On the 24th of December every year, children around the world put out milk and cookies in the hopes of luring a magic fat man into their home who will leave presents behind before sneaking into the house next door.

每年的12月24日，世界各地的孩子都會(huì)拿出牛奶及餅干，希望能吸引一名有魔法的胖男人來到他們家，并在偷偷潛入下一戶人家前留下禮物。

How did such an odd tradition begin?

這樣奇怪的傳統(tǒng)是如何開始的?

You can pretty much blame Northern Europe, where the winter weather is cold and dark and depressing. And the coldest and darkest and depressingest day is the Solstice on December 21st to 22nd when the sun only gives a few weak hours of light if any at all.

你幾乎可以歸咎于北歐，在這里冬天的氣候又冷、又暗、令人消沈。而最冷、最暗、最令人消沈的一天是12月21日到22日的冬至，這時(shí)即便有陽光，也只會(huì)帶來幾個(gè)小時(shí)的微弱光明。

These sun-deprived people invented magical characters to visit them and lighten the mood by bringing gifts and celebrations. These characters ranged from elves to Gods to goats, but there are two of particular interest to the modern story.

這些缺乏日光的人們創(chuàng)造出神秘的角色拜訪他們，并帶來禮物及慶典來放松他們的情緒。這些角色的范圍從精靈到神、到山羊都有，但對(duì)現(xiàn)代故事來說，其中有兩個(gè)特別重要。

The first is Saint Nick, in The Netherlands. Saint Nick is thin and perhaps a bit stern, but still brings presents to children in early December. He dresses like a bishop in red and white with a staff and rides on a horse named Amerigo, for whom Dutch children are encouraged to leave out a carrot. Saint Nick is called Sinterklaas in Dutch.

第一個(gè)是荷蘭的Saint Nick。Saint Nick很瘦，可能還有點(diǎn)嚴(yán)苛，但還是會(huì)在12月初帶禮物給孩子們。他穿著像主教一樣的紅白衣服，拿著權(quán)仗并騎著一匹名為Amerigo的馬，荷蘭的孩子們被鼓勵(lì)留給牠一支紅蘿卜。Saint Nick的荷蘭文叫做Sinterklaas。

The second character is Father Christmas from England. Father Christmas is a big, jolly pagan dressed in green with a holly wreath on his head. Traditionally he is less concerned with children and gifts than he is with food and wine and celebration and is perhaps best known for being one of the three spirits of Christmas who terrorize Scrooge.

第二個(gè)角色是從英國(guó)來的Father Christmas。Father Christmas是個(gè)身材魁梧、快樂的異教徒，穿著綠色衣服，頭戴冬青花環(huán)。傳統(tǒng)上，他跟孩子們及禮物的關(guān)系，還不及于他和食物、美酒和慶典的關(guān)系，而且也許他最出名的身分可能是三個(gè)圣誕節(jié)精靈之中，會(huì)恐嚇Scrooge(吝嗇鬼)的那一個(gè)。

When Europeans settled the colonies, Saint Nick and Father Christmas and the other characters began to mix together. This explains why the U.S. version has so many names.

當(dāng)歐洲人安頓好殖民地后，Saint Nick、Father Christmas及其他角色開始融合。這解釋了為什么美國(guó)的版本有這么多名字。

Santa Claus is the Americanization of Sinterklaas, but he’s also called Saint Nick and Father Christmas and Kris Kringle which comes from Germany. In the old world these were different characters, but in the new world over time they evolved into one which you can see happening in older stories.

圣誕老人是經(jīng)美國(guó)化的Sinterklaas，但他同樣也被稱為Saint Nick、Father Christmas還有從德國(guó)來的Kris Kringle。在舊世界(歐亞非大陸)這些是不同的角色，但在新世界(美洲大陸)，他們隨著時(shí)間合而為一，你可以在較古老的故事中目睹。

For example, the poem “The Night Before Christmas” came out in 1823 in New York, which established that Santa lands on the roof and fills stocking with toys. But this Santa is an elf, much like those from the Nordic Countries. He’s small and drives a miniature sleigh with tiny reindeer, which makes a lot more sense for someone whose job description includes fitting down chimneys. Also, the word “Santa” appears nowhere in the poem. The original title is “A visit from Saint Nick”.

舉例來說，「圣誕節(jié)前夕」這首詩是在1823年的紐約誕生的，它表明了圣誕老人會(huì)降落在屋頂上，并將襪子塞滿玩具。但這個(gè)圣誕老人是個(gè)精靈，很像那些從北歐國(guó)家來的。它身材短小，駕著小型雪橇和迷你馴鹿，這對(duì)于一個(gè)工作內(nèi)容包括鉆進(jìn)煙囪的人來說合理多了。同樣的，「Santa」這個(gè)字在詩里任何地方都沒有出現(xiàn)。原本的題目是「Saint Nick的探訪」。

As the 1800s continued, a fat, human looking immortal Santa evolved into the standard among American authors. It was in the States that he gained both his elvish workforce and a wife.

