These sun-deprived people invented magical characters to visit them and lighten the mood by bringing gifts and celebrations. These characters ranged from elves to Gods to goats, but there are two of particular interest to the modern story.
这些缺乏日光的人们创造出神秘的角色拜访他们，并带来礼物及庆典来放松他们的情绪。这些角色的范围从精灵到神、到山羊都有，但对现代故事来说，其中有两个特别重要。
The first is Saint Nick, in The Netherlands. Saint Nick is thin and perhaps a bit stern, but still brings presents to children in early December. He dresses like a bishop in red and white with a staff and rides on a horse named Amerigo, for whom Dutch children are encouraged to leave out a carrot. Saint Nick is called Sinterklaas in Dutch.
第一个是荷兰的Saint Nick。Saint Nick很瘦，可能还有点严苛，但还是会在12月初带礼物给孩子们。他穿着像主教一样的红白衣服，拿着权仗并骑着一匹名为Amerigo的马，荷兰的孩子们被鼓励留给牠一支红萝卜。Saint Nick的荷兰文叫做Sinterklaas。
The second character is Father Christmas from England. Father Christmas is a big, jolly pagan dressed in green with a holly wreath on his head. Traditionally he is less concerned with children and gifts than he is with food and wine and celebration and is perhaps best known for being one of the three spirits of Christmas who terrorize Scrooge.
第二个角色是从英国来的Father Christmas。Father Christmas是个身材魁梧、快乐的异教徒，穿着绿色衣服，头戴冬青花环。传统上，他跟孩子们及礼物的关系，还不及于他和食物、美酒和庆典的关系，而且也许他最出名的身分可能是三个圣诞节精灵之中，会恐吓Scrooge(吝啬鬼)的那一个。
When Europeans settled the colonies, Saint Nick and Father Christmas and the other characters began to mix together. This explains why the U.S. version has so many names.
当欧洲人安顿好殖民地后，Saint Nick、Father Christmas及其他角色开始融合。这解释了为什么美国的版本有这么多名字。
Santa Claus is the Americanization of Sinterklaas, but he’s also called Saint Nick and Father Christmas and Kris Kringle which comes from Germany. In the old world these were different characters, but in the new world over time they evolved into one which you can see happening in older stories.