【圣诞节来历】
christmas day-december 25-which celebrates the birth of jesus christ， the founder of the christian religion， is the biggest and best-loved holiday in the christian world.
according to the bible， the holy book of christians， god decided to allow his only son， jesus christ， to be born to a human mother and live on earth so that people could understand god better and learn to love god and each other more. "christmas"- meaning "celebration of christ "- honors the time when jesus was born to a young jewish woman mary.
mary was engaged to be married to joseph， a carpenter， but before they came together， she was found to be with child. because joseph， her husband， was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace， he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
but after he had considered this， an angel of the lord appeared to him in a dream and said， "do not be afraid to take mary home as your wife， because what is conceived in her is from the holy spirit. she will give birth to a son， and you are to give him the name jesus， because he will save his people from their sins."
although the exact date of the birth of jesus nearly 2，000 years ago is not known， the calendar on the supposed date divides all time into b.c. (before christ )and a.d. ( a latin phrase， anno domini， "in the year of our lord.") for the first 300 years， jesus#39; birthday was celebrated on different dates. finally， in the year 354， church leaders chose december 25 as his birthday.
参考译文
12月25日的圣诞节是庆祝基督教创始人耶稣基督生日的日子，是基督教世界最大的、人们最喜爱的节日。
据基督教徒的圣书《圣经》说，上帝决定让他的独生子耶稣基督投生人间，找个母亲，然后就在人间生活，以便人们能更好地了解上帝、学习热爱上帝和更好地相互热爱。“圣诞节”的意思是“庆祝基督”，庆祝一个年轻的犹太妇女玛丽娅生下耶稣的时刻。
玛丽娅已和木匠约瑟夫订婚。可是，在他们同居之前，约瑟夫发现玛丽娅已怀孕。因为约瑟夫是个正派的人，又不想把这件事说出去让她丢脸，所以他想悄悄地和她分手。
他正在考虑这事时，上帝的天使出现在他的梦中，对他说，“不要嘀咕了，把玛丽娅娶回家。她怀的孩子来自圣灵。她将生下个男孩子，你们给孩子起名叫耶稣，因为他将从罪恶中拯救人们。”
尽管耶稣的确切生日并不清楚，大约是在2000年前，但是日历按着假定日期把时间分为公元前(耶稣基督诞生前)和公元后(a.d. 是拉丁文缩写，意思是“有了我们主——耶稣的年代”)。在公元后的头三百年间，耶稣的生日是在不同的日子庆祝的。最后，在公元354年，教堂的领导人把 12月25日定为耶稣基督的生日。
【圣尼古拉的传说】
history tells us that the origin of santa claus begins in the 4th century with saint nicholas, bishop of myra (an area in present day turkey). one of the legends tells about that he acquired a fortune when his parents died while he was still in his teens. by nature st.nicholas was a generous and honest man, particularly devoted to children. he also cared deeply for the poor. he brought various gifts, money and other useful items to the houses of the poor. he did this at night, and in secrecy, so that no one knew, as he wanted no glory, he just wanted to help people. he became widely known for his generosity.
there is one famous legend about saint nicholas. the story tells of nicholas hearing one day of three beautiful sisters who lived in a miserable hut on the edge of myra. the three sisters were very poor. they could barely earn enough to keep themselves and their old mother from starving to death. when nicholas heard of their plight, he was very concerned. he decided to do something to help them.
one night, when everyone was asleep, nicholas crept through the streets to the edge of town. quietly, he tiptoed up to the hut where the three sisters lived. he climbed onto the roof and dropped three bags of gold through the hole in the roof where the smoke from the fire came out. now it so happened that the three sisters has washed their stockings before they went to bed. the stockings has been hung by the fire to dry. when nicholas dropped the gold through the smoke hole, each bag of gold fell into a stocking.
the three sisters were overjoyed to find three bags of gold in their stockings when they woke up the next morning. soon, the story began to spread. other people began to hang up stockings in the hope of finding bags of gold when they woke up in the morning. from this legend sprang the custom of hanging stockings up by the chimney on christmas eve. over the years, saint nicholas became associated with christmas.
after his death around 350 a.d. he was buried in myra, but in 1087 italian sailors purportedly stole his remains and removed them to bari, italy, greatly increasing st. nicholas#39; popularity throughout europe. his kindness and reputation for generosity and love for children gave rise to claims that he could perform miracles and devotion to him increased. st. nicholas became the patron saint of russia, where he was famous for his red cape, flowing white beard, and bishop#39;s mitre. in greece, he is the patron saint of sailors; in france he was the patron of lawyers, and in belgium the patron of children and travelers. the dutch kept the legend of st. nicholas alive. in 16th century holland, dutch children would place their wooden shoes by the hearth in hopes that they would be filled with a treat and goodies.
