圣诞老人

圣诞老人

It is said that in the year of 300 AD, there was a kind old man and his

name was Saint Nicholas. He was always ready to help the poor and

often gave presents to them.

Today, Father Christmas is an imaginary figure, but nearly all young

children believe in him. They think he is a happy old man with a long

white beard and a long red robe.

On the night of the twenty-fourth of December every year, Father

Christmas from some cold northern land comes down the chimney of the

fireplace to put presents by the beds of children or to fill their stockings.

So when children go to bed that night, they hang up their stockings, and

on Christmas morning they wake to find them full of presents. Of course,

it's really their parents who fill the stockings.

Another name for Father Christmas is Santa Claus.

In many countries Christmas is one of the most important festival of the year

Father Christmas brings presents to all good children on Christmas Father

Christmas is called Saint Nichols too He always wearing a warm red coat He

puts the presents in our shoes,but no children have seen him,It`s very strange

Father Christmas is an old fat man with long and white beard

and wears a red suit.

He then fills the stockings with Christmas

presents. But who is Father Christmas? Can a man

really climb down the chimney of every house in

the world in a single night? Of course not.

然后他往长统袜里装圣诞礼物。

但是谁是圣诞老人呢？一个人

真的能在一个晚上爬下世界上

每户人家的烟囱吗？当然不能。

The excitement begins for children on Christmas Eve,

when they hang up their stockings( an old sock, or

more ambitiously, pillowcases) around the fireplace

or at the foot of the bed for Father Christmas to fill

with presents.

对儿童来说，欢乐始于圣诞

前夕，届时他们把袜子（只

旧袜子，或者更热切的，一

个枕头套）在壁炉周围或床

脚给圣诞老人装礼物。

Host: Good morning. Today, I am going to interview someone who

knows a lot about Father Christmas.

Steve Smith is the owner of a toy shop. Now, Steve, I wond

er if you could quickly summarize who Father Christmas is

and what he does.

Steve: Well, the character Father Christmas has been around for hundre

ds of years, and he is known to many children around the world

as the person who brings them Christmas presents. He is often d

escribed as a happy, fat man with long white hair and a long wh

ite beard and moustache, dressed in a red suit with a black belt

and black boots. However, he hasn’t always dressed like that. A f

amous advertisement used a picture of him wearing red in ninetee

n thirty-one, but before that, he was usually drawn wearing green.

Host: Father Christmas comes to visit us at Christmas time, but where d

oes he spend the rest of the years?

Steve: Well, he is said to live near the North Pole with his wife and lots of little creatures called elves. The elves are his friends. They hel

p make toys. He also has twelve reindeer that help him deliver th

e presents on Christmas Eve.

Host: When I was a child, I used to write to Father Christmas, so that he would know what I wanted.

Steve: Many children do that several months before Christmas. They writ

e to tell what presents they would like for Christmas. One o

f the

traditions in the UK is for children to take the list of presents t

hey want and put it in the chimney.

Host: What happens after that, on Christmas Eve?

Steve: According to stories, on Christmas Eve, Father Christmas puts all of the presents onto his sled and flies across the sky with his tw

elve reindeer. Once Father Christmas arrives at a house, he goes

down the chimney and places presents for the children in stocking

s or in front of the family Christmas tree. Some people hang the

stockings by their beds, but most people hang them by the firepla

ce. Many people say that Father Christmas likes to eat mince pies,

so they always leave some out for him to eat. Many people also

leave a carrot out for the reindeer.

Host: I didn’t know that! I’ll have to remember that in the future. Now we have time for one more question. Do you know where the id

ea for Father Christmas came from?

Steve: There is a connection between Father Christmas and ST Nicholas, who was a saint from hundreds of years ago. You can find more

about ST Nicholas on the Internet.

Host: Steve, thanks for talking to us today. I suggest that anyone who wants to find out more about Father Christmas should look on the

Internet. There are many sites and there is much information abo

ut

The legend of Saint Nicholas

History tells us that 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 tells about that he acquired a fortune when his parents died while he was still in his teens. By nature St.Nicholas was a generous and honest man, particularly devoted to children. He also cared deeply for the poor. He brought various gifts, money and other useful items to the houses of the poor. He did this at night, and in secrecy, so that no one knew, as he wanted no glory, he just wanted to help people. He became widely known for his generosity.

There is one famous legend about Saint Nicholas. The story tells of Nicholas hearing one day of three beautiful sisters who lived in a miserable hut on the edge of Myra. The three sisters were very poor. They could barely earn enough to keep themselves and their old mother from starving to death. When Nicholas heard of their plight, he was very concerned. He decided to do something to help them.

One night, when everyone was asleep, Nicholas crept through the streets to the edge of town. Quietly, he tiptoed up to the hut where the three sisters lived. He climbed onto the roof and dropped three bags of gold through the hole in the roof where the smoke from the fire came out. Now it so happened that the three sisters has washed their stockings before they went to bed. The stockings has been hung by the fire to dry. When Nicholas dropped the gold through the smoke hole, each bag of gold fell into a stocking.

The three sisters were overjoyed to find three 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 hope of finding bags of gold when they woke up in the morning. From this legend sprang the custom of hanging stockings up by the chimney on Christmas Eve. Over the years, Saint Nicholas became associated with Christmas.

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 to claims that he could perform miracles and devotion to him increased. St. Nicholas became the patron saint of Russia, where he was famous for his red 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 the patron of children and travelers. The Dutch kept the legend of St. Nicholas alive. In 16th century Holland, Dutch children would place their wooden shoes by the hearth in hopes that they would be filled with a treat and goodies.

Santa Claus myth

Children in countries around the world await a visit from a mysterious bringer of gifts at Christmas time. He is Santa Claus.

Conventionally, Santa Claus is portrayed as a kindly, round-bellied, merry, bespectacled old man in a red suit trimmed with white fur, with a long white beard.

On Christmas Eve, he rides in his flying sleigh lifted by reindeers from house to house to give presents to children. In most countries, it is said that he lives near the North Pole. He comes into houses down the chimney at midnight and places presents for the children in socks or bags by their beds or in front of the family Christmas tree.

圣尼古拉的传说

据史料记载，圣诞老人的原型是公元4世纪的圣尼古拉，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。

有一个关于圣尼古拉的著名传说，讲的是有一天，尼古拉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。

一天夜里，当大家都入睡后，尼古拉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。

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，人们就把圣尼古拉与圣诞节联系在了一起。

圣尼古拉在约公元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，从而大大提升了圣尼古拉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。圣尼古拉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。

圣诞老人的神话

在圣诞节期间，世界各地的孩子们都会期盼一位神秘送礼者的到来，他就是圣诞老人。

通常，圣诞老人被描绘成一个亲切和善、大腹便便、兴高采烈、戴着眼镜的老人。他穿着一套装饰有白色皮毛的红衣服，胡子又白又长。

在圣诞夜，他会乘着驯鹿拉的雪橇从一幢房子飞到另一幢房子，给孩子们带来

礼物。在大多数国家里，人们认为他住在北极附近。午夜时分，他从烟囱上爬下来，进到屋里，把送给孩子们的礼物放到他们床边的袜子或袋子中，要么就放在家里的圣诞树前。