圣诞老人的由来英文介绍(翻译)

2024年1月22日发(作者：孙觉)

圣诞老人的由来英文介绍（翻译）

the original santa claus, st. nicholas, was born in the ancient

southeastern turkish town of lycia early in the fourth century. his

generosity was legend, and he was particularly fond of children.

we know this primarily through roman accounts of his patronage

of youth, which eventually led to his becoming the patron saint

of children. throughout the middle ages, and well beyond, he was

referred to by many names none of them santa claus.

children today would not at all recognize the st. nick who

brought gifts to european children hundreds of years ago except

perhaps for his cascading white beard. he made his rounds in full

red-and-white bishop's robes, complete with twin peaked miter

and crooked crozier. he was pulled by no fleet footed reindeer,

but coaxed in indolent donkey. and he arrived not late on

christmas eve, but on his christian feast day, december 6. the gifts

he left beside the hearth were usually small: fruit, nuts, hard

candies, wood and clay figurines.

during the protestant reformation of the sixteenth century,

st. nicholas was banished from most european countries.

replacing him were more cular figures, who in general were not

at center stage at that point he dutch kept the st.

nicholas tradition alive. as the "protector of sailors," st. nicholas

graced the prow of the first dutch ship that arrived in america.

and the first church built in new york city was named after him.

the dutch brought with them to the new world two christmas

items that were quickly americanized.

in sixteenth century holland, children placed wooden shoes

by the hearth the night of st. nicholas's arrival. the shoes were

filled with straw, a meal for the saint's gift laden donkey. in return,

nicholas would inrt a small treat into each clog. in america, the

shoe was replaced with the stocking, hung by the chimney.

the dutch spelled st. nicholas "saint nikolass," which in the

new world became "sinterklass". later changed to "santa claus".

much of modern day santa claus lore, including the reindeer

drawn sleigh, originated in america. dr. clement clarke moore

compod "the night before christmas" in 1822, to read to his

children on christmas eve. the poem might have remained

privately in the moore family if a friend had not mailed a copy of

it (without authorial attribution) to a newspaper and became part

of the santa legend.

it was in america that santa put on weight. the rosy-cheeked,

roly-poly santa is credited to the influential nineteenth-century

cartoonist thomas nast. from 1863 until 1886, nast created a

ries of christmas drawings for harper's weekly. the drawings,

executed over twenty years, exhibit a gradual evolution in santa

from the pudgy, diminutive, elf-like creature of dr. moore's

immortal poem to the bearded, potbellied, life-size bell ringer

familiar on street corners across america today. nast's cartoons

also showed the world how santa spent his entire year

constructing toys, checking on children's behavior, reading their

requests for special gifts. his images were incorporated into the

santa lore.

santa is known throughout the world in many different

names, such as:

saint nikolaas (sinter klaas), from the dutch father christmas,

from the english kris kringle, from the germans befana, from the

italians bobouschka, from the russians (a grand motherly figure

instead of a male)

圣诞老人的传说在数千年前的斯堪的纳维亚半岛即出现。北欧神

话中司智慧，艺术，，战争的奥丁神，寒冬时节，骑上他那八脚马坐骑驰骋于天涯海角，惩恶扬善，分发礼物。与此同时，其子雷神着红衣以闪电为武器与冰雪诸神昏天黑地恶战一场，最终战胜寒冷。据异教传说，圣诞老人为奥丁神后裔。也有传说称圣诞老人由圣·尼古拉而来，所以圣诞老人也称as.因这些故事大多弘扬基督精神，其出处，故事情节大多被淡忘，然而圣诞老人却永驻人们精神世界。