3.圣诞节的传说
圣诞老人的传说
数百年前,大约公元280年,尼古拉斯出生在帕塔拉一个富裕的基督教家庭。他住在米拉附近,今土耳其境内。他善良而虔诚地帮助每一个前来求助的人,不久,很多关于他的善行的事件就被传开了。后来,他成了米拉的主教。他继承了一大笔财产,时常用这些钱帮助穷人和病人。他会在晚上化名外出,确保他教区里的居民衣食无忧,生活幸福。在一次走访期间,他听到一家人正在悲叹其不幸和贫困,因为父亲不能给三个女儿拿出适当的嫁妆,甚至不能让她们吃饱穿暖,因此被迫要把三个可怜的姐妹卖身为奴或为娼。
就在那个晚上,为了把她们从耻辱和贫穷中解救出来,尼古拉斯悄悄地从他们家的烟囱里丢了三包金币。此后,他被人们当作孩子和水手的保护者和守护神。每年的12月6日,都会有纪念他逝世周年的庆典,那一天也被人们认为是结婚和购物的好日子。到文艺复兴时期,他的名望逐渐攀升,他是欧洲最受欢迎的圣人,尤其是在荷兰。尽管新教徒反对人们对圣人的崇拜,圣尼古拉斯依然保持住了他作为圣诞老人或圣诞之父的稳固地位及声望。
圣诞长简袜的传说
在另一个版本的传说中,圣尼古拉斯的故事讲述了下列传统的起源,那就是在圣诞节晚上把洗过的长筒袜挂在窗台上或壁炉附近准备接受圣诞老人的礼物。据说故事发生在17世纪以前的土耳其。在这里尼古拉斯是米拉的主教,他以对孩子的仁慈和仁爱而闻名。他常常在平安夜悄悄地给孩子们分发礼物,这给孩子们带来了惊喜。当尼古拉斯路过一户人家时,他听见这家父女正在抱怨他们因贫穷而无法结婚,因为他们拿不出当时流行的嫁妆。
尼古拉斯发现了这家的女孩们晾在窗台上的羊毛袜,出于同情和怜悯,他悄悄地在每一双袜子里放了很多金币,这些足以负担女孩子们的嫁妆。为圣尼古拉斯挂袜子的习俗在荷兰儿童那里变成了另一个版本,他们把干草和胡萝卜放在他们的鞋里来喂他们心爱的驯鹿,驯鹿是他们的守护神,会给他们带来礼物。瑞典的孩子们在圣诞节则期待一个叫做汤姆特的土地神,而不是圣诞老人。据说,这个土地神住在地板下。在法国、墨西哥和西班牙的一些地方,孩子们通常等待三个国王在他们的鞋里装上礼物。
然而,法国北部的小孩子会祈祷斯邦克老爹不要来拜访他们,因为如果他们淘气或干坏事他会惩罚他们,打他们的屁股。在希腊,圣诞老人会给住在平原的孩子们写信,而那些住在山区的孩子则由小精灵来照料,精灵们会给那些听话的小孩带去他们期望的礼物。圣诞节送礼物的传统提醒我们,耶稣的降生就是给予这个世界的礼物。
4.Thanksgiving Day
Thanksving Day,a legal holiday in the U.S.,was firstcelebrated in early colonial times in New England.The actual origin,however,is probably the harvest festivals.After the first harvest wascompleted by the Plymouth colonists in 1621,Governor WilliamBradford~proclaimed a day of thanksgiving and prayer,shared by allthe colonists and neighboring Native Americans~. The pilgrims of Plymouth Rock held their Thanksgiving in 1 62 1 asa three-day“thank you''celebration to the leaders of the Indian tribeand their families for teaching them the survival skills they needed tomake it in the New World~.It was their good fortune that the traditionof this tribe was to treat any visitor to their homes with a share ofwhatever food the family had。even if supplies were low. After the first New England Thanksgiving the custom spreadthroughout the colonies,but each region chose its own date.In 1 789George Washington,the first president of the United States,proclaimed November 26 a day of Thanksgiving.Thanksgiving Daycontinued to be celebrated in the United States on different days indifferent states until Mrs.Sarah Joseph Hale,editor of Godey's Lady's Booko.decided to do something about it.For more than 30 years she wrote letters to the governors and presidents asking them to make Thanksgiving Day a national holiday.
Finally,in 1863,President Lincoln issued a White House proclamation calling on the“whole American people”wherever theylived to unite“with one heart and one voice”in observing a special day of thanksgiving.Setting apart the last Thursday of November for the purpose,the President urged prayers in the churches and in the homesto“implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it…to full enjoyment of peace,harmony,tranquility and union.’’He also states that they express heartfelt thanksfor the“blessing of fruitful fields and healthful skies.”Since then each president has issued a Thanksgiving Day proclamation,usually designating the fourth Thursday of each November as the holiday.In1939 President Franklin D.Roosevelt advanced Thanksgiving Day one week.However,since some states used the new date and others the old,it was changed again two years later.Thanksgiving Day is now celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November.
Why Turkey
The turkey tradition was really pushed by Benjamin Franklin,who wanted to make it the United States national symbol because it iS a quick runner,wary,with sharp eyesight,and exhibited a regal stance,at least to Franklin.
Tradition
The American traditions of Thanksgiving revolve around a huge and lavish meal。usually with turkey as the centerpiece.As tradition has it in most families,a special prayer of thanks precedes the meal,family members will each mention something they are very thankful for.Thanksgiving is a time for families to create traditions and memories that last a lifetime.
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