海外文化:關於聖誕老人的神祕傳說

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 olas 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' 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'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.

據史料記載，聖誕老人的原型是公元4世紀的聖尼古拉斯，他是米拉(位於今土耳其境內)的主教。有一種傳說認爲在他十多歲的時候父母雙亡，給他留下一大筆財產。聖尼古拉生來就是個慷慨正直的人，尤其喜愛孩子，還很關心窮苦人，給窮人家裏送去各種禮物、錢以及其他有用的物品。他一般都是在夜裏祕密地做這些事，這樣就沒人知道，因爲他並不想獲得什麼讚頌，只是想幫助別人。很快，他就因自己的慷慨而廣爲人知。

有一個關於聖尼古拉斯的著名傳說，講的是有一天，尼古拉斯聽說在米拉鎮邊界上一所簡陋的小屋裏住着美麗的三姐妹。她們非常窮，賺錢很少，幾乎難以保證自己和老母親不被餓死。尼古拉聽說了三姐妹的悲慘境況後非常擔憂，決定幫助她們。

一天夜裏，當大家都入睡後，尼古拉斯躡手躡腳地穿街走巷，來到了小鎮邊界。他悄悄地踮起腳走到三姐妹住的小屋旁，爬上屋頂，把三袋金子順着房頂爐火冒煙的洞口扔了下去。而三姐妹上牀前恰巧剛洗完自己的長襪，把它們掛在爐火旁烘乾。就在尼古拉斯把金子透過煙囪扔下去時，每袋金子分別落入了一隻襪子中。

第二天一早，三姐妹醒來，發現她們的長襪裏竟然有三袋金子，她們欣喜若狂。很快，這個故事便流傳開來。其他人也開始把襪子掛起來，希望第二天早上醒來也能發現一袋袋的金子。聖誕夜那天把襪子掛在煙囪旁的習俗就是由這個傳說而來。多年來，人們就把聖尼古拉斯與聖誕節聯繫在了一起。

尼古拉斯在約公元350年去世後，被葬於米拉；但據稱在1087年，意大利水手們偷走了他的遺骨，轉運到了意大利的(東南部港市)巴里，從而大大提升了尼古拉斯在整個歐洲的知名度。他的善良、慷慨以及對孩子的喜愛都讓人們認爲他會施魔法，人們更加熱愛他了。尼古拉斯成了俄羅斯人的守護神，在那裏，他以身披紅斗篷，留着飄逸的白鬍須，戴着主教法冠而聞名。在希臘，他是水手的守護神；在法國，他是律師的庇佑人；在比利時他則是孩子和旅行者的保護神。荷蘭人一直都傳頌着聖尼古拉的傳說。在16世紀的荷蘭，孩子們會把他們的木鞋放在壁爐邊，希望裏面會裝滿禮物和糖果。