St. Nicholas 聖尼古拉斯節

The idea of Father Christmas, also known as Santa Claus or “Saint Nick,” derives from a historic figure. Saint Nicholas (270 – 343) was Bishop of Myra, a town in what is now Turkey. His legendary generosity and humble compassion led to his reputation as a gift-giver. 聖誕老人，或「聖尼克」，是由一個歷史人物而來。聖尼可拉斯（西元二七○～三四三年）是米拉城（今土耳其境內）主教。據傳他是個極為慷慨謙遜，且富有同情心的人，經常致贈禮物給人們。

The patron saint of sailors, merchants, repentant thieves and children, he is one of the most popular saints in the Greek and Latin churches, and is said to have been represented more frequently than any other saint except Mary by medieval artists. 他是水手、商人、懺悔的小偷和小孩的主保聖人，是東正教和拉丁天主教會最有人氣的聖人，據說他是除了聖母瑪利亞以外，被中世紀藝術家描繪最多的聖人。

One of the more enduring and common stories about his generosity was how he took pity on three girls of a poor family. With the parents unable to afford a dowry, the girls would have remained unmarried. At that time, this would have meant they would have to go into prostitution, or would be assumed to be prostitutes. According to the story, Saint Nicholas went to the house after dark and dropped three purses filled with gold coins through the window. 關於他的慷慨，有個流傳更久、更為人所熟知的故事。相傳他出於同情幫助了一個貧窮人家的三個女孩。女孩的父母因無力負擔嫁妝，導致她們一直未婚。這在當時，意味著她們將不得不去賣淫，或者被認為是妓女。這個故事說，聖尼古拉斯在天黑後到了那一戶人家，由窗口扔進了三個裝滿金幣的錢包。

There are many variants of the story. In one, Nicholas drops the purses down the chimney and they land in a stocking one of the daughters had left out to dry. 這個故事有很多種版本。其中一個是，尼古拉斯把錢包扔到煙囪底下，結果錢包掉在其中一個女兒在煙囪底下晾著的襪子裡。

With the Reformation, the tradition of worshiping saints disappeared in most Protestant countries. In the Netherlands, however, his legend continued as the figure of Sint-Nicolaas, or Sinterklaas, derived from the Dutch pronunciation of Saint Nicholas. This is where the name Santa Claus originates from. 由於宗教改革的緣故，崇拜聖徒的傳統在大多數新教國家都已不復見。然而，在荷蘭，他的傳說則以源自Saint Nicholas的荷蘭文發音的名字Sint-Nicolaas或Sinterklaas延續下來。這也就是聖誕老人（Santa Claus）這個名字的起源。

Saint Nicholas is said to have died on Dec. 6, 343. This date is now celebrated as Saint Nicholas Day. 據說聖尼古拉斯已於西元三四三年十二月六日去世。這一天即為現今的聖尼古拉斯節。（台北時報編譯林俐凱譯）

(Paul Cooper, Taipei Times)

If Santa were salaried...如果耶誕老人支薪 年薪可賺四百萬

A child has his picture taken with a Father Christmas who turned up bearing gifts in Greater Tainan on Dec. 17.
十二月十七日在台南耶誕老人突然造訪送禮，小朋友驚喜，開心合影。

Every Christmas Eve is Santa’s busiest time. Santa Claus does not have an easy job. He not only has to prepare gifts for each of the world’s children, he also needs to deliver them to the kids in a single night. But if we were to actually calculate Santa’s salary, how much would he earn?

The latest labor survey announced on an insurance Web site discovered that, if you combined all of his festive activities, from the management and distribution to tasks such as checking off name lists of how good or naughty children have been, altogether Santa should get an annual salary of US$139,924, approximately NT$4.4 million.

The Web site explained that Santa’s tasks include managing the reindeer, reading kids’ letters, wrapping presents, keeping a stealthy check on whether children have been good, sweeping chimneys, driving the sleigh, and singing Christmas carols.

TODAY’S WORDS
今日單字

1. naughty adj. 淘氣 

例: He was always a very naughty child.

(他以前是個非常淘氣的小孩。)

2. stealthy adj. 偷偷 

例: He stole a stealthy look at the presents.

3. carol n.耶誕歌 

例: We will sing Christmas carols tonight.

(我們今晚會吟唱耶誕歌。)

(Liberty Times, translated by Paul Cooper)

每年耶誕節前夕就是耶誕老人工作的旺季。耶誕老人工作並不輕鬆，不僅須要為世上每個孩子準備禮物，還要在一個晚上之內送到孩子手上！但若現實一點估算耶誕老人薪水，他能賺多少？

一份由保險網站公布的最新的勞動力調查發現，綜合整個耶誕慶祝活動，從管理送貨系統到檢查小孩子的乖寶寶和淘氣名單等各項工程，加總起來耶誕老人一年應可賺到十三萬九千九百二十四美元（約新台幣四百四十萬元）薪水。

該網站解釋，耶誕老人的工作內容包括，管理馴鹿、閱讀孩子寫的信、包裝禮物、偷偷調查孩子乖不乖、掃煙囪、駕駛雪橇、唱耶誕歌等等。

（自由時報)