圣诞节英语故事带翻译：圣诞老人的故事

圣诞节英语故事带翻译：圣诞老人的故事

On the 24th of December every year, children around the world put out milk and cookies in the hopes of luring a magic fat man into their home who will leave presents behind before sneaking into the house next door.

每年的12月24日，世界各地的孩子都会拿出牛奶及饼干，希望能吸引一名有魔法的胖男人来到他们家，并在偷偷潜入下一户人家前留下礼物。

How did such an odd tradition begin?

这样奇怪的传统是如何开始的？

You can pretty much blame Northern Europe, where the winter weather is cold and dark and depressing. And the coldest and darkest and depressingest day is the Solstice on December 21st to 22nd when the sun only gives a few weak hours of light if any at all.

你几乎能够归咎于北欧，在这里冬天的气候又冷、又暗、令人消沈。而最冷、最暗、最令人消沈的一天是12月21日到22日的冬至，这时即便有阳光，也只会带来几个小时的微弱光明。

These sun-deprived people invented magical characters to visit them and lighten the mood by bringing gifts and celebrations. These characters ranged from elves to Gods to goats, but there are two of particular interest to the modern story.

这些缺乏日光的人们创造出神秘的角色拜访他们，并带来礼物及庆典来放松他们的情绪。这些角色的范围从精灵到神、到山羊都有，但对现代故事来说，其中有两个特别重要。

The first is Saint Nick, in The Netherlands. Saint Nick

is thin and perhaps a bit stern, but still brings presents to children in early December. He dresses like a bishop in red and white with a staff and rides on a horse named Amerigo,

for whom Dutch children are encouraged to leave out a carrot. Saint Nick is called Sinterklaas in Dutch.

第一个是荷兰的Saint Nick。Saint Nick很瘦，可能还有点严苛，但还是会在12月初带礼物给孩子们。他穿着像主教一样的红白衣服，

拿着权仗并骑着一匹名为Amerigo的马，荷兰的孩子们被鼓励留给牠

一支红萝卜。Saint Nick的荷兰文叫做Sinterklaas。

The second character is Father Christmas from England. Father Christmas is a big, jolly pagan dressed in green with

a holly wreath on his head. Traditionally he is less

concerned with children and gifts than he is with food and wine and celebration and is perhaps best known for being one

of the three spirits of Christmas who terrorize Scrooge.

第二个角色是从英国来的Father Christmas。Father Christmas

是个身材魁梧、快乐的异教徒，穿着绿色衣服，头戴冬青花环。传统上，他跟孩子们及礼物的关系，还不及于他和食物、美酒和庆典的关系，而且也许他最出名的身分可能是三个圣诞节精灵之中，会恐吓Scrooge（吝啬鬼）的那一个。

When Europeans settled the colonies, Saint Nick and

Father Christmas and the other characters began to mix together. This explains why the U.S. version has so many names.

当欧洲人安顿好殖民地后，Saint Nick、Father Christmas及其

他角色开始融合。这解释了为什么美国的版本有这么多名字。

Santa Claus is the Americanization of Sinterklaas, but he’s also called Saint Nick and Father Christmas and Kris Kringle which comes from Germany. In the old world these were different characters, but in the new world over time they evolved into one which you can see happening in older stories.

圣诞老人是经美国化的Sinterklaas，但他同样也被称为Saint Nick、Father Christmas还有从德国来的Kris Kringle。在旧世界（欧亚非大陆）这些是不同的角色，但在新世界（美洲大陆），他们

随着时间合而为一，你能够在较古老的故事中目睹。

For example, the poem “The Night Before Christmas” came out in 1823 in New York, which established that Santa lands on the roof and fills stocking with toys. But this Santa is

an elf, much like those from the Nordic Countries. He’s

small and drives a miniature sleigh with tiny reindeer, which makes a lot more sense for someone whose job description includes fitting down chimneys. Also, the word “Santa” appears nowhere in the poem. The original title is “A visit from Saint Nick”.

举例来说，「圣诞节前夕」这首诗是在1823年的纽约诞生的，它表明了圣诞老人会降落在屋顶上，并将袜子塞满玩具。但这个圣诞老

人是个精灵，很像那些从北欧国家来的。它身材短小，驾着小型雪橇

和迷你驯鹿，这对于一个工作内容包括钻进烟囱的人来说合理多了。

同样的，「Santa」这个字在诗里任何地方都没有出现。原本的题目是「Saint Nick的探访」。

As the 1800s continued, a fat, human looking immortal Santa evolved into the standard among American authors. It was in the States that he gained both his elvish workforce and a wife.