世界上有没有圣诞老人?

Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus
Editorial Page, New York Sun, 1897

We take pleasure in answering 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:

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

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a sceptical 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.

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 external 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 you 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 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, 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 lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!!

100多年前《太阳报》一篇有关圣诞节的著名社论。一个小女孩写信给报社，问世界上有没有圣诞老人。报社的编辑不但没有轻视这位小女孩的问题，而且用了一个头版社论回答这个问题。后来这篇社论成了美国新闻史上最著名的社论。去google搜索到了这篇文章让我们重温一下（以前看过董桥翻译的句子，比较漂亮，可惜网上搜索不到）：

帕吉尼娅，让我们来回答你的问题。
你的朋友说没有圣诞老人，那是错的。
在那个孩子的心中，肯定是染上了现时流行的什么都怀疑的习性。
什么都怀疑的人，只相信眼睛看得见的东西。
什么都怀疑的人，是心地狭窄的人。因为心地狭窄，不懂的东西就很多。虽然那样,还断定自己不懂的事情都是谎话。
不过，人的心这个东西，大人也好，小孩也好，本来是非常小的啊。
在我们居住的这个无限广阔的宇宙里，我们人的智慧，就像一条小虫那样，是的，就像蚂蚁一样小。
要想推测广阔的，深奥的世界，就需要能够理解所有事物﹑所有事物的巨大的﹑深邃的智慧。
是的， 帕吉尼娅，圣诞老人是有的，这绝不是谎话。在这个世界上，如同有爱﹑有同情心﹑有诚实一样，圣诞老人也确确实实是有的。
你大概也懂得吧，正是充满这个世界的爱﹑诚实，才使你的生活变得美好了，快乐了。
假如没有圣诞老人，这个世界该是多么的黑暗，多么的寂寞！
就像没有你这样可爱的孩子，世界不可想象一样，没有圣诞老人的世界,也是不可想象的。
没有圣诞老人，减轻我们痛苦的孩子般的信赖﹑诗﹑爱情故事，也许全都没有了。我们人类能体味得到的喜悦，大概只剩下眼睛能看到的﹑手能摸到的﹑身体能感觉到的东西了。并且，儿童时代充满世界的光明，说不定也会全都消失了。
怎么说没有圣诞老人呢？
不相信有圣诞老人，和不相信有妖精是一样的。
试试看，圣诞节前夜，让爸爸给你雇一个侦探，让他监视一下全纽约的烟囱怎么样？也许能抓住圣诞老人噢！
但是，即使看不到从烟囱里出来的圣诞老人的身影,那能证明什么呢？
没有人看见圣诞老人。可是那不能证明没有圣诞老人。
因为，这个世界上最确实的东西，是孩子的眼睛﹑大人的眼睛都看不见的东西。
帕吉尼娅,你看到过妖精在草地上跳舞吗？肯定没有吧，虽然如此，也不能说妖精是胡编的瞎话。
这个世界上某些看不见的东西，不能看到的东西，绝不是人们头脑中创造出来的,想象出来的。
我们能分解婴儿的哗啷棒，看它的声音是怎么出来的,里面是怎样组装的；但是，眼睛看不见的覆盖着世界的大幕，不管有多大力气的人，不，即使全世界的大力士一起上，也是拉不开的。
只有信赖﹑想象力﹑诗﹑爱﹑爱情,才能在某一个时刻，把它拉开，看到大幕后面的﹑无法形容的﹑美好的﹑闪闪发光的东西。
那样美好﹑闪光的东西,难道是人们编造的瞎话吗？
不， 帕吉尼娅，那么确实，那么永恒的东西，就存在于这个世界之上。
说没有圣诞老人？
哪儿的话!让我们高兴的是，圣诞老人的确存在。不止如此，他大概永远不会死亡。
一千年以后，一百万年以后，圣诞老人也会同现在一样，让孩子们的心高兴起来。

(《圣诞老人是有的》是美国CBS电视台播出的圣诞动画特辑，根据1897年的真实故事改编，一位名叫Virginia O'Hanlon的8岁小女孩，给当时著名的纽约台太阳报去信，询问世间是否真的有圣诞老人，报社编辑对此进行认真的回复：“是的，帕吉尼娅，圣诞老人是有的”。这部特辑片长不过二十一分钟，却狠狠地感动了我。。。)