Who was he

　　Father Christmas is based on a real person, St. Nicholas, which explains his other name 'Santa Claus' which comes from the Dutch 'Sinterklaas'. Nicholas was a Christian leader from Myra (in modern-day Turkey) in the 4th century AD. He was very shy, and wanted to give money to poor people without them knowing about it. It is said that one day, he climbed the roof of a house and dropped a purse of money down the chimney. It landed in the stocking which a girl had put to dry by the fire! This may explain the belief that Father Christmas comes down the chimney and places gifts in children's stockings.

　　圣誕老人是誰?

　　圣誕老人源于土耳其歷史上的一個真實人物，他的名字叫圣尼古拉斯，他的另一個名字'Santa Claus' 源于荷蘭語'Sinterklaas'。尼古拉斯是一個從米拉(現(xiàn)在的土耳其)來的基督教領(lǐng)袖。尼古拉斯很害羞，想給窮人贈送物資又怕被窮人知道。傳說，有一天，他從房頂?shù)臒焽枥锶忧敖o某戶人家，結(jié)果剛好扔進了那位姑娘的襪子里，那個姑娘原本是把襪子掛在爐邊想烤干的。這或許就是大家相信圣誕老人從煙囪里把禮物放進孩子的襪子里的緣由吧。

　　圣·尼古拉斯(Saint Nicholas)是圣誕老人原型(Santa Clause)，是土耳其歷史上真實存在的一位主教。公元前3世紀末，圣·尼古拉斯出生在地中海沿岸的潘特拉(Patara)。他雖出生在一個富裕人家，但從小心地善良，樂善好施，經(jīng)常救助窮人。圣·尼古拉斯喜歡以匿名的方式贈送給當?shù)馗F人各種禮物。在公元346年去世后，他被尊稱為圣人，其生前事跡后來演變成今天圣誕老人的傳說。