双语有声阅读:Celebrating Christmas: A Visit With Nichol

Celebrating Christmas: A Visit With Nicholas 圣诞老人，报上名来
Christmas celebrates the birth of Christ, the Nativity of the babe in the manger whom Christians¹ believe was the Son of God. Indeed, the very word Christmas means “Christ festival”.

Yet there can be little doubt that for many it is Santa Claus — not Jesus — who is the human face of Christmas. In fact, it is fair to say that in much of the world, Santa is better known than the Christ who gave his name to the holiday.

But how did the fat man in the Coca-Cola red-and-white suit become the symbol of Christmas? The truth is that like the Christmas story itself, the story of Saint Nicholas is a composite of history, myth, and legend.

According to tradition, he was born in Asia Minor² (modern-day Turkey) in about A.D. 270. When young, he traveled to Palestine and Egypt. Not long afterward³, he became a bishop⁴. During the Roman emperor Diocletian’s bloody⁵ persecution⁶ of Christians in 303, Nicholas was imprisoned⁷. However, when Constantine the Great became emperor in 306, he legalized Christianity and made it the official religion of the Roman Empire. Nicholas was freed.

The scribes tell us that Nicholas’s prayers and leadership during the great tribulation⁸ led many to become Christians. Nicholas continued to serve as bishop for many years. On December 6, 343, Nicholas the man died, and Saint Nicholas the legend was born.

During his lifetime, Nicholas’s reputation for generosity⁹ and kindness gave rise to stories of miracles he performed for the poor, the weak--and children. After his death, devotion to Nicholas extended to all parts of Europe. His feast day was celebrated¹⁰ on December 6, but his reputation as a gift-giver later became attached to the celebration of Christmas on December 25.

After the Reformation in the 16th century, Nicholas’s cult¹¹ disappeared in most Protestant countries of Europe. But his legend was united with old Nordic folktales of a magician who punished naughty children and rewarded good children with presents. In England, he became known as Father Christmas. But in Holland, Saint Nicholas’ name and reputation persisted as “sinterklaas”.

In the 17th century, Dutch colonists¹² took this tradition with them to America. Later, Sinterklaas was adopted by the English-speaking majority as “Santa Claus.” The resulting image of a “jolly old elf” driving a sleigh with “eight tiny reindeer” crystallized in the 19th century. That was when Clement¹³ Moore wrote the now-famous poem “A Visit From Saint Nick.” And the red-and-white suit? That was created by a Coca-Cola adman in the 1930s.

Although greatly commercialized, the modern Santa Claus still embodies8 Saint Nicholas’ generosity and love for children. And for some, he still points to the Nativity of the babe in the manger, and reminds us of the reason we celebrate Christmas.

圣诞节是庆祝基督——这名被基督徒视为上帝之子的婴儿在马槽里的诞生。的确，“圣诞节”这个词意思就是“基督的庆典”。然而，可能有许多人会有点疑惑，圣诞节的代表人物竟是圣诞老人，而不是耶稣。事实上，这样说也不为过：在世界上许多地方，圣诞老人要比赋予该节日名称的基督还更出名。

但是，那个穿着一套可口可乐红白颜色衣服的胖子是怎么成为圣诞节的象征的呢？事实上，跟圣诞节本身的故事一样，圣人尼古拉的故事，也是集历史、神话和传说于一身。

按照传统的说法，公元270年，尼古拉生于小亚细亚（现在的土耳其）。年轻时，他曾经到巴勒斯坦和埃及旅行。不久以后，他成为了一名主教。

公元303年，罗马皇帝戴克里先血腥迫害基督徒期间，尼古拉被捕入狱。然而，公元306年君士坦丁大帝登基称帝，他使基督教合法化，并使之成为罗马帝国的国教。尼古拉也获释放。

据史书记载，尼古拉在受难期间的祈祷和领导让很多人皈依成为基督教徒。（出狱后）尼古拉继续担任主教多年。公元343年12月6日，真人尼古拉去世，然而圣人尼可拉的传说诞生了。

尼古拉在世时慷慨仁慈的名声衍生出他为穷人、弱者和孩子创造奇迹的许多故事。尼古拉死后，人们对他的挚爱延伸到欧洲各地。节日仪式定在12月6日举行，但是他身为“赠礼者”的声望，后来却与12月25日圣诞节的庆典扯上了关系。

16世纪宗教改革运动以后，对尼古拉的膜拜便在多数欧洲新教国家销声匿迹了。但是有关他的传说却跟一个北欧民间故事结合了起来，故事中有位魔术师，他爱惩罚顽皮的孩子，并送礼物奖励好孩子。在英格兰，尼古拉成为家喻户晓的圣诞节之父。而在荷兰，圣人尼古拉的名声依旧以“Sinterklaas”的名字流传。17世纪，荷兰的殖民者将这个传统带到美洲。后来，“Sinterklaas”为多数说英语的人民所采用，并改成了“Santa Claus”。他最后的形象──“快乐的老矮人”驾着“八只小驯鹿”拉的雪橇──是在19世纪开始变得明确具体起来的。摩尔(Clement Moore)就在那时写了《圣人尼克的来访》这首闻名至今的诗。还有那件红白套装呢？那是在20世纪30年代，可口可乐公司的广告商创造出来的。

尽管现代的圣诞老人已经被高度商业化，他仍旧表现了圣人尼古拉的宽大胸怀和对孩子们的爱。对某些人来说，他仍然象征着马槽里圣婴的诞生，并让我们想起庆祝圣诞节的缘由
 

1 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

2 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

3 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

4 bishop   

n.主教，（国际象棋）象

参考例句：

• He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
• Two years after his death the bishop was canonised.主教逝世两年后被正式封为圣者。

5 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

6 persecution   

n. 迫害,烦扰

参考例句：

• He had fled from France at the time of the persecution. 他在大迫害时期逃离了法国。
• Their persecution only serves to arouse the opposition of the people. 他们的迫害只激起人民对他们的反抗。

7 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

8 tribulation   

n.苦难，灾难

参考例句：

• Even in our awful tribulation we were quite optimistic.即使在极端痛苦时，我们仍十分乐观。
• I hate the tribulation,I commiserate the sorrow brought by tribulation.我厌恶别人深重的苦难，怜悯苦难带来的悲哀。

9 generosity   

n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为

参考例句：

• We should match their generosity with our own.我们应该像他们一样慷慨大方。
• We adore them for their generosity.我们钦佩他们的慷慨。

10 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

11 cult   

n.异教，邪教；时尚，狂热的崇拜

参考例句：

• Her books aren't bestsellers,but they have a certain cult following.她的书算不上畅销书，但有一定的崇拜者。
• The cult of sun worship is probably the most primitive one.太阳崇拜仪式或许是最为原始的一种。

12 colonists   

n.殖民地开拓者，移民，殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Colonists from Europe populated many parts of the Americas. 欧洲的殖民者移居到了美洲的许多地方。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some of the early colonists were cruel to the native population. 有些早期移居殖民地的人对当地居民很残忍。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 clement   

adj.仁慈的；温和的

参考例句：

• A clement judge reduced his sentence.一位仁慈的法官为他减了刑。
• The planet's history contains many less stable and clement eras than the holocene.地球的历史包含着许多不如全新世稳定与温和的地质时期。