ネイティブが教える英会話のジェムスクール☆Teachers☆

I teach my adult students that understanding Christmas is:

33% Santa Claus
33% Medieval Traditions of Food, Song, and Decoration
33% Baby Jesus
and 1% People who hate Christmas

Today I will write about Santa Claus. I will write about the other topics in coming weeks.



The modern idea of Santa Claus is:
Santa Claus is an immortal, magical person who lives at the North Pole. Through the year he keeps a list of all the children in the world, dividing them into categories of 'naughty' and 'nice.' He makes toys in a workshop with the assistance of elves, and on Christmas Eve he delivers the toys to the world's children in a flying sleigh pulled by eight reindeer (nine in poor visibility conditions). He enters homes through the chimney and leaves toys and presents for good children under the Christmas tree and in stockings hung by the fireplace. Bad children receive only a lump of coal in their stocking. Many families leave a small plate of cookies and a glass of milk for Santa near the fireplace.

The modern version of Santa Claus is about 200 years old and comes mostly from this very famous poem:

A Visit from St. Nicholas
'Twas the night before Christmas, when all thro' the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar plums danc'd in their heads,
And Mama in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap —

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters, and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new fallen snow,
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below;
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny rein-deer,

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and call'd them by name:

"Now! Dasher, now! Dancer, now! Prancer and Vixen,
"On! Comet, on! Cupid, on! Donder and Blitzen;
"To the top of the porch! To the top of the wall!
"Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!"

As dry leaves before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky;
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of toys — and St. Nicholas too:

And then in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound:

He was dress'd all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnish'd with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys was flung on his back,
And he look'd like a peddler just opening his pack:

His eyes — how they twinkled! His dimples: how merry,
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry;
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.
He had a broad face, and a little round belly
That shook when he laugh'd, like a bowl full of jelly:

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laugh'd when I saw him in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And fill'd all the stockings; then turn'd with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose.

He sprung to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew, like the down of a thistle:
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight —
Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

—Clement Clark Moore^(?), 1823

The idea of Santa Claus evolved from a mix of early Christian historical figures and pre-Christian mythic figures. The name Santa Claus is derived from the Dutch Sinterklass, a version of Saint Nicholas. Santa Claus is also commonly known as Father Christmas or Kris Kringle.