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可可英語的網友們大家好。圣誕季里，我們繼續圣誕話題。如果現在有人問你，相信有圣誕老人嗎？你可能會斬釘截鐵的回答，當然不信，那都是騙小孩兒的。那那些被騙的小孩兒呢？他們因為圣誕老人的存在，得到了怎樣的快樂呢？我們該剝奪這些快樂嗎？電影《34街奇跡》中的沃克太太婚姻失敗，她不再相信那些存在于精神世界里美好的東西。為了讓女兒不必經歷了解真相后的失落，沃克太太始終將事實呈現給自己的女兒。包括一年一度游行盛典里的圣誕老人不過是百貨公司請得演員，并且酗酒，完全沒有真正的會駕著雪橇四處送禮物的真正的圣誕老人。這樣的教育也使得年幼的蘇珊有了不同于一般孩子的老練。可是，真相和事實能帶給一個五六歲大的孩子快樂嗎？一起來聽聽這段母女間的對話吧。
Daughter: Something's driving me crazy, and I can't sleep.
Mother: What's on your mind? Daughter: Santa Claus.
Mother: Mr. Kringle? Why, what about him?
Daughter: He talked sign language with a kid today.
Mother: Well, that was considerate of him.
Daughter: It's weird how he knows so much about toys and kids. He speaks Russian and Swahili.
Mother: Well, he must be quite a learned man.
Daughter: He looks exactly like every picture of Santa Claus I ever saw.
Mother: Yes, I know. That's why I chose him.
Daughter: You're positive he's not the real Santa Claus?
Mother: I thought that we talked about this. You understand what he is.
Daughter: What if we're wrong? That would be extremely rude.
Mother: Well, we're not wrong sweetheart.
Daughter: But all my friends believe in Santa Claus.
Mother: Well, most children your age do.
Daughter: How come I don't ?
Mother: Because you know the truth, and truth is one of the most important things in the world. To know the truth and to always be truthful with others and, more importantly, with yourself. Believing in myths and fantasies just makes you unhappy.
Daughter: Did you believe in Santa Claus when you were my age?
Mother: Yes.
Daughter: Were you unhappy?
Mother: Well, when all the things that I believed in turned out not to be true, yes, I was unhappy.
Daughter: Would it be OK if I thought about this more? Do I have to not believe in Santa Claus right away?
Mother: Come here. You have the right to believe whatever you want to believe. Now, I've told you the truth, but if I'm wrong, I will be glad to admit it. I'll tell you what. You ask Mr. Kringle for something that you would never ask me for. And if on Christmas morning you don't get it, you will know once and for all the honest truth about Santa Claus.
Daughter: That's a very clever idea.
Mother: Thank you. Think you can get some sleep?
Daughter: Yep. Mother: Yeah? Give me a kiss.
Daughter: Good night. I love you. Mother: I love you.
小女孩兒夜不能寐，還在想著自己偷偷觀察的圣誕老人。在內心里她已經開始相信他是真正的圣誕老人了。可是，媽媽告訴過她，沒有圣誕老人這回事兒。兩種想法相互沖擊，drive her crazy了。Drive someone crazy, 在口語中表示“讓某人深感煩擾”。比如: The endless noise is driving me crazy. 沒完沒了的噪音快煩死我了。
小Susan告訴媽媽，這個圣誕老人talk sign language，sign language, 手語。因為和language聯用，用了動詞talk。對此，媽媽認為，這只能說明這個人was considerate of him。 Considerate, 體貼的；考慮周到的。Be considerate of someone和我們常說的，it’s very nice of you. “你真是太好了”結構相同。可以翻譯為，那他真是考慮太周到了。太善解人意了。
除了會手語，這個圣誕老人還會說俄語，斯瓦希里語，一種在非洲使用比較廣泛的語言。不過，Susan的媽媽，把這歸為這個圣誕老人是個learned man。飽學之士。
You're positive he's not the real Santa Claus?，Susan 還是不確定媽媽的說法。于是問了這個問題。常看歐美電影的人可能總能聽到Are you positive that…這樣的句子。它和Are you sure that…意思相同。不過口語中用positive和negative表示確定的或不確定非常常見。接下來Susan問了媽媽一個非常值得所有大人都思考的問題。你小的時候相信有圣誕老人嗎？你相信的時候快樂嗎？你能相信，How come I don’t? 這句話意思是，那我怎么會不相信呢？句子相當于Why don’t I believe? 假如我不去想長大以后會發現真相的事兒，我現在可以相信嗎？
面對這樣的問題，一定不是一個簡單的“可以”或者“不可以”就能解答。Susan的媽媽還是給予了孩子充分的尊重。讓她自己做個實驗。向圣誕老人許愿要一個她永遠不會向媽媽要的禮物。如果圣誕節那天愿望實現了，you will know once and for all the honest truth about Santa Claus. Once and for all，徹底地；一勞永逸的。再比如：Let’s settle this matter once and for all. 讓我們來把問題一次性地徹底解決掉。
《34街奇跡》講的是機緣巧合之下，真正的圣誕老人被選中當一家即將被收購的百貨公司的形象宣傳。當然角色就是圣誕老人。對話中的沃爾太太就是公司的主管之一。圣誕老人不僅僅用對孩子的愛心讓這家百貨公司起死回生，更熱心腸地想幫助這對母女擺脫煩惱，重新對生活充滿信任，信心。并借此，也讓他自己相信自己的存在是有意義的。不過，事情不可能一帆風順，圣誕老人居然被告上了法庭。欲知后事，我們下期繼續吧。