参考译文
据史料记载，圣诞老人的原型是公元4世纪的圣尼古拉，他是米拉(位于今土耳其境内)的主教。有一种传说认为在他十多岁的时候父母双亡，给他留下一大笔财产。圣尼古拉生来就是个慷慨正直的人，尤其喜爱孩子，还很关心穷苦人，给穷人家里送去各种礼物、钱以及其他有用的物品。他一般都是在夜里秘密地做这些事，这样就没人知道，因为他并不想获得什么赞颂，只是想帮助别人。很快，他就因自己的慷慨而广为人知。
有一个关于圣尼古拉的著名传说，讲的是有一天，尼古拉听说在米拉镇边界上一所简陋的小屋里住着美丽的三姐妹。她们非常穷，赚钱很少，几乎难以保证自己和老母亲不被饿死。尼古拉听说了三姐妹的悲惨境况后非常担忧，决定帮助她们。
一天夜里，当大家都入睡后，尼古拉蹑手蹑脚地穿街走巷，来到了小镇边界。他悄悄地踮起脚走到三姐妹住的小屋旁，爬上屋顶，把三袋金子顺着房顶炉火冒烟的洞口扔了下去。而三姐妹上床前恰巧刚洗完自己的长袜，把它们挂在炉火旁烘干。就在尼古拉把金子透过烟囱扔下去时，每袋金子分别落入了一只袜子中。
第二天一早，三姐妹醒来，发现她们的长袜里竟然有三袋金子，她们欣喜若狂。很快，这个故事便流传开来。其他人也开始把袜子挂起来，希望第二天早上醒来也能发现一袋袋的金子。圣诞夜那天把袜子挂在烟囱旁的习俗就是由这个传说而来。多年来，人们就把圣尼古拉与圣诞节联系在了一起。
圣尼古拉在约公元350年去世后，被葬于米拉;但据称在1087年，意大利水手们偷走了他的遗骨，转运到了意大利的(东南部港市)巴里，从而大大提升了圣尼古拉在整个欧洲的知名度。他的善良、慷慨以及对孩子的喜爱都让人们认为他会施魔法，人们更加热爱他了。圣尼古拉成了俄罗斯人的守护神，在那里，他以身披红斗篷，留着飘逸的白胡须，戴着主教法冠而闻名。在希腊，他是水手的守护神;在法国，他是律师的庇佑人;在比利时他则是孩子和旅行者的保护神。荷兰人一直都传颂着圣尼古拉的传说。在 16世纪的荷兰，孩子们会把他们的木鞋放在壁炉边，希望里面会装满礼物和糖果。
【圣诞老人的神话】
children in countries around the world await a visit from a mysterious bringer of gifts at christmas time. he is santa claus.
conventionally, santa claus is portrayed as a kindly, round-bellied, merry, bespectacled old man in a red suit trimmed with white fur, with a long white beard.
on christmas eve, he rides in his flying sleigh lifted by reindeers from house to house to give presents to children. in most countries, it is said that he lives near the north pole. he comes into houses down the chimney at midnight and places presents for the children in socks or bags by their beds or in front of the family christmas tree.
在圣诞节期间，世界各地的孩子们都会期盼一位神秘送礼者的到来，他就是圣诞老人。
通常，圣诞老人被描绘成一个亲切和善、大腹便便、兴高采烈、戴着眼镜的老人。他穿着一套装饰有白色皮毛的红衣服，胡子又白又长。
在圣诞夜，他会乘着驯鹿拉的雪橇从一幢房子飞到另一幢房子，给孩子们带来礼物。在大多数国家里，人们认为他住在北极附近。午夜时分，他从烟囱上爬下来，进到屋里，把送给孩子们的礼物放到他们床边的袜子或袋子中，要么就放在家里的圣诞树前。
【圣诞袜的传说】
there was a kindly nobleman whose wife had died of an illness leaving the nobleman and his three daughters in despair. after losing all his money in useless and bad inventions the family had to move into a peasant#39;s cottage， where the daughters did their own cooking， sewing and cleaning.
when it came time for the daughters to marry， the father became even more depressed as his daughters could not marry without dowries， money and property given to the new husband#39;s family.
one night after the daughters had washed out their clothing they hung their stockings over the fireplace to dry. that night saint nicholas， knowing the despair of the father， stopped by the nobleman#39;s house. looking in the window saint nicholas saw that the family had gone to bed. he also noticed the daughters stockings. inspiration struck saint nicholas and he took three small bags of gold from his pouch and threw them one by one down the chimney and they landed in the stockings.
the next morning when the daughters awoke they found their stockings contained enough gold for them to get married. the nobleman was able to see his three daughters marry and he lived a long and happy life.
children all over the world continue the tradition of hanging christmas stockings. in some countries children have similar customs， in france the children place their shoes by the fireplace， a tradition dating back to when children wore wooden peasant shoes.
参考译文
关于圣诞节在火炉边悬挂圣诞袜也有一个有趣的传说。很久很久以前有一个心地善良的贵族，他的妻子因病去逝，抛下他和他的三个女儿。这个贵族尝试了不少发明，都失败了，但也因此耗尽了钱财，所以他们不得不搬到一家农舍里生活，他的女儿们也只得亲自烧煮、缝纫和打扫。
一晃几年过去，女儿们陆续到了出嫁的年龄，父亲却变得更加沮丧，因为他没钱给女儿们买嫁妆。
一天晚上，女儿们洗完衣服后将长统袜挂在壁炉前烘干。圣人nicholas知道了她们父亲的境况后，就在那天晚上，来到她们的家门前。他从窗口看到一家人都已睡着了，同时也注意到了女孩们的长统袜。随即，他从口袋里掏出三小包黄金从烟囱上一个个投下去，刚好掉在女孩们的长统袜里。
第二天早上，女儿们醒来发现她们的长统袜里装满了金子，足够供她们买嫁妆了。这个贵族也因此能亲眼看到他的女儿们结婚，从此便过上了幸福快乐的生活。
后来，世界各地的孩子们都继承了悬挂圣诞袜的传统。有些国家的孩子则有其它类似的风俗，如在法国，孩子们将鞋子放在壁炉旁。