圣诞节是一些国家的人为了纪念耶稣出生而设立的节日。据说耶稣是因着圣灵成孕，由圣母玛利亚所生的。神便派遣使者加伯列在梦中告诉约瑟，叫他不要因为玛利亚未婚怀孕而不要她，反而要与她成亲，把那孩子起名为“耶稣”，意思是要他把百姓从罪恶中解救出来。
Christmas, the originally pagan holiday, was “adopted” by Abrahamic religions to commemorate the birth of Jesus. It is said that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and was given birth by the Blessed Virgin Mary. God thus sent an envoy, Gabriel, to tell Joseph not to leave Mary alone because of her premarital pregnancy, but to marry her and call the baby “Jesus.”
当玛利亚快要临盆的时候，罗马政府下了命令，所有到伯利恒的人务必申报户籍。约瑟和玛利亚只好遵命。他们到达伯利恒时，天色已晚，无奈两人未能找到旅馆，只好在一个马棚里暂住。就在这时，耶稣要出生了，于是玛利亚只好在马槽上生下耶稣。后人为纪念耶稣的诞生，便定十二月二十五为圣诞节，年年望弥撒，纪念耶稣的出世。
The Biblical story states that when Mary was about to go into labor, the Roman government ordered that all the people of Bethlehem register their household. Joseph and Mary had to obey the order.
圣诞节在许多国家都是极其重要的一个节日，与中国的春节相差无几。尤其是在西方不少基督教国家里，圣诞节可以说是一年中最盛大的一天。那么接下来，就让我们看看大家会在这一天做些什么吧!
● 交换礼物
赠送礼物的传统好像起源于智者（东方三贤人）自东方携礼物去祝贺耶稣降生。在马太的圣经中这样描述：“来到房里，他们看到了这个孩子和他的母亲玛利亚。他们鞠躬，向孩子致敬。然后，他们打开他们各自的宝盒，送给孩子三份礼物——黄金、乳香和没药。”直到十八世纪后期，人们才有相互交换精美礼物的习惯，圣诞老人的故事（后来被编撰的）使得互赠礼物成为圣诞节的主要节目。如今，圣诞节互赠礼物在家人和朋友之间兴起，成为表达亲情和友情的一种重要的途径。
● Exchanging gifts
圣诞树
传说在很久以前，有一位农人，在圣诞节那天遇到一位穷苦的小孩，他热情地接待了孩子，这个小孩临走时折下根松枝插在地上，松枝立即变成一棵树，上面挂满了礼物，用来答谢农人的好意。圣诞树首先见于德国，之后又传入欧洲和美国，成为圣诞节不可或缺的装饰物。他们通常用五光十色的彩灯、蜡、礼物或天使来装饰圣诞树。尤其住在美国西北部的人们，因为当地森林资源十分丰富，他们会和全家人一起去挑选一棵真正的树做为圣诞树。
●Christmas tree
Santa Claus is a character in Abrahamic religions. Many Christians can recall the story of a man named Saint Nicholas preparing gifts for kids. What’s more, the origination of Father Christmas is probably related to a mushroom in red and white check called “fly Amanita”.
传说每到12月24日晚上，有个神秘人会乘驾由9只驯鹿拉的雪橇在天上飞翔，挨家挨户地从烟囱进入屋里，然后偷偷把礼物放在孩子床头的袜子里，或者堆在壁炉旁的圣诞树下。他在一年中的其他时间里，都是忙于制作礼物和监督孩子们的行为。
Many around the world now see Santa as a man who, when it gets to December 24th night, jumps on a sley（with nine reindeer pulling it）and fly in the sky. Santa will thus go into the house of every little kid, from the chimney, and secretly put the presents into the stocking which is hung beside the bed, or laid under the Christmas tree beside the fireplace. During the rest of the year, he is busy making gifts and supervising children’s behavior.
虽然没有人真的见过神秘人的样子，但是人们会装扮成他的样子来给孩子送上礼物。他通常被描述为一位老人，头戴红色帽子，大大的白色胡子，一身红色棉衣，脚穿红色靴子的样子，拿着装有礼物的大袋子，因为总在圣诞节前夜出现派发礼物，所以习惯地称他为“圣诞老人”。
Despite the fact that none of us have seen the mystery man, people will dress up like him to give presents to kids. He is usually described as an old man with red hat, red cotton-padded clothes, and a pair of red boots, and has a big white mustache, bringing a big bag which has gifts inside. He always appears on Christmas Eve and hands out gifts. Therefore, we called him “Santa Claus” habitually.
Author: Sika Zhu, Scarlett Wu
Translation: Linda Hang
Category: Culture
Editors: Ashley Pan (Editor of Culture), Janina Akporavbore (Section Chief), and Alexia Zhang (Copy Editor)
Date: 12/25/20
The Unknown Times 