圣诞老人的历史 The history of Santa Claus

Children all over the world look forward to Christmas, when Santa Claus will put on his red suit, hitch his magical flying reindeer to his sleigh and bring treats and toys to good girls and boys - but where did the story of Santa come from?

全世界的孩子们都很期待圣诞节，圣诞老人会穿上他的红衣服，把他那神奇的会飞的驯鹿套在雪橇上，把欢乐和玩具带给听话的孩子们——但是圣诞老人的故事从何而来呢？

The history of Santa Claus begins more than a thousand years ago, in what is now Turkey, with a man named Nikolaos of Myra, now called Saint Nicholas.

故事要追溯到一千多年前，在现在的土耳其，米拉有一个人叫尼古拉斯，也就是现在的圣·尼古拉斯。

He was born in the year 270 AD, the son of wealthy parents.

他出生于公元270年，家境富裕。

His parents died when he was young, and he inherited their money.

他幼时父母就去世了，所以他继承了全部的家产。

Saint Nicholas was very religious, and became a Christian Bishop.

圣·尼古拉斯很虔诚，后来便成为了一名神父。

Because he was kind as well as rich, he gained a reputation for helping the poor as well as secretly giving gifts to people who needed them.

因为他善良又富有，他就帮助穷人，并且给他们偷偷送礼物，因此他很有声望。

One famous story about Saint Nicholas is the story of how he helped a poor man and his three daughters.

有关他最著名的故事是他帮助了一位穷人和他的三个女儿。

The man was so poor that his daughters did not have enough money to get married.

这个人太穷了，以至于他的女儿没有钱出嫁。

One night, Saint Nicholas threw a small bag of gold through the window into the poor man's house.

一天晚上，圣·尼古拉斯把一小袋金子从窗户丢进了这个穷人的家里。

The next night he threw another bag of gold through the window.

第二天晚上，他又丢了一袋金子。

The third night, the poor man decided to wait by the window to see who was leaving the gold, and so Saint Nicholas dropped it down the chimney instead.

第三天晚上，穷人决定在窗边等待，想看看是谁把金子丢进来的，所以圣尼古拉斯就从烟囱把金子丢进来了。

The bag landed in the stocking of one of the girls, who had hung it by the fire to dry.

金子则掉在其中一个女孩晾在火炉上的长袜里。

With the gold from Saint Nicholas, they had enough money to get married.

有了他送的金子，女孩们有钱出嫁了。

Throughout the middle ages, children were given gifts in honor of Saint Nicholas.

到了中世纪，为了纪念圣尼古拉斯，孩子们都在收到礼物。

This was usually done the night before December 6th, which was the day that he had died.

这些礼物通常是在12月6日的前夜收到的，也就是尼古拉斯去世的那一天。

In the 16th century, Protestant reformer Martin Luther suggested moving the date that gifts were given were given from December 6th to Christmas, to help bring more focus to Jesus Christ, but Saint Nicholas didn't get left behind.

在十六世纪，新教改革者马丁·路德建议把收礼物的日子从12月6日挪到圣诞节，让大家更关注耶稣，也用来铭记尼古拉斯。

In England, he became Father Christmas.

在英国，他被称为圣诞之父。

In Denmark, Sinterklaas.

在丹麦，他被称为Sinterklaas。

In Austria and Germany he became a helper to Christkindl, or the Christ child, who began to be the bringer of gifts.

在奥地利和德国，他帮助Christkindl也就是上帝之子派送礼物。

When European colonists began to settle the new world they brought all of these characters - as well as pre-Christian legends and mythology - with them, and they all began to mix together.

当欧洲殖民者在新大陆定居时，他们把所有这些人物都带来了，也带来了基督教之前的传说和神话，并且把它们融合在一起。

Sinterklaas became Santa Claus, Christkindl became Kris Kringle, and people started trying to figure out exactly how this new story went.

Sinterklaas变成了 anta Claus，Christkindl 变成了Kris Kringle，人们开始试图弄清楚这个故事的来源。

In 1823, Clement C. Moore, a poet from New York, published the poem 'A Visit from St. Nicholas', now better known as 'The Night Before Christmas'.

在1823年，一位纽约的诗人可莱蒙特·摩尔发表了一首名为《圣尼古来访》的诗，也就是现在的《圣诞前夜》。

In the poem, Moore wrote that Santa drove a sleigh pulled by eight reindeer, landed on the roof, and filled stockings with presents.

在这首诗里，摩尔写道圣诞老人坐的雪橇上，由八头驯鹿拉着，落在屋顶上，在长袜里塞满礼物。

Moore's Santa was dressed in fur, but nothing was said about what color it was, and he was described as a little elf.

摩尔笔下的圣诞老人穿着皮毛大衣，但是没有写是什么颜色的衣服，他就像是一只小精灵一样。

More details of Santa's story can be credited to the German-born American cartoonist Thomas Nast.

出生在德国的美国漫画家托马斯·纳斯特把圣诞老人的故事画得更加详细。

Beginning in 1863 and over a period of 20 years, Nast created Christmas illustrations for the magazine Harper's Weekly.

1863 年和之后的 20 年里，他为《哈勃周刊》画了很多圣诞老人的插画。

He portrayed Santa as a grandfather-like person in a red suit.

他笔下的圣诞老人是一位穿着红衣服的老爷爷。

He also drew pictures showing that Santa lived at the North Pole, and of children mailing him letters.

在他的画里，圣诞老人住在北极，孩子们都会寄信给他。

By the time the 20th century began, Santa Claus looked very much like he does today, although his legend continues to evolve.

到了 20 世纪初，，尽管圣诞老人的传说在一直改变，但他的形象和现在就很相像了。

I hope you enjoyed learning about Santa Claus today!

希望你们喜欢今天的圣诞老人的故事。

Goodbye till next time!

下次再见啦！