儿子的提问让我想起了一个经典的圣诞节故事，那是时年8岁的小女孩 Virginia O'Hanlon，问她的父亲：圣诞老人是否真的存在？父亲告诉她：向《纽约太阳报》写信询问。于是Virginia于1897年9月21日写了一封短信，寄给报社。编辑 Francis Pharcellus Church收到来信后，在报纸的社评中做了回复， 他在文中写道：“ Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to our life its highest beauty and joy. How dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished. ” 这篇感人至深的短文，广为流传。
圣诞老人，最为人们熟知的名字是 Santa Claus，听了VOA的报道后，才知道Santa还有别的名字呢，诸如：Saint Nicholas、St. Nick、Pelznickel、和Kris Kringle、而这些名字的由来和它的历史，语言和文化习俗有关。 Santa Claus和Saint Nicholas这两个名字来自多年前来纽约定居的荷兰人，荷兰人认为，Saint Nikolaas送给了孩子们礼物，他们把这位圣徒和送礼物的习俗带到了纽约自己的圣诞节庆祝活动中，纽约是一个大熔炉。荷兰人念“Saint Nikolaas”这个名字时语速非常快，听起来就像是“sinterklaas”，因此用英语念这个词时听起来就像是Santa Claus。
Pelznickel ,在纽约西部的宾夕法尼亚州，许多德国农民也听说过Saint Nikolas，但他们称其为Pelznickel。这个词来自“Pelz”，意思是皮衣，而“nickel”的意思是Nicholas。所以，对宾夕法尼亚州的德国人来说，Saint Nicholas或Pelznickel就是一位穿着皮衣，一年一次来给好孩子分发礼物的人。Kris Kringle这个词是从Pelznickel演变而来的， 人们开始觉得，Pelznickel带来的仁爱和善良应该成为纪念Christkindl活动的一部分，德国人称Christkindl为Christ child。过了一段时间，Kris Kringle成为了圣诞老人的又一个名字。不管圣诞老人叫什么名字，他将快乐带进童心里，传递着节日的美好。May Santa bring you what you expect...
Song: Santa Claus Is Coming to Town
Artist: Frank Sinatra
You better watch out You better not cry
Better not pout I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town
He's making a list and checking it twice;
Gonna find out who's naughty and nice
Santa Claus is coming to town
He sees you when you're sleeping
He knows when you're awake
He knows if you've been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake
You better watch out You better not cry
Better not pout I'm telling you why
He is on his way he has got toys all over the sleigh
Santa Claus is coming to town
