As we all know, Christmas is a specific festival in honor of a newborn in this day--Jesus, and it was only a religious festival right from the beginning. But Christmas was spread to all over the world later on with its increasingly enjoyable and various customs. Now, Christmas is approaching, and you will remind of something , such as beautiful pictures, warm concerns under congratulations in Christmas cards, which come from our friends or relatives, and sparkling Christmas trees standing in front of doors with lots of colorful lights , gifts, shining paper flowers and even candles. So do you know the origins of Christmas card and Christmas tree?
众所周知，圣诞节是基督教为纪念耶稣诞生的日子所设，最开始只是宗教节，如今随着有趣丰富的圣诞习俗，圣诞节已经传到了世界各地。圣诞节就快要到了，大家一定想起了以前收到的圣诞卡片和上面喜庆的圣诞节图案、亲人朋友的温暖的祝福；一定见过摆在门外的闪闪发光的圣诞树，上面摆满了五颜六色的彩灯、礼物和纸花，还点燃着圣诞蜡烛。大家知道圣诞卡片和圣诞树的来历吗？
It is said that Christmas card was invented by a man, named Henry Cole. In England, there was an immemorial tradition that friends would send congratulatory letters to each other when Christmas and new year are coming. Mr.Cole, as a remarkable educator and an outstanding art sponsor, won a number of popularity within residents and had large amounts of friends, so he often received a heap of letters in every Christmas. However, Mr.Cole was as busy as a bee and he felt bothered a lot, because just as Ace Collins, the author of Stories Behind the Great Traditions of Christmas, said,“In Victorian England, refusing or forgetting to reply a letter was a pretty impolite behavior, so he must to come up with a good idea to reply all the letters.”Mr.Cole got an idea coincidentally, and then he called on one of his friends named J.C.Horsley who was an artist. J.C.Horsley helped creating a picture, in the middle of which was a warm main scene where all the family members celebrated Christmas surrounding the table and in the two sides of which were two minor scenes where the rich helping the poor. Mr.Cole copied it using one thousand pieces of cardboard and using them to write back. In every card, creatively, he printed “To__”at the top of card and typical congratulations such as“A HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU!” So Mr.Cole could make all the replies efficiently only using this kind of card. This is the origin of Christmas card.
据说，圣诞卡片是有一个叫亨利•高乐的人发明的。英格兰有个古老的传统，每逢圣诞节和新年，朋友之间会互发贺信。作为杰出的教育家和艺术资助人的高乐先生是一个知名度颇高且朋友多的人，所以每年的圣诞节他都能收到一大堆朋友的来信，但高乐先生作为一个大忙人感到烦恼不已，因为据《圣诞节传统背后的故事》的作者Ace Collins说：“在维多利亚时期的英格兰，不回信是非常不礼貌的行为。他必须想办法回复所有来信者。”高乐不经意间想到了一个绝妙的点子。他联系了自己的一个艺术家朋友，约翰•卡尔葛•荷斯利，约翰帮忙设计了一副三联画，中间描绘了一家人围着餐桌庆贺节日的场景，两边是人们帮助穷人的配画。高乐先生用硬卡纸片复印了1000份。在每张卡片的顶端都印有“致:_____”，这样高乐可以针对个人给予回复，并附带大众化的贺词“祝你圣诞快乐，祝你新年快乐。”这就是圣诞贺卡的由来。
The first Christmas tree is a roadside palm in Bethlehem. The story happened at that night before Jesus was born. When the Virgin Mary, a pregnant, arrived Bethlehem, she felt so tired that she relied on that tree to have a break. Surprisingly, so honored and flattered it was that it stretched all its branches to prevent the Virgin Mary. In the midnight, when Jesus was born, a shining star cast brilliant light on the top of that palm and formed a miraculous halo. From then on, palm occupied a glorious and important position in Christmas.
第一棵圣诞树，是白冷城路边的一棵小棕树。在耶稣降生的头一天晚上，圣母玛利亚走到白冷城时候，非常的疲乏，圣母就在那棵树下休息了一会，那棵小棕树，好像受宠的样子，展开它的树枝，给圣母抵挡吹来的冷风。就在那个半夜里，耶稣基督诞生了。这时候，天上出现了一颗特别亮的星星，发出奇妙的光芒，直接射到那棵小棕树的头上，盘旋成了一道美丽的光圈。从此以后，小棕树在圣诞节中，就占了一席光荣的地位。
In western culture, there is another amusing story about Christmas: Long long ago, in Christmas, a kind peasant treated a homeless child hospitably. When this child was about to leave, he broke a branch off and pressed it into ground, and to peasant’s surprise, this thin branch became a thick and strong tree, and then child pointed that tree and said, “Every year, in this day, gifts will be filled this tree to pay for your kindness.”This peasant didn’t realize that he treated an envoy of god until now. So nowadays, people always see Christmas tree with lots of presents.
在西方文化中，关于圣诞树还有另一个有趣的故事：很久以前，有个善良的农民，在圣诞节那天，热情地招待了一名流浪的孩子，临别时，孩子折下一树枝插在地上，树枝立即长成大树，孩子指着这树对农民说：“每年今日，树上都长满礼物，以报答你们的盛情。”他才明白自己接待的原来是一位上帝的使者。所以，今天人们所见的圣诞树上总是挂上了小礼物。
Christmas is around the corner. As we celebrate and enjoy the festival, we can also spend a little bit time to hunt for some internal and unperceived Christmas knowledge so that we can gain both happiness and recognition of other cultures which differ from us at the same time.
圣诞节就要到来了，在我们庆祝节日的同时，可以不妨花上一点点时间了解一下圣诞节背后的文化，这样我们既获得了节日的快乐，也了解了不同的文化！
2018-12-20
