历史启蒙圣诞节历史地理启蒙

女孩问：世界上有没有圣诞老人？纽约报纸用社论来回答（历史上最成功的报纸社论由此诞生） -pg电子试玩

2017

2021-12-23 19:36 原创 · 图片4

和大家分享一个和圣诞有关的真实故事。1897年，8岁美国小女孩 virginia 写信给纽约《太阳报》，问：这个世界上有没有圣诞老人？

出乎意料的是，《太阳报》在1897年9月21日专门发了一篇社论来回答这个问题：yes, virginia, there is a santa claus（是的，virginia，世界上的确有圣诞老人）。

社论是该报社的资深编辑 francis church 写的。从此，这篇社论成为历史上被最多重印、转发的报纸社论，并以几十种语音出现在图书、电影、报刊、海报里。

圣诞之际，感谢小花生网友lori的亲自翻译，把这封信分享给大家，祝愿我们的大小朋友们圣诞快乐。不管圣诞老人有没有，圣诞节是不是中国人的节日，怀有感恩、快乐之心，总是没错的。正如这封信所表达的那样：世界上有许多东西是眼睛看不到的，是狭小的心眼想像不到的，像爱心和慷慨和忠诚，而它们却把我们的生活带到最美丽最快乐的境界。

virginia 写给《太阳报》的信

"dear editor: i am 8 years old.
"some of my little friends say there is no santa claus.
"papa says, 'if you see it in the sun it's so.'
"please tell me the truth; is there a santa claus?

"virginia o'hanlon.
"115 west ninety-fifth street."

亲爱的编辑，我的一些朋友说，世界上其实没有圣诞老人。
爸爸说，如果《太阳报》说有，就是有。
请告诉我事实真相，有没有圣诞老人？

－弗吉尼亚署名和地址

以下是《太阳报》编辑的回信

virginia, your little friends are wrong. they have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. they do not believe except [what] they see. they think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. all minds, virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. in this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

弗吉尼亚，你的小朋友们错了。这是人们容易怀疑一切的时代，他们深受时代影响。除非亲眼看见，他们不相信；如果自己不理解，就是不存在。但是弗吉尼亚，所有人的脑袋，无论大人的，还是小孩的，都是很小的。在我们所处的这个浩大的宇宙里，相比于他周边无所不知，无边无际的世界，人类在智力上就像一只昆虫，一只蚂蚁。

yes, virginia, there is a santa claus. he exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no santa claus. it would be as dreary as if there were no virginias. there would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. we should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. the eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

是的，弗吉尼亚，圣诞老人确实存在。他的存在，就跟我们相信爱、善心、忠实是存在的一样。世界上如果没有圣诞老人该多么无聊！就跟这世界如果没有弗吉尼亚你一样的无聊。再也没有孩子气的信仰，没有诗歌，没有浪漫，没有快乐，生活变得无可容忍。孩子给世界带来的光也将熄灭。

not believe in santa claus! you might as well not believe in fairies! you might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on christmas eve to catch santa claus, but even if they did not see santa claus coming down, what would that prove? nobody sees santa claus, but that is no sign that there is no santa claus. the most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

如果不相信圣诞老人，那你也不能相信仙女了。你也许能让你爸爸雇些人在圣诞晚上盯着你家的烟囱，看看圣诞老人来不来；即使他们没看到，又能证明什么呢？没人见过圣诞老人，并不能说明没有圣诞老人。世界上最真实的事情，反而是大人和小孩是看不见的。你见过仙女在草地上跳舞么？当然没有，但这不能证明她们没做过这事儿。没人能想象到这世界上所有人们没见过或见不到的奇迹。

you may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. is it all real? ah, virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

你可以打开一个宝宝的响铃玩具，看看里面发出声音的是什么。但是你见不到的世界里有一层布障慢，即使世界上最强最强的人也拉不开。只有我们的信仰、幻想、诗歌、爱、浪漫，才能推开那层布障，让我们看到至高的美丽和光辉。这是真的么？啊，弗吉尼亚，在这个世界上没有比这更真实和永恒的了。

no santa claus! thank god! he lives, and he lives forever. a thousand years from now, virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

没有圣诞老人？！感谢上帝，他活着，而且会永远活着。一千年以后，弗吉尼亚，啊，也许十倍于一千年以后，他还会继续给童年的心带来快乐！