【文匯網訊】一個和聖誕有關的真實故事。
1897年，8歲美國小女孩 Virginia 寫信給紐約《太陽報》，問：這個世界上有沒有聖誕老人？出乎意料的是，《太陽報》在1897年9月21日專門發了一篇社論來回答這個問題：Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus（是的，Virginia，世界上的確有聖誕老人）。社論是該報社的資深編輯 Francis Church 寫的。從此，這篇社論成為歷史上被最多重印、轉發的報紙社論，並以幾十種語音出現在圖書、電影、報刊、海報裡。
以下是Virginia 寫給《太陽報》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."
（親愛的編輯，我的一些朋友說，世界上其實沒有聖誕老人。
爸爸說，如果《太陽報》說有，就是有。
請告訴我事實真相，有沒有聖誕老人？
－ 弗吉尼亞署名和地址）
以下是《太陽報》編輯的回信：
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.
（弗吉尼亞，你的小朋友們錯了。這是人們容易懷疑一切的時代，他們深受時代影響。除非親眼看見，他們不相信；如果自己不理解，就是不存在。但是弗吉尼亞，所有人的腦袋，無論大人的，還是小孩的，都是很小的。在我們所處的這個浩大的宇宙裡，相比於他周邊無所不知，無邊無際的世界，人類在智力上就像一隻昆蟲，一隻螞蟻。）
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，弗吉尼亞，聖誕老人確實存在。他的存在，就跟我們相信愛、善心、忠實是存在的一樣。世界上如果沒有聖誕老人該多麼無聊！就跟這世界如果沒有弗吉尼亞你一樣的無聊。再也沒有孩子氣的信仰，沒有詩歌，沒有浪漫，沒有快樂，生活變得無可容忍。孩子給世界帶來的光也將熄滅。）
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.
（如果不相信聖誕老人，那你也不能相信仙女了。你也許能讓你爸爸雇些人在聖誕晚上盯著你家的煙囪，看看聖誕老人來不來；即使他們沒看到，又能證明什麼呢？沒人見過聖誕老人，並不能說明沒有聖誕老人。世界上最真實的事情，反而是大人和小孩是看不見的。你見過仙女在草地上跳舞麼？當然沒有，但這不能證明她們沒做過這事兒。沒人能想像到這世界上所有人們沒見過或見不到的奇跡。）
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.
（你可以打開一個寶寶的響鈴玩具，看看裡面發出聲音的是什麼。但是你見不到的世界裡有一層帳幔，即使世界上最強最強的人也拉不開。只有我們的信仰、幻想、詩歌、愛、浪漫，才能推開那層布帳，讓我們看到至高的美麗和光輝。這是真的麼？啊，弗吉尼亞，在這個世界上沒有比這更真實和永恆的了。）
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.
（沒有聖誕老人？！感謝上帝，他活著，而且會永遠活著。一千年以後，弗吉尼亞，啊，也許十倍於一千年以後，他還會繼續給童年的心帶來快樂！）
Merry Christmas！ | 
