The origin of Santa Claus
History tells usthat the origin of Santa Claus begins in the 4th century with Saint Nicholas,Bishop of Myra (an area in present day Turkey). One of the legends tellsabout that he acquired a fortune when his parents died while he was still in histeens. By nature St.Nicholas was a generous and honest man, particularlydevoted to children. He also cared deeply for the poor. He brought variousgifts, money and other useful items to the houses of the poor. He did this atnight, and in secrecy, so that no one knew, as he wanted no glory, he justwanted to help people. He became widely known for his generosity.
据史料记载，圣诞老人的原型是公元4世纪的圣尼古拉斯，他是米拉(位于今土耳其境内)的主教。有一种传说认为在他十多岁的时候父母双亡，给他留下一大笔财产。圣尼古拉生来就是个慷慨正直的人，尤其喜爱孩子，还很关心穷苦人，给穷人家里送去各种礼物、钱以及其他有用的物品。他一般都是在夜里秘密地做这些事，这样就没人知道，因为他并不想获得什么赞颂，只是想帮助别人。很快，他就因自己的慷慨而广为人知。
There is one famous legend about SaintNicholas. The story tells of Nicholas hearing one day of three beautifulsisters who lived in a miserable hut on the edge of Myra. The three sisters were very poor. Theycould barely earn enough to keep themselves and their old mother from starvingto death. When Nicholas heard of their plight, he was very concerned. Hedecided to do something to help them.
有一个关于圣尼古拉斯的著名传说，讲的是有一天，尼古拉斯三联阅读3lian/zl/转载请保留听说在米拉镇边界上一所简陋的小屋里住着美丽的三姐妹。她们非常穷，赚钱很少，几乎难以保证自己和老母亲不被饿死。尼古拉听说了三姐妹的悲惨境况后非常担忧，决定帮助她们。
One night, when everyone was asleep, Nicholascrept through the streets to the edge of town. Quietly, he tiptoed up to thehut where the three sisters lived. He climbed onto the roof and dropped threebags of gold through the hole in the roof where the smoke from the fire cameout. Now it so happened that the three sisters has washed their stockingsbefore they went to bed. The stockings has been hung by the fire to dry. WhenNicholas dropped the gold through the smoke hole, each bag of gold fell into astocking.
一天夜里，当大家都入睡后，尼古拉斯蹑手蹑脚地穿街走巷，来到了小镇边界。他悄悄地踮起脚走到三姐妹住的小屋旁，爬上屋顶，把三袋金子顺着房顶炉火冒烟的洞口扔了下去。而三姐妹上床前恰巧刚洗完自己的长袜，把它们挂在炉火旁烘干。就在尼古拉斯把金子透过烟囱扔下去时，每袋金子分别落入了一只袜子中。
The three sisters were overjoyed to findthree bags of gold in their stockings when they woke up the next morning. Soon,the story began to spread. Other people began to hang up stockings in the hopeof finding bags of gold when they woke up in the morning. From this legendsprang the custom of hanging stockings up by the chimney on Christmas Eve. Overthe years, Saint Nicholas became associated with Christmas.
第二天一早，三姐妹醒来，发现她们的长袜里竟然有三袋金子，她们欣喜若狂。很快，这个故事便流传开来。其他人也开始把袜子挂起来，希望第二天早上醒来也能发现一袋袋的金子。圣诞夜那天把袜子挂在烟囱旁的习俗就是由这个传说而来。多年来，人们就把圣尼古拉斯与圣诞节联系在了一起。
After his death around 350 A.D. he was buried in Myra,but in 1087 Italian sailors purportedly stole his remains and removed them to Bari, Italy,greatly increasing St. Nicholas' popularity throughout Europe.His kindness and reputation for generosity and love for children gave rise toclaims that he could perform miracles and devotion to him increased. St.Nicholas became the patron saint of Russia, where he was famous for hisred cape, flowing white beard, and bishop's mitre. In Greece, he is the patron saint of sailors; in France he was the patron of lawyers, and in Belgium thepatron of children and travelers. The Dutch kept the legend of St. Nicholasalive. In 16th century Holland,Dutch children would place their wooden shoes by the hearth in hopes that theywould be filled with a treat and goodies.
