Santa Claus is someone who will remain in the hearts of children forever. He is the make-believe person who brings toys and other gifts to children at Christmas.
圣诞老人必将永存于每个孩子的心底。他其实是个虚构的人物，会在圣诞节给孩子们带去玩具和各种礼物。
To grown-ups, he is a special symbol of goodwill and selfless giving. Santa Claus also has some other names: Saint Nicholas, St. Nick, Kris Kringle, Pelznickel.
对于那些成年人来说，圣诞老人是善意与无私付出的象征。圣诞老人也有几个别名：圣·尼古拉斯、圣·尼克、奇斯·克林格和皮尔斯尼克。
Two of his names -- Santa Claus and Saint Nicholas -- both come from the Dutch who settled in New York long ago. The Dutch believed Saint Nicholas gave gifts to children. They honored this kindly saint with a yearly festival on December 6th.
其中两个别名，圣诞老人和圣·尼古拉斯，来自于很久以前来纽约定居的荷兰人。他们相信圣·尼古拉斯带给孩子们礼物，并在每年的12月6日举办庆典纪念这位圣人。
The English-speaking people who lived nearby greatly enjoyed Dutch festivals. And they brought the saint and the custom of giving gifts into their own celebration at Christmas time. The Dutch spoke the name "Saint Nikolaas" very fast. It sounded like "sinterklaas." And so, when the English said this word, it sounded like Santa Claus.
住在附近的美国人也非常喜爱这个荷兰的庆典。他们把圣诞老人以及互赠礼物的习俗融入自己的圣诞节庆典中。荷兰人说“圣·尼古拉斯（Saint Nikolaas）”这个名字时的速度非常快，听上去就像“圣尼可莱（Sinterklaas）”。此外，如果是用英语读的话，听上去就非常像“圣诞老人（Santa Claus）”。
West of New York, in Pennsylvania, many German farmers had also heard of Saint Nicholas. But they called him Pelznickel. This word came from "pelz," meaning fur, and "nickel" for Nicholas. And so, to the Germans of Pennsylvania, Saint Nicholas or Pelznickel was a man dressed in fur who came once a year with gifts for good children.
许多住在纽约西边的宾夕法尼亚州的德国农民也都知道圣·尼古拉斯。但他们称之为皮尔斯尼克。这个词是由单词“pelz”（意为皮毛）和单词“nickel（尼克）”，即尼古拉斯，所构成。因此，对于那些住在宾夕法尼亚州的德国人来说，圣·尼古拉斯或者称为皮尔斯尼克的是一个身着皮大衣，每年会给乖孩子们发礼物的男人。
Soon, people began to feel that the love and kindness Pelznickel brought should be part of a celebration honoring the Christkindl, as the Germans called the Christ child. After a time, this became Kris Kringle. Later, Kris Kringle became another name for Santa Claus himself.
不久，人们便认为应该把皮尔斯尼克给予的爱和仁慈融入纪念幼年耶稣（Christkindl，德国人称之为Christ child，即“上帝之子”）的庆典当中。光阴荏苒，这个称谓又演变为克里斯∙克林格尔。随后，克里斯∙克林格尔成为了圣诞老人的另一个名字。
Whatever he is called, he is still the same short, fat, jolly old man with a long beard, wearing a red suit with white fur.
无论人们如何称呼圣诞老人，他仍旧是那个矮墩墩、胖乎乎的快乐老人，留着长长地胡子，穿着有白色皮毛的红衣服。
The picture of Santa Claus as we see him came from Thomas Nast. He was an American painter born in Bavaria. He painted pictures for Christmas poems.
我们现在所见的圣诞老人画像是由托马斯∙纳斯特创作的。他是一位出生于巴伐利亚的美籍画家，为圣诞诗歌作画。
Someone asked him to paint a picture of Santa Claus. Nast remembered when he was a little boy in southern Germany. Every Christmas, a fat old man gave toys and cakes to the children. So, when Nast painted the picture, his Santa Claus looked like the kindly old man of his childhood.
有人要求他画一幅圣诞老人的画像。纳斯特记起他在德国南部的童年时代，每逢圣诞节，都有一个胖胖的老人赠送给孩子们玩具和点心。因此，在纳斯特的画作中，圣诞老人就像是他童年时代那个善良的老人。
And through the years, Nast's painting has remained as the most popular picture of Santa Claus.
光阴流转，纳斯特所创作的圣诞老人仍旧是最受欢迎的。
Santa can be seen almost everywhere in large American cities during the Christmas season. Some stand on street corners asking for money to buy food and gifts for the needy. Others are found in stores and shopping centers.
在圣诞季，美国大城市几乎到处可见圣诞老人。有些站在街头的角落里，索要金钱为穷人买食品和礼物；有些则在商店和购物中心。
It is easy to find them by the long lines of children waiting to tell Santa what they want for Christmas.
找到他们不难，因为总有一长队的孩子等着告诉圣诞老人他们的心愿。
