圣诞老人真的存在吗？—— 回答孩子提出的问题(《纽约太阳报》).doc

.圣诞老人真的存在吗？纽约太阳报回答孩子们提出的这个问题 1897年9月，一位小女孩听同学们说压根就没有圣诞老爷爷这回事，就去信问报纸，于是引出了至今流传的纽约太阳报著名的社论，题目是圣诞老人真的存在吗？ 回答孩子提出的问题。每当圣诞节来临，美国各地的报纸杂志总要重新刊登一次。亲爱的记者先生：我八岁。我的朋友里边，有的小孩说“圣诞老人是没有的。”我问爸爸，爸爸说，“去问问太阳报看，报社说有，那就真的有了。”因此，拜托了，请告诉我，圣诞老人真的有吗？帕吉尼娅. 欧汉劳恩 纽约市西95街115号纽约太阳报公布的回答： 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。在那些孩子的心中，肯定是形成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。在我们居住的这个无限广阔的宇宙里，我们人的智慧，就象一条小虫那样，是的，就象蚂蚁一样小。要想推测广阔的、深奥的世界，就需要能够理解所有事物，了解所有事物的巨大的、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，才使得你的生活变得美好了，快乐了。假如没有了圣诞老人，这个世界该是多么黑暗，多么寂寞！就象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，爱的故事，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，和不相信有精灵是一样的。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？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，你看到过精灵在草地上跳舞吗？肯定没有吧？虽然如此，也不能说精灵是胡编的瞎话。这个世界上某些看不见的东西，不能看到的东西，绝不是人们在头脑中创造出来的，想象出来的。我们能分解婴儿的哗啷棒，看它的声音是怎样出来的，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。圣诞老人的礼物只有信赖、想象力、诗、爱，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。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。 我所能想到的，就是这个世界总是美好的！原文：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, its so. Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?Signed Virginia OHanlonThe answer as published in the New York Sun was:Virginia, your little friends are wrong.They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be mens or childrens, 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 thats 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 babys 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 f