Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.doc

Dear Editor:

I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, "If you see it in The Sun, it's so." Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?

Signed Virginia O'Hanlon

The answer as published in the New York Sun was:

Virginia, your little friends are wrong.

They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The external light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies. You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

这是美国新闻史上最有名的一篇杜论。虽然距今已有一百多年了，但是，每当圣诞节来临，在美国各地的报纸、杂志，总要重新刊登一次。

记者先生：
我8岁。
我的朋友里边，有的小孩说“圣诞老人是没有的”。
我问爸爸，爸爸说，“去问《太阳报》看，报社说有，那就真的有了。”
因此，拜托了，请告诉我，圣诞老人真的有吗?
帕吉尼娅，欧汉劳恩纽约市西95街115号。

帕吉尼娅，让我们来回答你的问题。
你的朋友说没有圣诞老人，那是错的。
在那个孩子的心中，肯定是染上了现时流行的什么都怀疑的习性。
什么都怀疑的人，只相信眼睛看得见的东西。
什么都怀疑的人，是心地狭窄的人。因为心地狭窄，不懂的东西就很多。虽然那样，还断定自己不懂的事情都是谎话。
不过，人的心这个东西，大人也好，小孩也好，本来是非常小的啊。
在我们居住的这个无限广阔的宇宙里，我们人的智慧，就像一条小虫那样，是的，就像蚂蚁一样小。
要想推测广阔的，深奥的世界，就需要能够理解所有事物、了解所有事物巨大的、深邃的智慧。
是的，帕吉尼娅，圣诞老人是有的，这绝不是谎话。在这个世界上，如同有爱、有同情心、有诚实一样，圣诞老人也确确实实是有的。
你大概也懂得吧，正是充满这个世界的爱、诚实，才使你的生活变得美好了，快乐了。
假如没有圣诞老人，这个世界该是多么黑暗，多么寂寞!
就像没有你这样可爱的孩子，世界不可想象一样，没有圣诞老人的世界，也是不可想象的。
没有圣诞老人来减轻我们痛苦的孩子般的信赖、诗、爱情故事，也许全都没有了。我们人类能体味得到的喜悦，大概只剩下眼睛能看到的、手能摸到的、身体能感觉到的东西了。并且，儿童时代充满世界的光明，说不定也会全都消失了。
怎么说没有圣诞老人呢?
不相信有圣诞老人，和不相信有妖精是一样的。
试试看，诞圣节前夜，让爸爸给你雇一个侦探，让他监视一下全纽约的烟囱怎么样?也许能抓住圣诞老人噢！
但是，即使看不到从烟囱里出来的圣诞老人的身影，那能证明什么呢?
没有人看见圣诞老人。可是，那不能证明没有圣诞老人。
因为，这个世界上最真实的东西，是孩子的眼睛、大人的眼睛都看不见的东西。
帕吉尼娅，你看到过妖精在草地上跳舞吗?肯定没有吧。虽然如此，也不能说妖精是胡编的瞎话。
这个世界上某些看不见的东西，不能看到的东西，绝不是人们在头脑中创造出来的，想象出来的。
我们能分解婴儿的哗啷棒，看它的声音是怎样出来的，里面是怎样组装的；但是，眼睛看不见那遮盖着世界的大幕，不管有多大力气的人，不，即使全世界的大力士一起上，也是拉不开的。
只有信赖、想象力、诗、爱、爱情，才能在某一个时刻，把它拉开，看到大幕后面的、无法形容的、美好的、闪闪发光的东西。
那样美好、闪光的东西，难道是人们编造的瞎话吗?
不，帕吉尼娅，那么确实，那么永恒的东西，就存在于这个世界之上。
说没有圣诞老人?
哪儿的话!让我们高兴的是，圣诞老人的确存在。不止如此，他大概永远不会死亡。
一千年以后，一百万年以后，圣诞老人也会同现在一样，让孩子们的心高兴起来。”

The Origins of Santa Claus
圣诞老人的来历

As winter rolls around again this year and the days become chillier, millions of people around the world will break out their winter coats and look forward with anticipation to the approaching holiday season. That's right, Christmas is upon us again. For some, that means digging out those old lights and ornaments out of the closet to hang on the Christmas tree. For others, it means frantic days of gift-shopping at the mall. For many children, Christmas is the season of Santa Claus, that mysterious and jolly invader of chimneys, soaring through the sky on his magical sled, bearing gifts for the nice and coal for the naughty.
Most people who celebrate Christmas are familiar with the figure of Santa Claus. However, few know the details of his origins or the fairly complex history of his development. Who is Santa Claus, and where did he come from? In this month's Profile, Bilingual Time takes the time to briefly explore the background of this holiday icon.
当冬天的脚步渐行渐近之时，天气也越来越冷，全球各地的数百万人都会将冬衣准备好并期待假期的来临。没错，圣诞节来了！对一些人而言，这意味着要将橱柜里往年的装饰灯具和装饰品倒腾出来挂在圣诞树上了。对另外一些人而言，这意味着要在商厦里疯狂地选购礼物了。但对一些孩子来说，圣诞节是那个神秘又开心、会爬烟囱、在他魔幻般的雪橇上从天空呼啸而过并给乖孩子送礼物向调皮鬼扔煤球的老人——圣诞老人的节日。大多数庆祝圣诞的人对圣诞老人都很熟悉。但是，几乎没有人知道他的起源及其复杂的发展史。谁是圣诞老人？他从哪来？本月的《人物》就来为你揭开这名节日偶像的神秘面纱。

