Words and Their Stories: Santa Claus
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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.
Santa Claus also has some other names: Saint Nicholas, St. Nick, Kris Kringle, Pelznickel.
Two of his names -- Santa Claus and Saint Nicholas -- both come from the Dutch who settled in New York long ago.
The Dutch believed Saint Nikolaas gave gifts to children. They honored this kindly saint with a yearly festival on December sixth. 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 Christmas time.
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.
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.
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, Kris Kringle became another name for Santa Claus himself.
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.
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.
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.
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.
It is easy to find them by the long lines of children waiting to tell Santa what they want for Christmas.
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You have been listening to the VOA Special English program WORDS AND THEIR STORIES. Maurice Joyce was your narrator. I’m Shirley Griffith.
词语典故：圣诞老人
Santa Claus(圣诞老人)将永远留在孩子们的心中。圣诞老人是虚幻的人物，在圣诞节给孩子们带来玩具和其他礼物。对于成年人来说，他是亲善和无私的特殊象征。
Santa Claus还有几个其他名字：Saint Nicholas, St. Nick, Kris Kringle, Pelznickel.
其中两个名字——Santa Claus和Saint Nicholas都来自许多年前来纽约定居的荷兰人。
荷兰人相信Saint Nicholas给孩子们带来礼物。他们在一年一度的12月6日的节日敬奉这位伟大的圣人。居住在附近的讲英语的人非常喜欢荷兰人的节日。他们把圣诞老人和送礼物的习俗带到了自己的圣诞节中。
荷兰人说“Saint Nikolaas”这个名字的时候语速非常快，听上去像是"Sinterklaas." 所以，在英语中说这个词的时候，听上去像是Santa Claus。
在纽约西部的宾夕法尼亚，许多德国农民也听说了圣诞老人，但是他们叫做Pelznickel。这个词语来自“pelz”，意思是皮毛，和“nickel”，意思是Nicholas(尼古拉斯)。所以，对于宾夕法尼亚的德国人来说，Saint Nicholas或者Pelznickel是一个穿着毛皮服饰的人，每年来一次，给好孩子分发礼物。
很快，人们开始感觉，Pelznickel带来的爱和善意应该在他们庆祝Christkindl时体现出来。Christkindl在德语中叫做Christ child。经过一段时间之后，逐渐演变成Kris Kringle。随后，Kris Kringle也成为圣诞老人的另外一个名字。
无论他被叫做什么名字，他仍然是那个矮矮胖胖，留着长胡子，穿着红色外套，白色毛皮的快乐的老人。
我们看到的这张圣诞老人画像来自Thomas Nast。他是一名美国油画家，出生在巴伐利亚。他为一些圣诞诗歌创作了这些画像。有人建议他画一幅圣诞老人的画像。
Nast孩提时代居住在德国南部。每个圣诞节，一位胖胖的老人给孩子们分发玩具和蛋糕。所以，Nast画这幅画像的时候，他的圣诞老人看上去就是他童年时代那位善良的老人。多年来，Nast创作的画像仍然是最受欢迎的圣诞老人画像。
圣诞节期间，圣诞老人在美国的大城市里随处可见。一些人站在街道拐角处讨钱，为那些贫困者购买食物和礼物。其他圣诞老人在商场或购物中心。
圣诞老人很容易找到：很多孩子排长队告诉圣诞老人他们想要的圣诞礼物。
圣诞老人以一位神秘人物带给小孩子们礼物的概念衍生自圣尼古拉。尼古拉是一位生活在4世纪小亚细亚的好心主教，荷兰人在圣尼古拉斯节（12月6日）便会模仿他送礼物。
在北美洲，荷兰和英国殖民者把这一传统融入圣诞节日的庆祝里，荷兰语的圣尼古拉（Sinterklaas）传进英语成为Santa Claus也就相应的.成为圣诞老人的人物了。在英籍美国人的传统中，圣诞老人总是快活的在圣诞前夜乘着驯鹿拉的雪橇到来，他从烟囱爬进屋内，留下给孩子们的礼物，并吃掉孩子们为他留下的食物。他在一年中的其他时间里，都是忙于制作礼物和监督孩子们的行为。
圣尼古拉 法国与圣诞老人类似的形象是Père Noel，他和圣诞老人几乎完全一样，其红白相间的衣服曾经使可口可乐公司获得灵感，在1930年代画出了传遍世界的圣诞老人形象。在一些文化中，圣诞老人身旁跟随着Knecht Ruprecht，或是称作“黑彼得”（荷文：Zwarte Piet）的家伙。一些版本中，玩具作坊里的侏儒制作了节日礼物，有时圣诞老人与圣诞夫人是夫妻。圣诞节期间，在美国的很多超市里，都有小孩可以向其要礼物的圣诞老人出现。
在冰岛的传说中，圣诞老人并不只一位，而是共有九位圣诞老人，各有不同的性格，有的调皮活泼，有的慈祥温柔。
Thomas Nast 笔下的 Santa Claus 1863年1月3日，由 Harper's Weekly发行。在许多国家里，圣诞节前夕，孩子们会准备好空的容器，以便圣诞老人可以装进一些小礼物，如玩具、糖果或水果。在美国， 孩子们圣诞夜会在壁炉上悬挂圣诞袜，因为圣诞老人说过要在圣诞前夜从烟囱下来把礼物放到袜子里。在其他国家，孩子们把空鞋放到户外，以便圣诞老人可以在圣诞夜（或圣尼古拉斯节前夕的12月5日）送礼。
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