christmas stockings and christmas cards 聖誕襪和聖誕卡
there was a kindly nobleman whose wife had died of an illness leaving the nobleman and his three daughters in despair. after losing all his money in useless and bad inventions the family had to move into a peasant's cottage, where the daughters did their own cooking, sewing and cleaning.
when it came time for the daughters to marry, the father became even more depressed as his daughters could not marry without dowries, money and property given to the new husband's family.
one night after the daughters had washed out their clothing they hung their stockings over the fireplace to dry. that night saint nicholas, knowing the despair of the father, stopped by the nobleman's house. looking in the window saint nicholas saw that the family had gone to bed. he also noticed the daughters stockings. inspiration struck saint nicholas and he took three small bags of gold from his pouch and threw them one by one down the chimney and they landed in the stockings.
the next morning when the daughters awoke they found their stockings contained enough gold for them to get married. the nobleman was able to see his three daughters marry and he lived a long and happy life.
children all over the world continue the tradition of hanging christmas stockings. in some countries children have similar customs, in france the children place their shoes by the fireplace, a tradition dating back to when children wore wooden peasant shoes.
in holland the children fill their shoes with hay and a carrot for the horse of sintirklass. in hungary children shine their shoes before putting them near the door or a window sill.
italian children leave their shoes out the night before epiphany, january 5, for la befana the good witch. and in puerto rico children put greens and flowers in small boxes and place them under their beds for the camels of the three kings.
關於聖誕節在火爐邊懸掛聖誕襪也有一個有趣的傳說。很久很久以前有一個心地善良的貴族，他的妻子因病去逝，拋下他和他的三個女兒。這個貴族嘗試了不少發明，都失敗了，但也因此耗盡了錢財，所以他們不得不搬到一家農舍里生活，他的女兒們也只得親自燒煮、縫紉和打掃。
一晃幾年過去，女兒們陸續到了出嫁的年齡，父親卻變得更加沮喪，因為他沒錢給女兒們買嫁妝。一天晚上，女兒們洗完衣服後將長統襪掛在壁爐前烘乾。聖人nicholas知道了她們父親的境況後，就在那天晚上，來到她們的家門前。他從視窗看到一家人都已睡著了，同時也注意到了女孩們的長統襪。隨即，他從口袋裡掏出三小包黃金從煙囪上一個個投下去，剛好掉在女孩們的長統襪里。
第二天早上，女兒們醒來發現她們的長統襪里裝滿了金子，足夠供她們買嫁妝了。這個貴族也因此能親眼看到他的女兒們結婚，從此便過上了幸福快樂的生活。後來，世界各地的孩子們都繼承了懸掛聖誕襪的傳統。有些國家的孩子則有其它類似的風俗，如在法國，孩子們將鞋子放在壁爐旁等等。