过了这么多年圣诞节 你真的知道圣诞老人的来历？

 　　THE LEGEND OF ST. NICHOLAS

　　圣?尼古拉斯的传说

　　The legend of Santa Claus can be traced back hundreds of years to a monk¹ named St. Nicholas. It is believed that Nicholas was born sometime around 280 A.D. in Patara, near Myra in modern-day Turkey.

　　圣诞老人的传说可以追溯到几百年前，有一个主教叫圣?尼古拉斯，据认为他在公元280年左右出生在潘特拉(Patara)，在现在土耳其的米拉附近。

　　Much admired for his piety² and kindness, St. Nicholas became the subject of many legends. It is said that he gave away all of his inherited wealth and traveled the countryside helping³ the poor and sick. His feast day is celebrated⁴ on the anniversary of his death, December 6. This was traditionally considered a lucky day to make large purchases or to get married.

　　由于虔诚和善良，他很受人爱戴，成为了很多传奇故事的主人公。据说他把继承的所有财产都分给了别人，到乡间各处救助穷人和病人。每年的12月6日是纪念他去世的日子，这一天在传统意义上被认为是买买买或结婚的吉日。

　　SINTER KLAAS COMES TO NEW YORK

　　SINTER KLAAS到纽约

　　St. Nicholas made his first inroads into American popular culture towards the end of the 18th century. The name Santa Claus evolved from Nick’s Dutch nickname, Sinter Klaas, a shortened form of Sint Nikolaas (Dutch for Saint Nicholas). In 1804, John Pintard, a member of the New York Historical Society, distributed woodcuts of St. Nicholas at the society’s annual meeting. The background of the engravingcontains now-familiar Santa images including stockings filled with toys and fruit hung over a fireplace.

　　圣?尼古拉斯最初在18世纪末进入美国主流文化，“圣诞老人”这个词是从尼古拉斯的荷兰语中的昵称Sinter Klaas转变来的，是Sint Nikolaas(荷兰语的圣?尼古拉斯)的简称。1804年，纽约历史学会的John Pintard在学会的年会上分发了圣?尼古拉斯的木雕，雕刻的背景有现在人们熟知的圣诞老人的形象，包括挂在壁炉上面的装满玩具和水果的长筒袜。

　　Gift-giving, mainly centered around children, has been an important part of the Christmas celebration since the early 19th century. Stores began to advertise Christmas shopping in 1820.

　　从19世纪早期开始，以孩子为中心的赠送礼物行为开始成为圣诞节庆祝活动的主要部分。1820年，商场开始为圣诞购物打广告。

　　THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS

　　圣诞节前夜

　　In 1822, Clement⁵ Clarke Moore, an Episcopal minister, wrote a long Christmas poem for his three daughters entitled “An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas.” Moore’s poem is largely responsible for our modern image of Santa Claus as a “right jolly old elf” with a portly figure and the supernatural ability to ascend⁶ a chimney with a mere⁷ nod of his head! His poem helped popularize the now-familiar image of a Santa Claus who flew from house to house on Christmas Eve–in “a miniature sleigh” led by eight flying reindeer–leaving presents for deserving children. In 1881, political cartoonist Thomas Nast drew on Moore’s poem to create the first likeness⁸ that matches our modern image of Santa Claus. His cartoon depicted⁹ Santa as a rotund, cheerful man with a full, white beard, holding a sack laden¹⁰ with toys for lucky children.

　　1822年英国圣公会牧师Clement Clarke Moore为他三个女儿写了一首圣诞长诗“An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas”，这首诗很大程度上决定了现代的圣诞老人形象——胖胖的“快乐老精灵”，微微颔首，有着攀爬烟囱的超能力!他的诗使现在熟知的圣诞老人形象家喻户晓——圣诞节前夜驾着8只会飞的驯鹿拉的小雪橇在房顶上飞来飞去，给该得到礼物的孩子们送礼物。1881年，政治漫画家Thomas Nast针对这首诗画了一幅漫画创作出了第一个和现代圣诞老人形象相似的人物。他把圣诞老人画成了一个长着白色大胡子的矮胖的快乐男人，拿着一个装满送给幸运孩子的玩具的袋子。

1 monk   

n.和尚，僧侣，修道士

参考例句：

• The man was a monk from Emei Mountain.那人是峨眉山下来的和尚。
• Buddhist monk sat with folded palms.和尚合掌打坐。

2 piety   

n.虔诚，虔敬

参考例句：

• They were drawn to the church not by piety but by curiosity.他们去教堂不是出于虔诚而是出于好奇。
• Experience makes us see an enormous difference between piety and goodness.经验使我们看到虔诚与善意之间有着巨大的区别。

3 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

4 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

5 clement   

adj.仁慈的；温和的

参考例句：

• A clement judge reduced his sentence.一位仁慈的法官为他减了刑。
• The planet's history contains many less stable and clement eras than the holocene.地球的历史包含着许多不如全新世稳定与温和的地质时期。

6 ascend   

vi.渐渐上升，升高；vt.攀登，登上

参考例句：

• We watched the airplane ascend higher and higher.我们看着飞机逐渐升高。
• We ascend in the order of time and of development.我们按时间和发展顺序向上溯。

7 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

8 likeness   

n.相像，相似（之处）

参考例句：

• I think the painter has produced a very true likeness.我认为这位画家画得非常逼真。
• She treasured the painted likeness of her son.她珍藏她儿子的画像。

9 depicted   

描绘，描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 )； 描述

参考例句：

• Other animals were depicted on the periphery of the group. 其他动物在群像的外围加以修饰。
• They depicted the thrilling situation to us in great detail. 他们向我们详细地描述了那激动人心的场面。

10 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。