Christmas 圣诞节 December 25 十二月二十五日

The history of Christmas dates back over 4000 years. Many of our Christmas traditions were celebrated centuries before the Christ child was born. The 12 days of Christmas, the bright fires, the yule log, the giving of gifts, carnivals(parades) with floats, carolers who sing while going from house to house, the holiday feasts, and the church processions can all be traced back to the early Mesopotamians.

圣诞节的历史可以追溯到4000年以前。其实许多有关圣诞节的习俗都比基督的诞生要早好几个世纪。圣诞节的十二天、明亮的火焰、圣诞节的日期确定、礼物的赠送、有花车的圣诞狂欢、挨家挨户串门的圣诞颂歌者、圣诞宴会以及宗教游行都可以在早期的美索不达米亚找到痕迹。

Many of these traditions began with the Mesopotamian (美索不达米亚) celebration of New Years. The Mesopotamians believed in many gods, and as their chief god - Marduk (马杜克,古代巴比伦人的主神,原为巴比伦的太阳神). Each year as winter arrived it was believed that Marduk would do battle with the monsters of chaos. To assist Marduk in his struggle the Mesopotamians held a festival for the New Year. This was Zagmuk, the New Year's festival that lasted for 12 days.

这些传统大多始于美索不达米亚人对于新年的庆祝。美索不达米亚人信奉多个神，古巴比伦的太阳神马杜克是他们的主神。他们认为每年当冬天来临时马杜克就会和混乱之魔作战，为了协助马杜克，他们就举行了新年这一节日。这就是Zagmuk,这一节日持续12天。

The Mesopotamian king would return to the temple of Marduk and swear his faithfulness to the god. The traditions called for the king to die at the end of the year and to return with Marduk to battle at his side.

依照传统，美索不达米亚国王要在年末返回马杜克神庙向神灵宣誓效忠。然后死去，以帮助马杜克作战。

To spare their king, the Mesopotamians used the idea of a "mock" king. A criminal was chosen and dressed in royal clothes. He was given all the respect and privileges of a real king. At the end of the celebration the "mock" king was stripped of the royal clothes and slain, sparing the life of the real king.

为了拯救他们的国王，美索不达米亚人想到了一个方法--用一个“假”的国王。一个罪犯被选出来穿着国王的衣服代替国王。他拥有真国王的特权并得到人们的尊重。在仪式的最后，他被剥去衣服并被杀死，这样就拯救了真正的国王。

The Roman's celebrated their god Saturn. Their festival was called Saturnalia which began the middle of December and ended January 1st. With cries of "Jo Saturnalia!" the celebration would include masquerades (化妆舞会) in the streets, big festive meals, visiting friends and the exchange of good-luck gifts called Strenae (lucky fruits).

罗马人庆祝他们的神土星。他们的节日“Saturnalis”开始于十二月十五日结束于一月一日。这个节日包括大街上人们大叫“Jo Saturnalia”的化妆舞会，盛大的节日宴会，互访朋友互赠幸运果。

"Jo Saturnalia!" was a fun and festive time for the Romans, but the Christians though it an abomination (深恶痛绝) to honor the pagan (异教) god. The early Christians wanted to keep the birthday of their Christ child a solemn and religious holiday, not one of cheer and merriment as was the pagan Saturnalia.

“Jo Saturnalia”是罗马人一个有趣的节日，但是天主教徒们认为崇拜异教邪神是奇耻大辱。早期的天主教徒想把基督的生日作为一个神圣的宗教节日，而不是对邪神崇拜的狂欢。

But as Christianity spread they were alarmed by the continuing celebration of pagan customs and Saturnalia among their converts. At first the Church forbid this kind of celebration. But it was to no avail (徒劳). Eventually it was decided that the celebration would be tamed and made into a celebration fit for the Christian Son of God.

但是随着天主教的传播，人们注意到越来越多的异教徒开始庆祝这一节日。一开始，教会禁止这种庆祝活动但是却徒劳无功。后来，他们决定把这种庆祝形式加以改造，使这个庆祝形式更适合对神之子的庆祝。

Some legends claim that the Christian "Christmas" celebration was invented to compete against the pagan celebrations of December. The 25th was not only sacred to the Romans but also the Persians whose religion Mithraism (密特拉教，奉祀密特拉神的宗教，纪元后最初3世纪内传至罗马帝国) was one of Christianity's main rivals at that time. The Church eventually was successful in taking the merriment, lights, and gifts from the Saturanilia festival and bringing them to the celebration of Christmas.

有的传说认为圣诞节的庆祝一开始是为了与当时异教的十二月庆祝竞争。十二月二十五日不仅是罗马人的神圣 节日，对信奉密特拉教波斯人来说也很重要。密特拉教在当时是天主教最大的对手。后来，教会逐渐在竞争中占了上风，异教的礼物、欢庆、光亮等形式也被吸收进 来，就形成了现在的圣诞节。