最早的圣诞老人起源于400多年前的荷兰传说。后来，一个美国作家写了本畅销书，他描绘了一个叫圣-尼古拉斯的人，会在圣诞前夜带着礼物降临人间。再后来，一首圣诞诗又告诉了人们圣诞老人到来的前前后后……

Santa Claus has been called by several different names throughout the years. Traditions and legends of Santa Claus for the evolution of the modern-day Santa may have been based on the early Dutch legend of Sinterklaas, originating in the 1600's.

Santa Claus really started to get famous when American author Washington Irving published stories about Santa Claus, referring to him as Saint Nicholas who arrived on Christmas Eve bringing presents for children.

Santa Claus changed and became more famous when writer Clement¹ Clarke Moore wrote a poem in 1823 about a Christmas Eve visit from Saint Nicholas, better known as "The Night Before Christmas". Millions of children now could have a consistent description of Santa Claus and his eight flying reindeer².

American magazines picked up on the popularity of Santa Claus, and many different versions of Santa Claus were published over the next 50 years. Santa Claus even began to appear in advertisements for popular The most famous reindeer, red nosed Rudolph started to appear in the late 1930's.

重点词汇

reindeer  n. 驯鹿，圣诞鹿      　　　　Dutch  n. 荷兰
Rudolph  n. 鲁道夫（圣诞老人的红鼻头的圣诞鹿）
Santa Claus  n. 圣诞老人的名字