A LETTER TO SANTA CLAUS 圣诞老人亲启

Dear Santa,

What do I ask this year? I have pored over the colorful ads in the newspaper. So many lovely things, and yet I need nothing.

I realize this as I walk up the hill on my strong legs. I can hear the air fill my lungs. I feel the cold on my cheeks. I smell the smoke of the fire that warms my home. I see the snow-capped mountains and the slate-gray river peppered with fat geese.

I need nothing. There are people who love me. There are people who forgive my sometimes wretched temper and who touch me with loving hands. There are neighbors who smile at me in the store. There are shopkeepers who are tolerant when I don't have enough money. There are kind faces in public places.

Dogs and cats share my hearth ; I love to feel their fur with my hands. There are hawks that teach their young to fly, right here behind my house. There are deer that tiptoe into my yard and savor the fat apples in the snow.

Today I discovered a hole in my jeans. I felt the December air slither down my leg. Santa, dear old soul, just give me another day like this one in my life.

亲爱的圣诞老人：

今年我向您要什么礼物好呢？我把报纸上五颜六色的广告仔细读了一遍，好东西倒是不少，可我一样也不需要。

我用结实的双腿爬山的时候想明白一些事。我听见风吹进心脾，感觉到脸上的寒冷。我闻到暖房的炉火冒出的烟味，看见了山顶积雪的山巅。我还看见瓦灰色的河里游着成群的大肥鹅。

我什么也不缺。我有人爱。有人原谅我偶尔会发作的坏脾气，有人用充满爱的手温暖我。在商店里碰到街坊邻居，大家都对我笑脸相迎。买东西钱不够，老板也不发脾气。去公共场所看到的都是一张张友善的脸。

坐在壁炉前，我有猫狗相伴。我喜欢用手摸他们的毛。雄鹰就在我屋后教幼仔学习飞翔，还会有鹿踮着脚尖溜进我的院子，在雪地里享用我家的大苹果。

今天，我发现牛仔裤破了个洞。我感觉到十二月的冷风就沿着我那条腿在裤腿里穿行。圣诞老人，亲爱的老头儿，您就再送给我一个今天这样的日子吧。

-pore [pɔː(r)] v. 细看

-pepper [ˈpepə(r)] v. 使布满

-wretched [ˈretʃɪd] adj. 不幸的

-hearth [hɑːθ] n. 炉边

-savor [ˈseɪvə] v. 品尝

-slither [ˈslɪðə(r)] v. 滑动

给圣诞老人写信并非子虚乌有。事实上，在第40届世界圣诞老人大会上，丹麦属地格陵兰被确认为圣诞老人真正的故乡。芬兰拉普兰地区的罗瓦涅米(北极圈内)设有圣诞老人村(Santa Claus's House)。每年冬季的圣诞时节，芬兰的圣诞老人是最忙的，他们会收到来自世界各地的大人小孩寄来的信件，并且尽量一一回复。圣诞老人的信箱是：Santa's Post Office FIN－96930 Arctic Circle，Finland。