圣誕老人的前世今生

張榕芳

編者注：你或許看過不少圣誕老人，印象中圣誕老人白白胖胖，穿著紅色衣服，一把白色的胡子！然而圣誕老人最初并不是我們現在看到的樣子。你知道圣誕老人是怎么“長成”這樣的嗎？

Santa Claus is someone who will remain in the hearts of children forever. He is the make-believe person who brings toys and other gifts to children at Christmas. To grown-ups， he is a special symbol of good will and selfless giving.

圣誕老人永遠留在孩子們的心中。他是一個虛構的人物，會在圣誕節帶給孩子們玩具和其他禮物。對于成人而言，他是善良和無私付出的特殊象征。

Santa Claus also has some other names： Saint Nicholas， St. Nick， Kris Kringle， Pelznickel.

圣誕老人還有一些其他名字：Saint Nicholas， St. Nick， Kris Kringle， Pelznickel。

Two of his names—Santa Claus and Saint Nicholas—both come from the Dutch who settled in New York long ago.

其中Santa Claus and Saint Nicholas這兩個名字均來自很久以前在紐約定居的荷蘭人。

The Dutch believed Saint Nicholas gave gifts to children. They honored this kindly saint with a yearly festival on December 6th. The English-speaking people who lived nearby greatly enjoyed Dutch festivals. And they brought the saint and the custom of giving gifts into their own celebration at Christmas time.

荷蘭人相信圣誕老人送給孩子們禮物，他們在每年的12月6日紀念這位善良的圣徒。居住在周圍的說英語的人們十分鐘愛荷蘭人的節日。然后他們將圣徒和發禮物的傳統融入到他們自己的圣誕節慶祝活動中。

The Dutch spoke the name“Saint Nicholas” very fast. And so， when the English said this word， it sounded like Santa Claus.

荷蘭人念“Saint Nicholas”這個名字說得很快。因此，用英語說這個詞的時候聽上去像Santa Claus。

West of New York， in Pennsylvania， many German farmers had also heard of Saint Nicholas. But they called him Pelznickel. This word came from“pelz”， meaning fur， and“nickel” for Nicholas. And so， to the Germans of Pennsylvania， Saint Nicholas or Pelznickel was a man dressed in fur who came once a year with gifts for good children.

紐約西部的賓夕法尼亞州的許多德國農民也聽說過Saint Nicholas，但是他們稱其為Pelznickel。這個詞源自“pelz”，意為皮衣，而“nickel”是指Nicholas。所以，對賓夕法尼亞州的德國人而言，Saint Nicholas或Pelznickel是一位穿著皮衣的老人，每年來一次給表現好的孩子發禮物。

Soon， people began to feel that the love and kindness Pelznickel brought should be part of a celebration honoring the Christkindl， as the Germans called the Christ child. After a time， this became “Kris Kringle”. Later， Kris Kringle became another name for Santa Claus himself.

不久，人們開始發覺圣誕老人帶來的仁愛和善良應該成為紀念Christkindl的一部分，德國人稱其為圣子。此后，這就變成了“Kris Kringle”。之后，“Kris Kringle”成為圣誕老人的另一個名字。

Whatever he is called， he is still the same short， fat， jolly old man with a long beard， wearing a red suit with white fur.

無論圣誕老人被稱作什么，他始終是那個矮胖歡樂的老人，留著長長的胡子，穿著一身帶白色皮毛的大紅外套。

The picture of Santa Claus， as we see him now， came from Thomas Nast. He was an American painter born in Bavaria. He painted pictures for Christmas poems. Someone asked him to paint a picture of Santa Claus.

我們看到的圣誕老人的畫像出自Thomas Nast。他是一位生于德國巴伐利亞的美國畫家。他為圣誕詩歌配圖，有人請他畫了一幅圣誕老人的畫像。

Nast remembered when he was a little boy in southern Germany. Every Christmas， a fat old man gave toys and cakes to the children. So， when Nast painted the picture， his Santa Claus looked like the kindly old man of his childhood. And through the years， Nasts painting has remained as the most popular picture of Santa Claus.

Nast想起自己住在德國南部的童年時光，每年圣誕節都有一位胖胖的老人分給孩子們玩具和蛋糕，所以，Nast作畫時，他筆下的圣誕老人看起來像童年中的那位善良的老人。多年后，他筆下的圣誕老人仍然是最受歡迎的。

Santa can be seen almost everywhere in large American cities during the Christmas season. Some stand on street corners asking for money to buy food and gifts for the needy. Others are found in stores and shopping centers.

在圣誕節期間，美國大城市隨處可見圣誕老人。一些站在街角為有需要的人籌錢購買食物和禮物，還有一些圣誕老人則出現在商店和購物中心。

It is easy to find them by the long lines of children waiting to tell Santa what they want for Christmas.

我們不難找到圣誕老人，因為孩子們正排著長長的隊伍等著告訴圣誕老人自己想要什么圣誕禮物。