尼古拉斯在约公元350年去世后，被葬于米拉;但据称在1087年，意大利水手们偷走了他的遗骨，转运到了意大利的(东南部港市)巴里，从而大大提升了尼古拉斯在整个欧洲的知名度。他的善良、慷慨以及对孩子的喜爱都让人们认为他会施魔法，人们更加热爱他了。尼古拉斯成了俄罗斯人的守护神，在那里，他以身披红斗篷，留着飘逸的白胡须，戴着主教法冠而闻名。在希腊，他是水手的守护神;在法国，他是律师的庇佑人;在比利时他则是孩子和旅行者的保护神。荷兰人一直都传颂着圣尼古拉的传说。在16世纪的荷兰，孩子们会把他们的木鞋放在壁炉边，希望里面会装满礼物和糖果。
分类: 社会民生
解析:
传说圣诞老人是在数千年前的斯堪的纳维亚半岛即出现。北欧神话中司智慧、艺术、诗词、战争的奥丁神，寒冬时节，骑上他那八脚马坐骑驰骋于天涯海角，惩恶扬善，分发礼物。与此同时，其子雷神穿红衣以闪电为武器与冰雪诸神昏天黑地恶战一场，最终战胜寒冷。据异教传说，圣诞老人为奥丁神后裔。 也传说称圣诞老人由圣·尼古拉而来，所以圣诞老人也称St.Nicholas。据说他原是小亚细亚每拉城的主教，名叫圣尼古拉，死后被尊为圣徒，是一位身穿红袍、头戴红帽的白胡子老头。每年圣诞节他驾着鹿拉的雪橇从北方而来，由烟囱进入各家，把圣诞礼物装在袜子里挂在孩子们的床头上或火炉前。所以，西方人过圣诞节时，父母把给孩子的圣诞礼物装在袜子里，圣诞夜时挂在孩子们的床头上。第二天，孩子们醒来后的第一件事就是在床头上寻找圣诞老人送来的礼物。如今，圣诞老人已成为吉祥如意的象征，不仅是过圣诞节时不可缺少的人物，而且也是欢庆新年时不可缺少的人物。总之，圣诞老人已永驻人的精神世界，因为他的诸多故事大多弘扬基督精神。
11世纪末来自意大利的宗教士兵将Nicholas圣人的遗物带回意大利，并在港口城市Bari建造了一座教堂来纪念他。很快世界各地的基督教徒纷至沓来朝圣这位圣人。这些朝圣者将圣人Nicholas的故事带回他们的本土，所以有关圣诞老人的传说在各个国家都各具特色。
12世纪欧洲出现了圣人Nicholas纪念日，以互赠礼物和慈善活动为主。德国、法国、荷兰则将12月6日作为宗教纪念日，给孩子和穷人们赠送礼物。 荷兰殖民者来到美洲时，将他们的Sintirklass主教也带了去，Sintirklass身着红袈裟，骑着一匹白马。Sintirklass的美国形象后来逐渐演变成一个快乐的老精灵。起初美国作家华盛顿.欧文在他的喜剧《纽约的历史》中将他描述成一个又圆又胖的荷兰老人。
1823年，诗人Clement Moore在他的诗歌《St.Nicholas印象》中继续将Sintirklass/Saint Nicholas的形象戏剧化，这就是各位在本篇开头看到的圣诞老人。 19世纪60年代卡通制作者Thomas Nash画了一幅胖胖的、慈祥的圣诞老人作为《Harper的一周》的插图。这个圣诞老人的形象开始深深地扎根于美国人民的脑海中。随着时间的推移，圣诞老人的形象传回欧洲，传到南美洲，传遍世界各地。 许多国家都保存了他们自己有关圣诞老人的风俗和传说。在荷兰的传说中，圣诞老人Sintirklass还带了一个叫Black Peter的助手，乘着一艘船于12月6日来到。他带着一本大书，书中描述了所有荷兰小孩在过去一年中的表现。表现好的小孩就送礼物给他们，不好的小孩便让他的助手带走。 德国的圣诞老人也带着一个叫做Knecht Ruprecht、Krampus或Pelzebock的助手，肩上背着个装着礼物的大袋子，手上拿着一根棍子。好孩子可收到他的礼物，顽皮的孩子却要给教训几棍子。
意大利的圣诞老人叫La Befana ；法国的圣诞老人叫Father Christmas或Pere Noel ；瑞士的圣诞老人叫Christkindl或Christ Child；斯勘的纳维亚地区的圣诞人叫julenisse 或 juletomte ；而英国的圣诞老人和法国一样也叫Father Christmas（圣诞之父），他的形象比其它圣诞老人更庄严，更清瘦一些。北美的圣诞老人便是乘着驯鹿拉的雪橇来给孩子们送礼物的。