隨著十九世紀(jì)過去，一個(gè)胖胖的、人類模樣、長(zhǎng)生不老的圣誕老人發(fā)展成了美國(guó)作家間的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。他就是在美國(guó)得到了他的精靈工人以及妻子。

By about 1900, Santa had developed into his current iconic style. It should be noted that, contrary to popular belief, Coca-Cola didn’t change his colors to their corporate scheme, but instead used the conveniently red-and-white Santa in 1931 to help sell more soda during their off season. Though Coke didn’t create him, their omnipresent ads probably did brand this as the One True Santa in the minds of millions, helping spread him around the world to many cultures with no traditions of winter gift-givers.

在大約公元1900年時(shí)，圣誕老人發(fā)展成了現(xiàn)今的經(jīng)典形象。值得一提的是，與普遍的認(rèn)知相反，可口可樂并沒有將圣誕老人的顏色改成他們的公司企劃，而是便利地在1931年時(shí)使用紅白色的圣誕老人，幫助在淡季時(shí)賣出更多可樂。雖然可口可樂并沒有創(chuàng)造出他，但他們無所不在的廣告可能將這作為「唯一真正的圣誕老人」，銘刻在數(shù)百萬人的心中，幫助圣誕老人普及于世界上許多沒有冬季送禮傳統(tǒng)的文化。

This American Santa in turn influenced his relations in Northern Europe to become more like him, although not always to the pleasure of the locals. In particular, the British Father Christmas has been completely assimilated into the Santa collective, to the point where many Britons don’t realize they were ever separate. In the Netherlands, however, Saint Nick is still successfully holding his own as a distinct character.

這個(gè)美國(guó)版圣誕老人反過來影響了他在北歐的親戚們，讓他們變得更像他，雖然當(dāng)?shù)厝瞬⒎强偸菍?duì)此感到開心。特別是英國(guó)的Father Christmas已完全被圣誕老人系列給同化，以致于到了許多英國(guó)人并沒有意識(shí)到他們?cè)��?jīng)是不同的地步。然而，在荷蘭，Saint Nick還是成功地堅(jiān)持住自己與眾不同的特色。

The one last detail about modern Santa that’s still up for debate, at least between countries, is exactly where he lives. In the late 1800s, his home was the magnetic North

Pole, centered under the aurora borealis.

有關(guān)現(xiàn)代圣誕老人的最后一個(gè)細(xì)節(jié)是仍有爭(zhēng)議的，至少是在國(guó)家之間仍有爭(zhēng)議，就是他到底住在哪里。在十九世紀(jì)晚期，他的家在磁北極，以北極光底下為中心。

While this would be the most diplomatic option for Santa, Magnetic North has since moved off the Polar Ice Sheet and into the ocean — a rather inconvenient place to set up a toy factory.

盡管對(duì)圣誕老人來說，這是最圓融的選擇，但磁北極自此離開了極地冰原，進(jìn)入海洋之中–一個(gè)比較不方便設(shè)立玩具工廠的地方。

So Canada claims his workshop is somewhere in Nunavut and has given Santa a post code and — no joke — official Canadian citizenship. The American response is that the North Pole doesn’t refer to the obviously inhospitable sheet of non-domestic ice but rather to the little town of North Pole, Alaska. Denmark claims he lives in their former colony of Greenland. And Greenland, not surprisingly, agrees.

所以加拿大聲稱他的工作坊是在Nunavut某處，并提供圣誕老人一個(gè)郵政編碼，還有–沒在開玩笑–正式的加拿大公民身分。美方的響應(yīng)是，北極指的并不是明顯荒涼、不適宜居住的冰層，而是阿拉斯加的一個(gè)小鎮(zhèn)，North Pole鎮(zhèn)。丹麥聲稱他住在他們的前殖民地格陵蘭。而格陵蘭，不意外的，也同意這說法。

The Nordic countries quarrel about his exact location, but Finland is the clear winner of this argument with his workshop in Rovaniemi on the Arctic Circle. For the evidence inclined, you can actually go visit Santa and see the elves, toys, reindeer and post office, which makes Finland’s claim pretty strong. Santa is even available during the off-season.

北歐國(guó)家爭(zhēng)論他確切的所在地，但芬蘭這關(guān)于他的工作坊在北極圈的Rovaniemi市的說法，在這場(chǎng)爭(zhēng)執(zhí)中顯然是個(gè)贏家。為尋找有力證據(jù)，你可以實(shí)際上過去拜訪圣誕老人，并看看精靈、玩具、馴鹿和郵局，這些使得芬蘭的聲明相當(dāng)有力。甚至在圣誕節(jié)以外的季節(jié)也能看到圣誕老人。

But no matter where he might be based, Santa still manages to get around the world in just one night to deliver all those presents… and eat all those cookies.

但不管他可能以何處為基地，圣誕老人仍設(shè)法在僅僅一個(gè)晚上環(huán)游世界遞送所有禮物…并吃掉所有餅干。

[圣誕節(jié)的故事英文版]