英語美文：聖誕老人

Christmas celebrates the birth of Christ, the Nativity of the babe in the manger whom Christians believe was the Son of God. Indeed, the very word Christmas means Christ festival .

聖誕節是慶祝基督 這名被基督徒視為上帝之子的嬰兒在馬槽裏的誕生。的確， 聖誕節 這個詞的意思就是 基督的慶典竹。

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.

然而，可能有許多人會有點疑惑，為什麼聖誕節的代表人物是聖誕老人，而不是耶穌呢?事實上，這樣説也不為過：在世界上許多地方，聖誕老人要比以其名字來命名該節日的基督還要出名。

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.

但是，那個穿着一套可口可樂紅白顏色衣服的胖子是怎麼成為聖誕節的'象徵的呢?事實上，跟聖誕節本身的故事一樣，聖人尼古拉的故事，也是集歷史、神話和傳説於一身。

According to tradition, he was born in Asia Minor in about A.D. 270. When young, he traveled to Palestine and Egypt. Not long afterward, he became a bishop.