圣誕老人的由來傳說

　　圣誕老人的由來傳說

　　The origin of Santa Claus

　　History tells usthat 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 tellsabout that he acquired a fortune when his parents died while he was still in histeens. By nature St.Nicholas was a generous and honest man, particularlydevoted to children. He also cared deeply for the poor. He brought variousgifts, money and other useful items to the houses of the poor. He did this atnight, and in secrecy, so that no one knew, as he wanted no glory, he justwanted to help people. He became widely known for his generosity.

　　據史料記載，圣誕老人的原型是公元4世紀的圣尼古拉斯，他是米拉(位于今土耳其境內)的主教。有一種傳說認為在他十多歲的時候父母雙亡，給他留下一大筆財產。圣尼古拉生來就是個慷慨正直的人，尤其喜愛孩子，還很關心窮苦人，給窮人家里送去各種禮物、錢以及其他有用的物品。他一般都是在夜里秘密地做這些事，這樣就沒人知道，因為他并不想獲得什么贊頌，只是想幫助別人。很快，他就因自己的慷慨而廣為人知。

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

　　有一個關于圣尼古拉斯的著名傳說，講的是有一天，尼古拉斯聽說在米拉鎮邊界上一所簡陋的小屋里住著美麗的三姐妹。她們非常窮，賺錢很少，幾乎難以保證自己和老母親不被餓死。尼古拉聽說了三姐妹的悲慘境況后非常擔憂，決定幫助她們。

　　One night, when everyone was asleep, Nicholascrept through the streets to the edge of town. Quietly, he tiptoed up to thehut where the three sisters lived. He climbed onto the roof and dropped threebags of gold through the hole in the roof where the smoke from the fire cameout. Now it so happened that the three sisters has washed their stockingsbefore they went to bed. The stockings has been hung by the fire to dry. WhenNicholas dropped the gold through the smoke hole, each bag of gold fell into astocking.

　　一天夜里，當大家都入睡后，尼古拉斯躡手躡腳地穿街走巷，來到了小鎮邊界。他悄悄地踮起腳走到三姐妹住的小屋旁，爬上屋頂，把三袋金子順著房頂爐火冒煙的洞口扔了下去。而三姐妹上床前恰巧剛洗完自己的長襪，把它們掛在爐火旁烘干。就在尼古拉斯把金子透過煙囪扔下去時，每袋金子分別落入了一只襪子中。

　　The three sisters were overjoyed to findthree 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 hopeof finding bags of gold when they woke up in the morning. From this legendsprang the custom of hanging stockings up by the chimney on Christmas Eve. Overthe years, Saint Nicholas became associated with Christmas.

　　第二天一早，三姐妹醒來，發現她們的長襪里竟然有三袋金子，她們欣喜若狂。很快，這個故事便流傳開來。其他人也開始把襪子掛起來，希望第二天早上醒來也能發現一袋袋的金子。圣誕夜那天把襪子掛在煙囪旁的習俗就是由這個傳說而來。多年來，人們就把圣尼古拉斯與圣誕節聯系在了一起。

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

　　尼古拉斯在約公元350年去世后，被葬于米拉;但據稱在1087年，意大利水手們偷走了他的遺骨，轉運到了意大利的(東南部港市)巴里，從而大大提升了尼古拉斯在整個歐洲的知名度。他的善良、慷慨以及對孩子的喜愛都讓人們認為他會施魔法，人們更加熱愛他了。尼古拉斯成了俄羅斯人的守護神，在那里，他以身披紅斗篷，留著飄逸的白胡須，戴著主教法冠而聞名。在希臘，他是水手的守護神;在法國，他是律師的庇佑人;在比利時他則是孩子和旅行者的保護神。荷蘭人一直都傳頌著圣尼古拉的傳說。在16世紀的荷蘭，孩子們會把他們的木鞋放在壁爐邊，希望里面會裝滿禮物和糖果。