Santa Claus: The Man Behind the Myth 传说中的圣诞老人
- 详细资料
- 创建于 2003年12月24日
- 最后更新于 2024年5月25日
- 发布于 2011年6月13日
- 作者：Mike Lee
- 点击数：337
课文朗读
课文讲解
It is a cold, dark night in December. In living rooms around Europe, families are gathering and exchanging gifts across tables laden with specialty foods. Children are putting out stockings and shoes in anticipation of the imminent arrival of a bearded man dressed in red. When they wake the following morning, their footware will have been filled with delightful surprises. The date? Suprisingly, it is not December 24. It is the eve of December 6, also known as St. Nicholas’s Day.
12月一个寒冷黑暗的夜晚，在欧洲人家的客厅里，家人们团聚一堂享用桌上的应景美食并交换礼物。孩子们纷纷把袜子鞋子摆出来，期待着一位身着红衣留有胡子的人物光临。当他们隔天早上醒来时，那些鞋袜里会塞满令人心动的礼物。这日期是哪一天？并不是24日，很惊讶吧。这是12月6日的前夕，也被称做圣尼古拉斯节。
Saint Nicholas was an early Christian saint who lived in what is now Turkey. Born to a wealthy family around A.D. 3000, Nicholas moved to a monastery after both his parents died of the plague. Dedicating his life to the poor and needy, Nicholas gave away his entire inheritance to those who were suffering. Legend has it that he would drop money and food into stockings or shoes which the poor had left by the fire to dry.
圣尼古拉斯是住在土耳其的一位早期基督教圣人。约在公元300年左右出生于富裕的家庭，尼古拉斯在双亲因为瘟疫亡故后，搬到一所修道院去住。他奉献生命给贫穷与需要协助的人，并散尽家财给予受苦受难的人。传说他会摆放金钱与食物在穷人放在火炉旁烘晒的鞋袜里。
Foe his benevolence, especially towards children, Nicholas was canonized and his feast day became a highly celebrated event in the Christian calendar. Today, European children believe Nicholas and his white horse still bring gifts every year, symbolically continuing his acts of generosity long after his death.
由于尼古拉斯的仁慈，特别是对孩子们，他被封为圣人，而他的节日也成为基督教世界一个很值得庆贺的日子。如今，欧洲的小孩相信尼古拉斯和他的白马每年还是会送礼物来，在他死后象征性地继续行善。
Vocabulary
单词发音
lade [led] v. 装载
laden [ˋledn] adj. 装满的﹐满载的
specialty [ˋspɛʃəltɪ] n. 特产，名产
put out 摆出
imminent [ˋɪmənənt] adj. 即将发生的; 逼近的
footware [ˋfʊt͵wɛr] n. 鞋袜
eve [iv] n.（重大事件发生的）前一刻，前夕
monastery [ˋmɑnəs͵tɛrɪ] n.（男子的）修道院；僧院
plague [pleg] n. 瘟疫
needy [ˋnidɪ] adj. 缺食物[钱]的; 贫困的
inheritance [ɪnˋhɛrɪtəns] n. 继承的遗产
legend has it that 据传说…
benevolence [bəˋnɛvələns] n. 仁慈，善心，善意
canonize [ˋkænən͵aɪz] v. 将……封为圣徒
feast [fist] n.（宗教上的）祭日，节日
Sentence of the Day
Nick got through the Pearly Gates.
尼克上天堂了。
the Pearly Gates 天堂的大门
课文讲解
A man wearing a Santa suit has just asked Hannah and Lyle for a charitable donation: 一位圣诞老人装扮的男士向汉纳和莱尔请求慈善捐款：
L: Argh! I mean the old guy no disrespect, but I’m sick of being accosted by Santa everywhere I go.
呵！我无意对那位老先生不礼貌，不过我实在很厌烦到处都碰到圣诞老人来搭讪。
H: I know what you mean. Poor Santa’s image really gets sullied this time of year. He’s becoming little more than a hollow symbol of our rampant consumerism.
我懂你的意思。每年到了的这个时节可怜的圣诞老人名声便被作贱。他现在变成了只是过度发展的消费主义的空洞象征。
L: Becoming?! When was he ever anything more? I mean, the image of Santa we know today – red fur-trimmed suit, wide black belt, and all that – was created as an advertisement for Coca-Cola in the 1930s.
现在变成？！岂止现在，他从来也不代表什么。我意思是指现在的圣诞老人形象──穿着镶毛边的红衣服，扎黑色宽皮带，和其他所有东西──是在1930年代为了可口可乐广告而创造出来的。
H: True, but the same Santa Claus comes from Saint Nicholas, the Turkish saint who loved and protected children.
的确，不过圣诞老人这名字是来自一位爱护并保卫孩童的土耳其圣者：圣尼古拉斯。
L: But isn’t St. Nicholas’s Day in early December? How did Santa Claus become associated with Christmas?
但圣尼古拉斯节不是在12月初吗？圣诞老人与圣诞节怎么会扯上关系的呢？
H: During the Protestant Reformation, people felt that Saint Nicholas was too Catholic, so they created several new gift-givers for Christmas.
当清教徒进行宗教改革时，当时的人觉得圣尼古拉斯的天主教意味太重，所以他们为圣诞节创造出几位分送礼物的使者。
L: And early American settlers were mostly Protestant, so I guess it caught on from there. I suppose that Clement Moore poem – “The Night Before Christmas” – didn’t hurt either.
而早期的美国移民多半是清教徒，所以我猜从那时起就沿用下来了。我想克里门穆尔的诗 ──「耶诞前夕」── 并无伤大雅。
H: It’s actually called A Visit from St. Nicholas. But you’re right. That poem certainly helped etch the image of Santa as a jolly old elf into the modern consciousness.
其实它真正叫做「圣尼古拉斯的降临」。不过你是对的，那首诗确实有助于把圣诞老人淘气老好人的形象变得更有现代意识。
－by Francoise Raunet
Vocabulary
单词发音
disrespect [͵dɪsrɪˋspɛkt] n. 不敬；无礼；轻蔑
accost [əˋkɔst] v. 接近（不识者）与之攀谈
sully [ˋsʌlɪ] v.【正式或文】弄脏﹐ 玷污﹐ 破坏
little more than 和… 一样( 没有差别)
rampant [ˋræmpənt] adj. 猖獗的﹐ 肆虐的﹐ 失控的
consumerism [kənˋsjumərɪzm] n. 消费主义〔认为买卖商品是个人和社会最重要或最有益的活动的想法或信念〕
trim [trɪm] v. 点缀；装饰；(以…）镶边
Protestant [ˋprɑtɪstənt] n. 新教徒
reformation [͵rɛfɚˋmeʃən] n. 改革，革新
catch on 流行; 变得流行
etch [ɛtʃ] v. 深印；鲜明地描述
jolly [ˋdʒɑlɪ] adj. 快活的，高兴的
elf [ɛlf] n.（神话中）淘气的小鬼，小精灵
Sentence of the Day
Christmas can cost a pretty penny.
圣诞节的花费颇多。
a pretty penny 大量金钱