Chapter 34 second quarter

The twenty-fourth of December has arrived.In order to prepare for this annual "New Year's Eve" in the United States, Brown stopped the pen in his hand two days ago, drove their Ford station wagon with Homan, went shopping for holiday supplies, and talked with There are Christmas trees outside the gates.Wrap colorful lanterns on it, hang beautiful little boots, little socks, and a white-bearded Santa Claus wearing a pointed red hat, red robe, and a big gift bag. Cheng Shaozhong didn't know anything about Christmas as if he had never heard of Thanksgiving. He didn't know the meaning of all this, so he just watched Sophia help Homan insert candles on a wreath called Advent .

"Do you want to know the origin of Christmas?" Sophia didn't want Cheng Shaozhong to go out of his body and think about his relatives in China when they celebrated the festival, so she tried every means to make him happy, and told him the story of the birth of Jesus: That was a long time ago.The Roman Empire in Europe was very powerful.It ruled much of the world long before Julius Caesar came to the throne.At that time, King Herod the Great of the Tumai tribe was appointed to govern the nation of Israel for the Roman Empire. Herod the Great was brutal and politically ambitious.He crazily oppressed his Jewish subjects, making the nation of Israel shrouded in the shadow of terror all day long.So, all the Jews prayed for the arrival of the savior.At this time, a prophet predicted that a virgin would come here with a little boy, and a savior would appear in the nation of Israel.All the Jews rejoiced in having hope.

In a village called Galilee in Nazareth, there lived a newlywed couple, the husband named Joseph and the wife named Maria.Joseph was an excellent carpenter, and Maria was young, beautiful, and a virgin.They live in a cottage built by Joseph. One day, Maria said to Joseph with twinkling eyes: "Last night, I dreamed of a little angel. He told me that I would be pregnant with the Son of God. This Son of God is the savior of mankind. I don't understand what the little angel said. , I was very scared. In the dream, I wanted to wake you up, but the little angel told me not to be afraid, saying that God likes me. The little angel also said that the son of God should be named Jesus, and his kingdom will last forever live."

"I really don't understand your words, how is this possible?" Joseph said doubtfully. "Oh, Joseph!" laughed Maria. "I don't understand it myself. But the little angel told me that with God, anything is possible. Now I believe this to be true, so I very happy." Joseph didn't smile, he didn't know how to look at this matter: "Could it be that God really sent a little angel to talk to Maria? Or is Maria just living in her own dream?" Thinking this way, Joseph said stiffly to Maria. Say, "I must pray to God, please help me to understand what your dream is about!"

In the next few days, Joseph rarely talked to Maria.After returning home every day, he always prayed for an hour before dinner, and then ate in silence.Maria didn't mind her husband's indifference, and she was completely immersed in happiness at this time. A few days later, Joseph's prayers were answered.Once in a dream, a little angel appeared in front of his eyes and said to him: "Don't worry, everything Maria said is true. In fact, Maria is pregnant with the son of God." Woke up the next day Come, Joseph told Maria his dream.Together they were happy about it. Joseph said: "I must go to Bethlehem right away. The Son of God should be born there. But it takes more than a hundred miles to get to Bethlehem! I think you can't walk that far."

"Dear Joseph," Maria replied, "don't worry, God will take care of his son."—she also had a premonition that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem. Early the next morning, Joseph and Maria set off.They walked continuously for three days and three nights, and when they arrived in Bethlehem, it was already late at night.Joseph and Maria found a stable.Joseph cleaned the inside and made two beds out of clean hay.Joseph saw a long, narrow trough along the base of the wall, just big enough for a child's cradle.So Joseph got some firewood, boiled some boiling water, cleaned the trough, and spread clean hay in it.

The next night, Mary gave birth to Jesus.When Jesus was born, a particularly bright star appeared over the town of Bethlehem, which could be seen hundreds of miles away. On this magical night, all creatures came to celebrate the birth of the Son Jesus—ox, sheep, deer, fox, all knelt down and prayed to God.The horses bray all night, tirelessly.The bees sang and danced happily, humming and singing non-stop.In the snow, flowers are blooming.All the water in the river turned into fine wine... God has been watching over his Son.Many years later, Jesus grew up. He was very wise and strong, and his heart was filled with the kindness of God.

"Is that the old man with the white beard wearing the red pointed hat?" Cheng Shaozhong couldn't help asking because he heard it interestingly. "No, these are two different things, that is Saint Nicholas." Sophia said, and then told Cheng Shaozhong the story of Saint Nicholas: Nicholas turned out to be a Catholic priest in Myra in the fourth century.Myra was located in Asia Minor, in what is now Turkey.Nicholas's ancestors were very rich, but he gradually gave away these properties, especially to children in need.For example, there was a poor nobleman who raised three daughters, all of whom were beautiful. When they became adults, they each found their beloved and were ready to get married.However, they immediately encountered a problem: their father was too poor to prepare a dowry for them.The father felt sorry for the daughters and was very sad about it.

It so happened that Saint Nicholas lived nearby.The good saint spent his life doing good to others, doing what he could to help those in need. One night, the saint came to the town on a white horse, looking for the poor nobleman and his three daughters.When he found the little room where they lived, he looked in through a crack in the wall.At that time, the three girls happened to have washed their clothes and hung their wet clothes in front of the fire, while three pairs of long socks were hung on the chimney.Nicholas suddenly had a great idea.He took out three small bags full of gold coins from the purse, and put them into the stockings of his three daughters along the chimney.

At this time, the ruined nobleman was worried about his daughter's marriage and couldn't fall asleep for a long time.When he heard the clatter of hooves as the saint left, he looked through the crack of the door and called out, "Nicholas! Nicholas!" But Nicholas had disappeared into the darkness. The next day, when the three daughters woke up, they found their stockings were full of gold coins.That money is enough for them to prepare dowry. Thanks to the help of Saint Nicholas, the three daughters soon married their beloved.Soon, their father also happily became a grandfather.Since then, many children in the world hang up their stockings or put out their shoes on Christmas Eve, waiting for Saint Nicholas or someone else to give them gifts.

Nicholas died in AD 34 and was buried in Myra.In 187, the believers in Bari, a small port in southern Italy, built the St. Nicholas Church in Bari specially for him.Since then, Christians from all over the world have gone to Bari, Italy to worship him.After that, he began to appear in the days when pilgrims celebrated Christmas, driving a sleigh pulled by six sika deer, and distributed Christmas gifts to children all over the world. Only then did Cheng Shaozhong figure out that Santa Claus was originally a person who was introduced by people to enrich the content of the activities of the Christmas Anniversary. Looking forward to it, thus enlivening the atmosphere of the original festival.He thinks that the Virgin Mary and Saint Jesus in the West are tolerant and benevolent, because it is Nicholas who can make so many people happy. After all, it is not the moaning of the Virgin and the crying of the birth saint. The queen mother who gets angry at every turn is much cuter. Suddenly, Cheng Shaozhong thought of Mary from the Virgin Mary, and asked Sophia: "How is Mary these days? Is she still sad for Fang Zhiwu's departure?" "NO! NO! NO!" Sophia denied while hanging the candle-studded Advent wreath on the window. "She's with Joan now, and she's also doing a striptease." "What? You said Mary also went to a striptease?" Cheng Shaozhong thought it incredible. "Working for money! What's the fuss?" Sophia said, "She likes to striptease, it's her right, understand?"