Santa Claus Lyrics

Lyrics

MUSIC
Now, the VOA Special English
program WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.
Santa Claus is someone
who will remain in the hearts
of children forever.
He is the make-believe person
who brings toys and other gifts
to children at Christmas.
To grown-ups,
he is a special symbol of
good will and selfless giving.
Santa Claus also has
some other names:
Saint Nicholas, St. Nick,
Kris Kringle, Pelznickel.
Two of his names
-- Santa Claus and Saint Nicholas
-- both come from the Dutch
who settled in New York long ago.
The Dutch believed Saint Nikolaas
gave gifts to children.
They honored this kindly saint
with a yearly festival
on December sixth.
The English-speaking people
who lived nearby greatly
enjoyed Dutch festivals.
And they brought the Saint
and the custom of giving gifts
into their own celebration
at Christmas time.
The Dutch spoke the name
Saint Nikolaas very fast.
It sounded like Sinterklaas.
And so, when the English
said this word,
it sounded like Santa Claus.
West of New York, in Pennsylvania,
many German farmers had also
heard of Saint Nikolaas.
But they called him Pelznickel.
This word came from pelz,
meaning fur, and nickel for Nicholas.
And so, to the Germans of Pennsylvania,
Saint Nicholas or Pelznickel
was a man dressed in fur
who came once a year
with gifts for good children.
Soon, people began to feel
that the love
and kindness Pelznickel brought
should be part of
a celebration honoring the Christkindl,
as the Germans called
the Christ child. After a time,
this became Kris Kringle.
Later, Kris Kringle became
another name for Santa Claus himself.
Whatever he is called,
he is still the same short,
fat, jolly old man
with a long beard,
wearing a red suit with white fur.
The picture of Santa Claus,
as we see him,
came from Thomas Nast.
He was an American painter
born in Bavaria.
He painted pictures
for Christmas poems.
Someone asked him to paint
a picture of Santa Claus.
Nast remembered when
he was a little boy
in southern Germany.
Every Christmas, a fat old man
gave toys and cakes to the children.
So, when Nast painted the picture,
his Santa Claus looked like
the kindly old man of his childhood.
And through the years,
Nast's painting has remained
as the most popular picture Of Santa Claus.
Santa can be seen almost
everywhere in large American cities
during the Christmas season.
Some stand on street corners
asking for money to buy food
and gifts for the needy.
Others are found in stores
and shopping centers.
It is easy to find them
by the long lines of children
waiting to tell Santa
what they want for Christmas.
MUSIC
You have been listening
to the VOA Special English program
WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.
Maurice Joyce was your narrator.
I'm Shirley Griffith.