VOA慢速英語: 他是圣誕老人、圣尼古拉斯、克里斯·克林格還是佩爾茲尼克爾？

他是圣誕老人、圣尼古拉斯、克里斯·克林格還是佩爾茲尼克爾？

Santa Claus gestures toward first lady Michelle Obama, at Children's National Medical Center in Washington

Now, the VOA Special English program Words and Their Stories.

這里是美國之音慢速英語詞匯掌故。

Santa Claus is someone who will remain in the hearts of children forever. He is the make-believe person who brings toys and other gifts to children at Christmas. To grown-ups, he is a special symbol of good will and selfless giving.

圣誕老人永遠(yuǎn)存在在孩子的心中。在圣誕節(jié)，他會給孩子帶來各種各樣的禮物。而對于成年人來講，圣誕老人只是個美好愿望的象征以及無私的給予。

Santa Claus also has some other names: Saint Nicholas, St. Nick, KrisKringle, Pelznickel.

圣誕老人還有別的名字：圣尼古拉斯、圣尼克、克里斯·克林格、佩爾茲尼克爾。

Two of his names -- Santa Claus and Saint Nicholas -- both come from the Dutch who settled in New York long ago.

其中兩個名字——圣克勞斯（Santa Claus）和圣尼古拉斯都是來自很久以前居住在紐約的荷蘭人的名字。

The Dutch believed Saint Nikolaas gave gifts to children. They honored this kindly saint with a yearly festival on December 6th. The English-speaking people who lived nearby greatly enjoyed Dutch festivals. And they brought the saint and the custom of giving gifts into their own celebration at Christmastime.

荷蘭人認(rèn)為圣尼古拉斯給孩子們送禮物。他們在每年的十二月6號紀(jì)念這位好心的人。而住在附近的講英語的人非常喜歡荷蘭的這個節(jié)日。他們把圣誕老人和送禮物的習(xí)俗融入到他們的圣誕慶?；顒又?。

The Dutch spoke the name “Saint Nikolaas” very fast. It sounded like “Sinterklaas.” And so, when the English said this word, it sounded like Santa Claus.

荷蘭人講“圣尼古拉斯”這個名字時，語速很快。聽起來就像“圣特克拉斯”，而到英語中，聽起來就像Santa Claus了。

West of New York, in Pennsylvania, many German farmers had also heard of Saint Nikolaas. But they called him Pelznickel. This word came from “pelz,” meaning fur, and “nickel” for Nicholas. And so, to the Germans of Pennsylvania, Saint Nicholas or Pelznickel was a man dressed in fur who came once a year with gifts for good children.

賓夕法尼亞州的紐約的西部，很多德國農(nóng)民都聽說過圣尼古拉斯（Saint Nikolaas）。但是他們稱之為佩爾茲尼克爾（Pelznickel），這個詞語來自“pelz”的意思是皮毛，“nickel”來自尼可拉斯（Nicholas）。因此，對于賓西法尼亞州的德國人來講，圣尼古拉斯或者佩爾茲尼克爾是每年穿著毛皮來給孩子送禮物。

Soon, people began to feel that the love and kindness Pelznickel brought should be part of a celebration honoring the Christkindl, as the Germans called the Christ child. After a time, this became “Kris Kringle.” Later, KrisKringle became another name for Santa Claus himself.

很快，人們開始感覺到佩爾茲尼克爾的愛和善良，這應(yīng)該成為紀(jì)念Christkind慶祝活動的一部分。過了一段時間，Christkindl變成克里斯·克鈴格（“Kris Kringle”），后來這個名字成為圣誕老人的另一個稱謂。

Whatever he is called, he is still the same short, fat, jolly old man with a long beard, wearing a red suit with white fur.

不管他叫什么，圣誕老人仍然是一個矮矮的、胖胖的、有喜感的老人，留著白胡須，穿著一件帶白毛的紅色外套。

The picture of Santa Claus, as we see him, came from Thomas Nast. He was an American painter born in Bavaria. He painted pictures for Christmas poems. Someone asked him to paint a picture of Santa Claus.

我們看到的圣誕老人的形象來自托馬斯·那斯特的作品。他是一位出生于巴伐利亞的美國畫家。他為圣誕詩歌作畫，有人請他畫圣誕老人的畫像。

Nast remembered when he was a little boy in southern Germany. Every Christmas, a fat old man gave toys and cakes to the children. So, when Nast painted the picture, his Santa Claus looked like the kindly old man of his childhood. And through the years, Nast’s painting has remained as the most popular picture Of Santa Claus.

那斯特記得，當(dāng)他小時候還在德國南部時，梅格圣誕節(jié)都會有一個胖胖的老人給孩子們發(fā)禮物和蛋糕。因此，那斯特畫畫的時候，他畫的圣誕老人就是記憶中小時候看到的那個圣誕老人的形象。經(jīng)過很多年，那斯特畫的圣誕老人像仍然是最受歡迎的。

Santa can be seen almost everywhere in large American cities during the Christmas season. Some stand on street corners asking for money to buy food and gifts for the needy. Others are found in stores and shopping centers.

在圣誕節(jié)期間，幾乎在美國大城市的任何地方都能看到圣誕老人。有些圣誕老人站在街角為需要的食物和禮物的人要錢，而有些圣誕老人在商店和購物中心。

It is easy to find them by the long lines of children waiting to tell Santa what they want for Christmas.

通過孩子們排的很長的隊伍，很容易找到圣誕老人，孩子們告訴圣誕老人他們圣誕節(jié)想要什么禮物。

You have been listening to the VOA Special English program Words and Their Stories.

現(xiàn)在你聽到的是美國之音慢速英語的詞語掌故。

Maurice Joyce was your narrator.

莫里斯·喬伊斯為你講述。

I’m Shirley Griffith.

我是雪莉·格雷夫斯。