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，這時即便有陽光，也只會帶來幾個小時的微弱光明。

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，但對現代故事來說，其中有兩個特別重要。

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.
第一個是荷蘭的Saint Nick。Saint Nick很瘦，可能還有點嚴苛，但還是會在12月初帶禮物給孩子們。他穿著像主教一樣的紅白衣服，拿著權仗并騎著一匹名為Amerigo的馬，荷蘭的孩子們被鼓勵留給牠一支紅蘿卜。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.
第二個角色是從英國來的Father Christmas。Father Christmas是個身材魁梧、快樂的異教徒，穿著綠色衣服，頭戴冬青花環。傳統上，他跟孩子們及禮物的關系，還不及于他和食物、美酒和慶典的關系，而且也許他最出名的身分可能是三個圣誕節精靈之中，會恐嚇Scrooge（吝嗇鬼）的那一個。

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.
圣誕老人是經美國化的Sinterklaas，但他同樣也被稱為Saint Nick、Father Christmas還有從德國來的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，「圣誕節前夕」這首詩是在1823年的紐約誕生的，它表明了圣誕老人會降落在屋頂上，并將襪子塞滿玩具。但這個圣誕老人是個精靈，很像那些從北歐國家來的。它身材短小，駕著小型雪橇和迷你馴鹿，這對于一個工作內容包括鉆進煙囪的人來說合理多了。同樣的，「Santa」這個字在詩里任何地方都沒有出現。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.
隨著十九世紀過去，一個胖胖的、人類模樣、長生不老的圣誕老人發展成了美國作家間的標準。他就是在美國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，圣誕老人發展成了現今的經典形象。值得一提的是，與普遍的認知相反，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年時使用紅白色的圣誕老人，幫助在淡季時賣出更多可樂。雖然可口可樂并沒有創造出他，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.
這個美國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，雖然當地人并非總是對此感到開心。特別是英國的Father Christmas已完全被圣誕老人系列給同化，以致于到了許多英國人并沒有意識到他們曾經是不同的地步。然而，在荷蘭，Saint Nick還是成功地堅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.
有關現代圣誕老人的最后一個細節是仍有爭議的，至少是在國家之間仍有爭議，就是他到底住在哪里。在十九世紀晚期，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，進入海洋之中–一個比較不方便設立玩具工廠的地方。

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小鎮，North Pole鎮。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.
北歐國家爭論他確切的所在地，但芬蘭這關于他的工作坊在北極圈的Rovaniemi市的說法，在這場爭執中顯然是個贏家。為尋找有力證據，你可以實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有力。甚至在圣誕節以外的季節也能看到圣誕老人。

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，圣誕老人仍設法在僅僅一個晚上環游世界遞送所有禮物…并吃掉所有餅干。
 

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