神祕聖誕老人：幫窮人付清玩具賬單

The US has a new Christmas tradition. Wealthy secret Santas are popping up across the country and paying off toyshop bills to spread festive cheer and help struggling families.
最近美國新增了一項聖誕傳統，社會富裕人士正僞裝成神祕的聖誕老人，在城市的大街小巷四處遊走，爲那些生活窘迫的家庭付清玩具店的賬單，好讓大家都能度過一個快樂的聖誕節。

Mystery donors have called at three branches of Toys R Us in the north-eastern state of Massachusetts to pay off layaway accounts - plans that allow customers to spread the cost of Christmas over several weeks.
這些神祕的慈善家已經要求位於馬薩諸塞州東北部的玩具反斗城的三家分店清空所有預付賬戶，這些都是已經預付定金，但需要在聖誕節前後分期付款才能還清的賬戶。

In the biggest windfall, a visitor described by staff as a "bubbly older woman" hugged the manager at a store in Bellingham, south-west of Boston, and then went through each layaway account paying them off - at a cost of more than $20,000.
在這筆意外之財席捲全美之際，有一名被店員稱爲“活潑的老婦人”的老人在波士頓西南部的貝靈漢分店擁抱了店經理，隨後花了2萬多美元付清了店裏所有的預付賬單。

"If you have it, give it," said the anonymous woman, according to The Milford Daily News.
“你擁有了就應該付出。”這位未透露姓名的老太太對記者說。

One employee said the woman told her that she would "sleep better at night" knowing all the bills had been settled.
老太太還曾跟一名店員說，知道這些賬單都付清了，自己晚上會“睡得更安穩”。

Days later another store reported a similar episode. This time the bill was $19,600 to close 125 accounts.
幾天之後類似一幕在另一家商店重演，這次是付清了將近125筆賬單，價值19600美元的匿名捐贈。

Shops around the country have reported an increasing number of "layaway angels" in recent years.
近幾年來，類似的“聖誕天使”事例在美國的各大商店屢見不鮮，而且越來越多。

A spokeswoman for Toys R Us said: "It's what the holiday are all about."
玩具反斗城的一名女性代言人說：“這纔是這個節日存在的意義。”

A customer whose tab was paid this week described her delight to The Daily News when she received a phone call telling her a stranger had paid her bill and she could collect the toys she had chosen for her sons.
一名受贈的顧客對記者說自己接到電話說有陌生人爲自己買單，她可以去店裏頭領取給兒子買的聖誕玩具的時候高興得不行。

"I almost wanted to cry," she said. "It was only $50, but to me that's a lot of money, and that someone would go and do that gave me chills."
“我都快哭了。”這位顧客說，“雖然這只是50美元，但對我來說是不小的數目，有人就這麼幫我付清了賬單，我簡直太激動了。”

Customers usually have 90 days to pay the bills and then collect the toys. However, Toys R US sets deadlines before Christmas, making the payments particularly timely.
一般來說這些付了定金的顧客要在90天內付清餘款，然後才能拿到這些玩具，不過玩具反斗城把付清餘款的最後期限定在聖誕節之前，所以這次捐贈活動對於那些經濟窘迫的顧客來說非常及時。

And celebrities have also got in on the act, with a string of American Football stars paying off families' holiday bills.
社會名人也紛紛響應了這次活動，美國一些足球明星也陸續出面爲這些家庭的節日禮物買單。