The Judge And The Thief 法官与小偷 　　

It was the Christmas season and the judge was in a merry mood as he asked the prisoner, “What is your offense?”　　

圣诞佳节到来，法官心情愉悦的问受刑人：“你做了什么坏事啊？”　

“I did my Christmas shopping early this year," cried the prisoner.　　

“我今年圣诞节购物早了些。”犯人哭着说。　

"There’s nothing wrong with that," said the Judge. "How early were you doing this shopping?"

“那并不是件坏事”，法官说：“到底多早之前啊？”　　

"Before the store opened," answered the prisoner.　　　

“商店开门之前。”犯人答道。

1.judge

文章中judge作名词，表示法官的意思。

judge by appearances

由外观上判断

judge from the fact

由事实上推测

2.Christmas shopping

Christmas shopping表示圣诞节的购物。

同理，在shopping前也可以加上其它名词，比如New Year shopping，新年购物等等。

3.before

before在这里表示，在...之前，这里是用于一般过去式。

在很多情况下，before也是可以和过去完成式连用。