VOA常速英语2016--“精灵义工”代圣诞老人回信（在线收听）

Welcome to Santa Claus, Indiana.

欢迎来到印第安纳州圣克劳斯。

Though the town may be 6,000 kilometers south of the North Pole, the residents are some of Santa’s best helpers.That’s because every year, they get nearly 25,000 letters for the jolly Old Elf and they answer every one of them.

虽然圣克劳斯小镇距北极约6000公里，但那儿的居民可谓是圣诞老人的得力帮手。每年，他们都会收到近25000封来信，并会一一做出回复，这些信件都是写给欢乐的圣诞老人的。

“From the earliest we know is that the postmaster started answering letters in 1914 that children wrote.”By 1930, the postmaster was overwhelmed.When head of Pat Koch’s father heard, he organized local veterans, the American Legion,area clergy and the high school typing classes into the first volunteer letter-writing elves.Pat started helping just a little over a decade later.

“据我们所知，最早有位邮局局长，他从1914年开始给孩子们写回信。”然而后来直到1930年，来信实在太多，这位邮局局长几乎被洪水般涌来的信件淹没了。当时，帕特.科赫的父亲的上司听说这件事后，就组织当地退伍老兵、美国退伍军人会、地区神职人员、高中打字班，从而成立了第一批回复信件的“精灵义工”，就在差不多十年后，帕特本人也成为了其中一员。

These days, the elves send out one of four form letters that bear positive messages about sharing,being good, and helping others.But they also include a personal note. “We never promise anything, and we never admonish anybody, we just encourage.”

近来，圣诞老人的精灵们每寄出四封信，其中就有一封信件内容较为正式，传达着正能量，鼓励人们学着分享，做个好人且帮助别人，但也会附上一张私人便条。“我们不会承诺任何事，也无意训诫任何人，我们只是想勉励人们。”

Letters arrive year round, but the bulk of them come in November and December. Chief Mail Elf Ed Rinehart believes there isn’t a country they haven’t heard from. And the U.S. Postal Service ensures that the letters get to Indiana no matter the address.

全年来信不断，但大部分都集中在11月份和12月份。邮差精灵主管艾德.莱因哈特表示，目前他们已经收到了世界上几乎所有国家的来信。虽然有些信件收信人地址填写不够准确，美国邮政服务仍在不断努力，以确保这些信件都能抵达印第安纳州。

“They come in the mail and that’s all they have on them --- ‘Santa’.Some of them say ‘Santa, North Pole’.Some of them say ‘the guy in the big red suit’.”Other times, letters arrive from small children without a stamp or just a sticker in the corner.

“他们将信件邮递过来，上面仅有‘圣诞老人’字样，有些人写‘圣诞老人，北极’，还有一些人写‘穿大红色衣服的伙计’。”有些时候，也会收到一些年龄较小的孩子们寄来的信，有的没贴邮票，有的在信封一角粘有贴纸。

While they try to answer every letter, the elves are saddened when no return address is included.Their research team tries to track the letters by post marked zip code, but sometimes even that’s not enough.So they encourage parents to always check for return addresses before letters are mailed.

“精灵义工们”尽力回复每一封来信，但有时他们会发现，有些来信并未填写寄信人地址，这使他们感到很可惜。他们的研究小组试图通过追踪信件的邮区编号字母查明寄信地址，但不总是能成功。因此，他们提倡邮寄信件前，父母帮助核实并确保寄信人地址填写完整。

This year, Hatchimals, iPhones, puppies, and ponies are all big requests from children.But there are plenty of requests from adults too.Young people in China ask to do well on exams or get into university.“We’ve had some adults that have asked for a diamond ring or a husband, we’ve had adults you know that ask for healing.”

今年，魔法宠物蛋、苹果手机、小狗、小马都是孩子们希望得到的大礼物。同时，也有很多成年人写下了他们的愿望，有些中国年轻人希望考试取得优异成绩或如愿考入大学。“有些成年人写道自己的圣诞愿望是得到一枚钻戒，有人希望觅得如意郎君，还有人祈求伤痛早日愈合。”

The elves of Santa Claus never dreamed their good deeds would get so much attention.Despite suggestions that people pay for the letters from Santa, they hold firm in their commitment to continue the service for free.“Everything that happens, happens because there are good people who care about the real Christmas spirit and the real meaning of Christmas.”

圣诞老人的精灵们从未想到他们的善举会得到如此广泛的关注。有人提议，从圣克劳斯给人们回寄信件的费用，应该由人们自行承担，但他们始终坚持并承诺将继续免费提供此项服务。“我们现今所做的一切，都是因为总是有好心人，他们真正懂得圣诞节精神以及其真谛。”