The figure of Santa Claus actually has many different origins and is derived from a variety of traditions. Elements from these different traditions became incorporated together with time and produced the Santa Claus that we know today. The primary inspiration for Santa Claus is the 4th century Christian bishop Saint Nicholas of Myra. Nicholas resided in the ancient Lycian town of Myra, located in Byzantine Anatolia. Having devoted his entire life to Christianity at a young age, Nicholas became known for his generous gifts to the poor. One famous story tells of how he presented three impoverished daughters of a faithful Christian with dowries so that they would not have to become prostitutes. Today, we continue to use Saint Nicholas (or Saint Nick) as a pseudonym for Santa Claus.
事实上，圣诞老人这个形象起源多样，来自不同的传统。而这些来自不同传统的因素随着时间的流逝逐渐融合，最终形成了我们今天所熟悉的圣诞老人。最初的圣诞老人形象源自4世纪的迈拉基督主教——圣?尼克拉斯，他居住在小亚细亚拜占庭的古利西亚小镇迈拉。他在年轻的时候就将自己的一生都献给了基督教并因慷慨地为贫弱之人捐献礼物而闻名。其中一个有名的故事讲述了他是如何资助3名虔诚而又贫弱无助的基督徒，为她们置办嫁妆而让她们不至于沦落为妓女的事情。今天，我们仍然使用圣?尼克拉斯（或者圣?尼克）作为圣诞老人的别称。

Elements of Santa Claus folklore are also derived from Germanic traditions. In Proto-Germanic mythology, the god Odin would host a great hunting party for the gods and fallen warriors each year at Yule. It was an old tradition for children to fill their boots with carrots, straw, or sugar and place them near the chimney for Odin's flying horse, Sleipnir, to eat. Odin would then replace Sleipnir's food with gifts or candy to reward those children for their kindness. These practices survived after Germany's Christianization (also Belgium and the Netherlands) and the practice became associated with Saint Nicholas. Today, children continue to place stockings or socks near the chimney for Santa to place gifts in.
圣诞老人民间传说的因素还来自于德国的传统。在德国古老的神话中，欧丁神会在圣诞节那天为众神和死去的勇士举办盛大的狩猎狂欢会。所以对于孩子来说，这是个古老的传统，他们会在自己的靴子里塞满胡萝卜、稻草或者糖块并将靴子放在烟囱的附近，以便让欧丁奔驰的骏马斯雷皮涅来吃。欧丁会把麋鹿的食物换成礼物或者糖果，作为好心孩子的回报。这些习惯在德国（还有比利时和荷兰）被基督化后保留了下来并和圣?尼克拉斯联系起来。今天，孩子们仍然将长袜或者短袜放在烟囱的附近，以便圣诞老人放礼物进去。

In the Netherlands, Saint Nicholas is also known by the shortened form of his name Sinterklass. The popular North American form Santa Claus is actually a mispronunciation of the Dutch form. Parallels in the lore of Santa's helpers can also be traced to stories told in the Netherlands about a young Ethiopian slave boy named Peter. According to the story, Saint Nicholas freed Peter from a Myra market, and the boy was so thankful he decided to stay with Nicholas as a helper. In Dutch, Nicholas's helper is known as Zwarte Piet (black Peter). Many have felt the name to contain racial connotations. Today, Zwarte Piet has become a modern servant who has a black face because he climbs through chimneys and gets soot all over him.
在荷兰，圣?尼克拉斯被简称为圣特克拉斯。北美普遍的称呼——Santa Claus事实上来自于荷兰发错音的Sinterklass。而谈到圣诞老人的助手，可追溯到荷兰的民间故事，那是有关一个叫做皮特的年少埃塞俄比亚奴隶男孩的故事：圣?尼克拉斯在迈拉的市场上给皮特赎身，皮特对此感激涕零，决定成为尼克拉斯的助手。在荷兰，尼克拉斯的助手被称为Zwarte Piet（黑皮特），很多人认为这个称呼包含种族方面的言外之意。今天，Zwarte Piet成为了现代的仆人，他因爬烟囱沾得满身烟灰，面色由此变黑。