一下我的手表。
I looked at my watch.
这是真的。
It was true.
那座大钟拒绝迎接新年。
The big clock refused to welcome the New Year.
就在那一刻，所有人都开始笑起来并唱起歌来。
At that moment, everybody began to laugh and sing.