As winter rolls around again this year and the days become chillier¹, millions of people around the world will break out their winter coats and look forward with anticipation² to the approaching holiday season. That's right, Christmas is upon us again. For some, that means digging out those old lights and ornaments³ out of the closet to hang on the Christmas tree. For others, it means frantic⁴ days of gift-shopping at the mall. For many children, Christmas is the season of Santa Claus, that mysterious and jolly invader⁵ of chimneys, soaring through the sky on his magical sled, bearing gifts for the nice and coal for the naughty.
当冬天的脚步渐行渐近之时，天气也越来越冷，全球各地的数百万人都会将冬衣准备好并期待假期的来临。没错，圣诞节来了！对一些人而言，这意味着要将橱柜里往年的装饰灯具和装饰品倒腾出来挂在圣诞树上了。对另外一些人而言，这意味着要在商厦里疯狂地选购礼物了。但对一些孩子来说，圣诞节是那个神秘又开心、会爬烟囱、在他魔幻般的雪橇上从天空呼啸而过并给乖孩子送礼物向调皮鬼扔煤球的老人--圣诞老人的节日。

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.
大多数庆祝圣诞的人对圣诞老人都很熟悉。但是，几乎没有人知道他的起源及其复杂的发展史。

The figure of Santa Claus actually has many different origins and is derived⁶ 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 Christian⁷ bishop⁸ Saint Nicholas of Myra. Nicholas resided in the ancient Lycian town of Myra, located in Byzantine Anatolia. Having devoted⁹ 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 impoverished¹⁰ 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 pseudonym¹¹ for Santa Claus.
事实上，圣诞老人这个形象起源多样，来自不同的传统。而这些来自不同传统的因素随着时间的流逝逐渐融合，最终形成了我们今天所熟悉的圣诞老人。最初的圣诞老人形象源自4世纪的迈拉基督主教——圣·尼克拉斯，他居住在小亚细亚拜占庭的古利西亚小镇迈拉。他在年轻的时候就将自己的一生都献给了基督教并因慷慨地为贫弱之人捐献礼物而闻名。其中一个有名的故事讲述了他是如何资助3名虔诚而又贫弱无助的基督徒，为她们置办嫁妆而让她们不至于沦落为妓女的事情。今天，我们仍然使用圣·尼克拉斯（或者圣·尼克）作为圣诞老人的别称。

Elements of Santa Claus folklore¹² are also derived from Germanic traditions. In Proto-Germanic mythology¹⁴, the god Odin would host a great hunting party for the gods and fallen warriors¹⁵ each year at Yule. It was an old tradition for children to fill their boots with carrots, straw, or sugar and place them near the chimney for Odin's flying horse, Sleipnir, to eat. Odin would then replace Sleipnir's food with gifts or candy to reward those children for their kindness. These practices survived after Germany's Christianization (also Belgium and the Netherlands) and the practice became associated with Saint Nicholas. Today, children continue to place stockings or socks near the chimney for Santa to place gifts in.
圣诞老人民间传说的因素还来自于德国的传统。在德国古老的神话中，欧丁神会在圣诞节那天为众神和死去的勇士举办盛大的狩猎狂欢会。所以对于孩子来说，这是个古老的传统，他们会在自己的靴子里塞满胡萝卜、稻草或者糖块并将靴子放在烟囱的附近，以便让欧丁奔驰的骏马斯雷皮涅来吃。欧丁会把麋鹿的食物换成礼物或者糖果，作为好心孩子的回报。这些习惯在德国（还有比利时和荷兰）被基督化后保留了下来并和圣·尼克拉斯联系起来。今天，孩子们仍然将长袜或者短袜放在烟囱的附近，以便圣诞老人放礼物进去。

In the Netherlands, Saint Nicholas is also known by the shortened form of his name Sinterklass. The popular North American form Santa Claus is actually a mispronunciation of the Dutch form. Parallels in the lore¹³ of Santa's helpers can also be traced to stories told in the Netherlands about a young Ethiopian slave boy named Peter. According to the story, Saint Nicholas freed Peter from a Myra market, and the boy was so thankful he decided¹⁶ to stay with Nicholas as a helper. In Dutch, Nicholas's helper is known as Zwarte Piet (black Peter). Many have felt the name to contain racial connotations. Today, Zwarte Piet has become a modern servant who has a black face because he climbs through chimneys and gets soot¹⁷ all over him.
在荷兰，圣·尼克拉斯被简称为圣特克拉斯。北美普遍的称呼——Santa Claus事实上来自于荷兰发错音的Sinterklass。而谈到圣诞老人的助手，可追溯到荷兰的民间故事，那是有关一个叫做皮特的年少埃塞俄比亚奴隶男孩的故事：圣?尼克拉斯在迈拉的市场上给皮特赎身，皮特对此感激涕零，决定成为尼克拉斯的助手。在荷兰，尼克拉斯的助手被称为Zwarte Piet（黑皮特），很多人认为这个称呼包含种族方面的言外之意。今天，Zwarte Piet成为了现代的仆人，他因爬烟囱沾得满身烟灰，面色由此变黑。