Christmas celebrates the birth of Christ, the Nativity of the babe in the manger whom Christians believe was the Son of God. Indeed, the very word Christmas means “Christ festival”.

Yet there can be little doubt that for many it is Santa Claus — not Jesus — who is the human face of Christmas. In fact, it is fair to say that in much of the world, Santa is better known than the Christ who gave his name to the holiday.

But how did the fat man in the Coca-Cola red-and-white suit become the symbol of Christmas? The truth is that like the Christmas story itself, the story of Saint Nicholas is a composite of history, myth, and legend.

According to tradition, he was born in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey) in about A.D. 270. When young, he traveled to Palestine and Egypt. Not long afterward, he became a bishop. During the Roman emperor Diocletian’s bloody persecution of Christians in 303, Nicholas was imprisoned. However, when Constantine the Great became emperor in 306, he legalized Christianity and made it the official religion of the Roman Empire. Nicholas was freed.

The scribes tell us that Nicholas’s prayers and leadership during the great tribulation led many to become Christians. Nicholas continued to serve as bishop for many years. On December 6, 343, Nicholas the man died, and Saint Nicholas the legend was born.

During his lifetime, Nicholas’s reputation for generosity and kindness gave rise to stories of miracles he performed for the poor, the weak--and children. After his death, devotion to Nicholas extended to all parts of Europe. His feast day was celebrated on December 6, but his reputation as a gift-giver later became attached to the celebration of Christmas on December 25.

After the Reformation in the 16th century, Nicholas’s cult disappeared in most Protestant countries of Europe. But his legend was united with old Nordic folktales of a magician who punished naughty children and rewarded good children with presents. In England, he became known as Father Christmas. But in Holland, Saint Nicholas’ name and reputation persisted as “sinterklaas”.

In the 17th century, Dutch colonists took this tradition with them to America. Later, Sinterklaas was adopted by the English-speaking majority as “Santa Claus.” The resulting image of a “jolly old elf” driving a sleigh with “eight tiny reindeer” crystallized in the 19th century. That was when Clement Moore wrote the now-famous poem “A Visit From Saint Nick.” And the red-and-white suit? That was created by a Coca-Cola adman in the 1930s.

Although greatly commercialized, the modern Santa Claus still embodies8 Saint Nicholas’ generosity and love for children. And for some, he still points to the Nativity of the babe in the manger, and reminds us of the reason we celebrate Christmas.

圣誕節是慶祝基督——這名被基督徒視為上帝之子的嬰兒在馬槽里的誕生。的確，“圣誕節”這個詞意思就是“基督的慶典”。然而，可能有許多人會有點疑惑，圣誕節的代表人物竟是圣誕老人，而不是耶穌。事實上，這樣說也不為過：在世界上許多地方，圣誕老人要比賦予該節日名稱的基督還更出名。

但是，那個穿著一套可口可樂紅白顏色衣服的胖子是怎么成為圣誕節的象征的呢？事實上，跟圣誕節本身的故事一樣，圣人尼古拉的故事，也是集歷史、神話和傳說于一身。

按照傳統的說法，公元270年，尼古拉生于小亞細亞（現在的土耳其）。年輕時，他曾經到巴勒斯坦和埃及旅行。不久以后，他成為了一名主教。

公元303年，羅馬皇帝戴克里先血腥迫害基督徒期間，尼古拉被捕入獄。然而，公元306年君士坦丁大帝登基稱帝，他使基督教合法化，并使之成為羅馬帝國的國教。尼古拉也獲釋放。

據史書記載，尼古拉在受難期間的祈禱和領導讓很多人皈依成為基督教徒。（出獄后）尼古拉繼續擔任主教多年。公元343年12月6日，真人尼古拉去世，然而圣人尼可拉的傳說誕生了。

尼古拉在世時慷慨仁慈的名聲衍生出他為窮人、弱者和孩子創造奇跡的許多故事。尼古拉死后，人們對他的摯愛延伸到歐洲各地。節日儀式定在12月6日舉行，但是他身為“贈禮者”的聲望，后來卻與12月25日圣誕節的慶典扯上了關系。

16世紀宗教改革運動以后，對尼古拉的膜拜便在多數歐洲新教國家銷聲匿跡了。但是有關他的傳說卻跟一個北歐民間故事結合了起來，故事中有位魔術師，他愛懲罰頑皮的孩子，并送禮物獎勵好孩子。在英格蘭，尼古拉成為家喻戶曉的圣誕節之父。而在荷蘭，圣人尼古拉的名聲依舊以“Sinterklaas”的名字流傳。17世紀，荷蘭的殖民者將這個傳統帶到美洲。后來，“Sinterklaas”為多數說英語的人民所采用，并改成了“Santa Claus”。他最后的形象──“快樂的老矮人”駕著“八只小馴鹿”拉的雪橇──是在19世紀開始變得明確具體起來的。摩爾(Clement Moore)就在那時寫了《圣人尼克的來訪》這首聞名至今的詩。還有那件紅白套裝呢？那是在20世紀30年代，可口可樂公司的廣告商創造出來的。

盡管現代的圣誕老人已經被高度商業化，他仍舊表現了圣人尼古拉的寬大胸懷和對孩子們的愛。對某些人來說，他仍然象征著馬槽里圣嬰的誕生，并讓我們想起慶祝圣誕節的緣由。