Is there a Santa Claus

1897年，家住纽约曼哈顿上城西侧，时年八岁的小女孩弗吉尼娅·欧汉伦（Virginia O’Hanlon）问父亲：是否真的有圣诞老人？父亲告诉她：向《纽约太阳报》( The New York Sun)写信问问，便会得知真相。于是弗吉尼娅写了一封短信，寄给报社。

编辑弗朗西斯·彻奇（Francis P. Church）收到来信后，决定用报纸的社评予以回复。彻奇曾是美国南北战争时期的一名战地记者，看到过很多血腥场面，并同时感到社会中普遍的绝望情绪。他希望利用回答这一孩子的简单提问之际，亦能对其更深层次的哲理进行一些探讨。

于是在1897年9月21日，报纸刊出由彻奇撰写的题为《真的有圣诞老人吗？》社评。虽然出现在第六版一个不起眼的位置上，这篇感人至深的短文还是迅速引起了读者的注意，被争相传阅。特别是其中“是的，弗吉尼娅，真的有圣诞老人”一句，广为流传，成为这篇短文的代名词。

之后的一个世纪里，弗吉尼娅的故事被改编为多部影视片和音乐剧，还有以“弗吉尼娅·欧汉伦”命名的奖学金。而《真的有圣诞老人吗？》这篇一百二十多年前的社评保持着英文史上重印次数最多的报纸社评记录。一百多年以来，每个圣诞节前都要重印（发）一次，成为美国和加拿大民间的一个经典圣诞节故事。

原文

We take pleasure in answering at once and thus prominently the communication below, expressing at the same time our great gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the friends of THE SUN:

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

VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

译文

我们很荣幸能迅速而明确地回答下面这封来信，与此同时，为这位来信的忠实读者成为《太阳报》的朋友而感到十分高兴：

亲爱的编辑：我今年八岁。

我的一些小朋友们说，没有圣诞老人。

爸爸说：“如果你看《太阳报》说有，那就是有了”。

请告诉我实话：真的有圣诞老人吗？

弗吉尼娅·欧汉伦

西九十五街115号

弗吉尼娅，你的那些小朋友都错了。在他们的心中，肯定染上了现时流行的什么都怀疑的习性。他们只相信眼睛看得见的东西，他们觉得他们小小脑袋里想不到的事情，都是不存在的。所有的头脑，弗吉尼娅，不管是大人也好，小孩也好，本来是非常小的啊。在我们这个广阔无垠的宇宙里，与掌握全部真理和知识所需要的智慧相比，人的智慧，就像一只小虫那样，就像蚂蚁一样的小。

是的，弗吉尼娅，真的有圣诞老人。他确实存在，就像爱、慷慨和奉献一样，你知道它们无处不在，并给你的生活带来太多的美好和快乐。唉，要是没有了圣诞老人，这世界将会是多么的沉闷，就像没有弗吉尼娅一样。不再有纯真的信仰、不再有诗歌、不再有浪漫能让我们的生活好受一点。我们能体味得到的喜悦，只剩下眼睛能看到、手能触摸到、身体能感觉到的东西。儿童时代充满世界的光明，也会熄灭。

不相信圣诞老人！你不如连精灵也都不信了！你也许可以让你的爸爸雇人，在圣诞夜守在所有的烟囱里去抓圣诞老人。但就算他们没看见圣诞老人下来，那又能证明什么呢？没有看到圣诞老人，但那并不代表圣诞老人不存在。这个世界上最真实的东西，是大人和小孩都看不到的东西。你见过精灵在草地上跳舞吗？肯定没有，但那不能证明他们不在。谁也无法想象出这世界上所有没见过和看不见的奇观。

你也许可以把婴儿的拨浪鼓拆开，看看里面是什么东西在发出声响。但是有一道大幕遮盖着这个未知的世界，即使是最强壮的人，甚至是所有最强壮的人在一起，都无法将它撕开。只有心怀信仰、通过想像、诗歌、爱和浪漫，才能拉开那遮盖这世界的大幕，看到大幕后面无法形容的美好和壮丽。这些都是真的吗？哦，弗吉尼娅，在这个世界上，再没有比这更真实和永恒的了。

怎么会没有圣诞老人！感谢上帝！他活着，而且永远活着。一千年后，弗吉尼娅，不，十个一万年以后，他仍将给孩子们的心灵带来快乐。

参考

1. Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus
2. 'Is there a Santa Claus?': How a child's letter inspired the classic 'Yes, Virginia' response