亲爱的，真的有圣诞老人

这个圣诞节，仔细研读了以下著名的有关圣诞老人的去信和回信，并将这两封信以“我的语言”重新翻译了一遍。纪念圣诞节--主耶稣基督为我们降生的日子，纪念这世上永恒的童心和善意地呵护童心的每个举动。

1897年，一位名叫弗吉尼亚·欧汉伦的八岁小女孩写信给《太阳报》，恳求编辑告诉她世界上是否真的有圣诞老人。

Dear Editor,

I am eight years old. Some of my littlefriends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, “If you see it in The Sun, it's so.” Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?

Virginia O’Hanlon

“亲爱的编辑，我今年八岁了。我的一些小朋友们说，世界上没有圣诞老人。

爸爸说，如果《太阳报》里面说有，就是真的。请告诉我事实真相，有没有圣诞老人啊？”

收到来信的编辑弗朗西斯·法塞勒斯·丘奇认真做了回复。一百多年后的今天，这封回信已经成为英文报刊界重印率最高的社论。

VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong.They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do notbelieve except they see. They think that nothing can be which is notcomprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they bemen’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mereinsect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world abouthim, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth andknowledge.

亲爱的弗吉尼娅，你的小朋友们说的不对，他们被这个年代怀疑一切的风气影响了，他们要亲眼看见才会相信，他们的小脑瓜里不能理解的东西就被认为是不存在的。人类的大脑，不管是大人的还是小孩子的，容量都太小啦。在这个浩瀚无垠的宇宙中，我们人类就像是个小昆虫，确切地说就是一只小蚂蚁，以我们小蚂蚁般的智慧，怎么可能去了解这无边无际的宇宙的真相呢？

Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. Heexists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you knowthat they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! Howdreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as drearyas if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, nopoetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have noenjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhoodfills the world would be extinguished.

是的，弗吉尼亚，圣诞老人真的存在。他的存在就如同爱、宽容和奉献一样，丰丰富富地充满在这世界上，让我们的生活充满美好和喜乐。哎，要是没有了圣诞老人，这个世界该是个多么沉闷的地方啊！就像这个世界少了弗吉尼亚你这个小宝贝一样！这个世界将不会有纯真的信念、不会有诗歌、不会有浪漫，变得让人无法忍受！除了眼睛看见、身体感觉到的之外，我们再也找不到其他乐趣了。人类童年那永恒的亮光将从此暗淡无光。

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might aswell not believe in fairies. You might get your papa to hire men to watch inall the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they didnot see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees SantaClaus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real thingsin the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever seefairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they arenot there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen andunseeable in the world.

不相信有圣诞老人，那也不会相信这个世界有精灵。你可以让爸爸雇人在圣诞夜守在烟囱边等候圣诞老人，但即便他们没有看到圣诞老人，也不能证明什么啊！没有人见过圣诞老人，并不能说明他不存在。这个世界最真实的东西不管是孩子还是成人都是看不到的。你看到过精灵在草地上跳舞吗？肯定没有，但却没有任何证据证明他们不存在。没有人能质疑这个世界上未曾看到或无法看到的奇迹。

You may tear apart the baby’s rattle andsee what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen worldwhich not the strongest man, not even the united strength of all the strongestmen that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, canpush aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glorybeyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing elsereal and abiding.

你可以掀开小宝宝的拨浪鼓看看里面究竟是什么在响，但是在这个我们无法认识的世界上盖着厚厚的一层罩子，即便集合了世界上最强壮的人，也无法把罩子掀开，让我们看个究竟。只有爱、诗歌、浪漫，才能让罩子打开，让我们看到上天的美好和荣耀。这一切都是真的吗？亲爱的弗吉尼亚，在这世上，再没有比这个更真实更永久的了。

No Santa Claus! Thank GOD! He lives, andlives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousandyears from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

还说没有圣诞老人？感谢上帝，圣诞老人就在这里，并永远都在！亲爱的弗吉尼亚，从现在起到往后的一千年，甚至是一万年，圣诞老人都会持续不断地把快乐带给孩子们！

Francis P. Church, Editor

主编   弗朗西斯·P·丘奇

（图片来源网络）