■圣诞节
Christmas Day
The name Christmas is short for “Christ’s Mass”. A Mass is a kind of Church service. Christmas is a religious festival. It is the day we celebrate as the birthday of Jesus. There are special Christmas services in Christian churches all over the world. But many of the festivities of Christmas do not have anything to do with religion. Exchanging gifts and sending Christmas cards are the modern ways of celebrating the Christmas in the world.
For some, that means digging out those old lights and ornaments out of the closet to hang on the Christmas tree. Although it is generally agreed that the Christmas tree in its current form came from Germany in the early 19th century, the tradition of decorating a tree to mark winter celebrations dates back hundreds of years to Roman times, when they used to decorate evergreen trees with small pieces of metal to celebrate Saturnalia.
In medieval times the “Paradise Play” was performed every year on 24 December. This depicted the creation of Man and the fall of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden and always included an evergreen hung with apples which represented the apple tree of temptation. In the late 16th century,
文化小课堂
圣诞节的英文原名Christmas是Christ’s Mass的缩写，意思是“基督的弥撒”。弥撒是一种教堂礼拜仪式，圣诞节则是一个宗教节日，我们在这一天庆祝耶稣的诞生。圣诞节到来之际，世界各地的基督教教会都会举行特殊的礼拜仪式。但是，现在的很多圣诞节欢庆活动已经和宗教毫无关系。直到近些年来，圣诞节交换礼物和送圣诞卡这两种大众庆祝方式才开始兴起。
对一些人而言，这意味着又要翻箱倒柜找出往年的装饰灯、装饰品，将它们挂到圣诞树上了。众所周知，现在这种圣诞树源自19世纪初的德国，但是，通过装饰树木作为冬季佳节来临的标志这一传统，却可以追溯到几百年前的古罗马时代。那时的人们就已经开始使用金属亮片装饰常青树，以庆祝农神节的到来了。
中世纪时期，每年的12月24日都会上演一出《天堂剧》。这出剧主要描绘的是人类创造之初以及亚当、夏娃从伊甸园堕入人间的故事，剧中常常出现一棵挂满苹果的常青树，象征着引诱他们堕落的苹果树。
Martin Luther（the founder of the Protestant religion）was the first to decorate an indoor tree with candles when he attempted to recreate the stars shining over a forest of evergreens. The first mention of decorated trees being taken indoors came in 1605 in Germany—a country with a long Christmas tree history! The trees were initially decorated with fruit and sweets together with hand-made objects such as quilled snowflakes and stars. German Christmas Markets began to sell shaped gingerbreads and wax ornaments which people bought as souvenirs of the fair and took home to hang on their trees.
For many children, Christmas is the season of Santa Claus, that mysterious and jolly invader of chimneys, soaring through the sky on his magical sled, bearing gifts for the nice and coal for the naughty. Most people who celebrate Christmas are familiar with the figure of Santa Claus. However, few know the details of his origins or the fairly complex history of his development.
The figure of Santa Claus actually has many different origins and is derived from a variety of traditions. Elements from these different traditions became incorporated together with time and produced the Santa Claus that we know today. The primary inspiration for Santa Claus is the 4th century Christian bishop Saint Nicholas of Myra. Nicholas resided in the ancient Lycian town of Myra, located in Byzantine Anatolia. Having devoted his entire life to Christianity at a young age, Nicholas became known for his generous gifts to the poor. One famous story tells of how he presented three impoverished daughters of a faithful Christian with dowries so that they would not have to become prostitutes. Today, we continue to use Saint Nicholas（or Saint Nick）as a pseudonym for Santa Claus.
16世纪末，新教创始人马丁·路德是第一个用蜡烛装饰室内树木的人，而他当时的真正目的，只是想再现群星照耀万年青树林的一幕。1605年，德国人最先将装饰好的树木移到室内，而圣诞树在德国可是有着相当悠久的历史！圣诞树上的装饰物最初只有水果和糖果，以及用羽毛手工制作的雪花和星星。但慢慢地，德国的圣诞集市上开始出售形状各异的姜饼和蜡质饰品。人们把这些买回家挂在树上，当作赶集的纪念品。
对孩子们来说，圣诞节可是圣诞老人的大舞台，这个神神秘秘、乐乐呵呵、爱爬烟囱的老头，会驾着他那魔幻般的雪橇滑过天际，将礼物撒向乖孩子，而将煤球留给淘气鬼。大多数庆祝圣诞节的人都很熟悉圣诞老人的形象，但圣诞老人的来历以及那错综复杂的发展史，几乎没几个人能说清楚。
事实上，圣诞老人的形象出处相当多，源自于许多不同的传统。随着时间的推移，不同传统中的文化元素逐渐融为一体，最终形成了我们今日熟悉的圣诞老人形象，其主要灵感来源于4世纪迈拉的基督教主教圣·尼古拉斯。迈拉是他的居住地，位于小亚细亚拜占庭的古利西亚小镇。他在很小的时候就是基督徒，毕生都献身于基督教事业，并因好善济施而出名。关于他有一个广为流传的故事：曾有一名虔诚的基督徒，膝下有3个穷得叮当响的女儿，在圣尼古拉斯的资助下，才得以置办嫁妆而不至于沦为娼妓。今天，人们继续使用圣·尼古拉斯（或简称圣·尼克）作为圣诞老人的别称。