對于英國人而言，每年圣誕節(jié)都有一個傳統(tǒng)，那就是圣誕節(jié)當天下午三點的女王圣誕致辭。這是在英國政府不提供意見的情況下由女王親自撰稿的公開發(fā)表個人看法的演講。 女王的講話會包含自己對一年世界大事的見解，用最適中的語速、最皇室范的英音對全世界播出。在今年的圣誕致辭里，女王提到了法國的恐怖襲擊，提到了二戰(zhàn)勝利70周年，提到四世同堂“長壽的樂趣”——夏洛特公主的降生，還提到她對來年的祝?！?/p>

我們一起聆聽這優(yōu)美的英音吧。

At this time of year， few sights evoke more feelings of cheer and goodwill than the twinkling lights of a Christmas tree.

The popularity of a tree at Christmas is due in part to my great-great grandparents， Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. After this touching picture was published， many families wanted a Christmas tree of their own， and the custom soon spread.

In 1949， I spent Christmas in Malta as a newly-married naval wife. We have returned to that island over the years， including last month for a meeting of Commonwealth leaders; and this year I met another group of leaders： The Queens Young Leaders， an inspirational group， each of them a symbol of hope in their own Commonwealth communities.

Gathering round the tree gives us a chance to think about the year ahead—I am looking forward to a busy 2016， though I have been warned I may have Happy Birthday sung to me more than once or twice.

It also allows us to reflect on the year that has passed， as we think of those who are far away or no longer with us. Many people say the first Christmas after losing a loved one is particularly hard. But its also a time to remember all that we have to be thankful for.

It is true that the world has had to confront moments of darkness this year， but the Gospel of John contains a verse of great hope， often read at Christmas carol services： “The light shines in the darkness， and the darkness has not overcome it.”

One cause for thankfulness this summer was marking seventy years since the end of the Second World War. On VJ Day， we honored the remaining veterans of that terrible conflict in the Far East， as well as remembering the thousands who never returned.

The procession from Horse Guards Parade to Westminster Abbey must have been one of the slowest ever， because so many people wanted to say ‘thank you to them.

At the end of that War， the people of Oslo began sending an annual gift of a Christmas tree for Trafalgar Square. It has five hundred light bulbs and is enjoyed not just by Christians but by people of all faiths， and of none. At the very top sits a bright star， to represent the Star of Bethlehem.

The custom of topping a tree also goes back to Prince Alberts time. For his familys tree， he chose an angel， helping to remind us that the focus of the Christmas story is on one particular family.

For Joseph and Mary， the circumstances of Jesuss birth—in a stable—were far from ideal， but worse was to come as the family was forced to flee the country. Its no surprise that such a human story still captures our imagination and continues to inspire all of us who are Christians， the world over.

Despite being displaced and persecuted throughout his short life， Christs unchanging message was not one of revenge or violence but simply that we should love one another.

Although it is not an easy message to follow， we shouldnt be discouraged; rather， it inspires us to try harder： to be thankful for the people who bring love and happiness into our own lives， and to look for ways of spreading that love to others， whenever and wherever we can.

One of the joys of living a long life is watching ones children， then grandchildren， then great grandchildren， help decorate the Christmas tree. And this year my family has a new member to join in the fun！

The customary decorations have changed little in the years since that picture of Victoria and Alberts tree first appeared， although of course electric lights have replaced the candles.

Theres an old saying that it is better to light a candle than curse the darkness. There are millions of people lighting candles of hope in our world today.

Christmas is a good time to be thankful for them， and for all that bring light to our lives.

I wish you a very happy Christmas.

每年此時，沒有什么情景比圣誕樹上閃爍的燈光更讓人感到歡樂祥和。

圣誕樹的流行部分歸功于我的曾曾祖父母——維多利亞女王和阿爾伯特親王。這張溫馨的圖片公布后，很多家庭都想要一棵自己的圣誕樹，這一習俗也很快普及開來。

1949年，初為海軍軍嫂的我在馬耳他度過圣誕節(jié)。多年以來，我們多次回到馬耳他島，上個月還在那里召開英聯(lián)邦領導人會議。今年我會晤了另一批領導人——“女王青年領袖”，這是一個鼓舞人心的團體，其中的每個人都是各自英聯(lián)邦社區(qū)的希望。

聚在圣誕樹旁，我們可以借此機會開始展望來年。我盼望著2016年忙忙碌碌，盡管有人說，我可能會不止一次兩次聽到別人為我唱生日歌（2016年是伊麗莎白女王九十歲生日，屆時會有多場慶?；顒樱?/p>

圣誕樹也讓我們回首過去的一年;我們想到了那些遠離我們或者已經(jīng)永遠離開了我們的人。很多人說失去平生所愛后的第一個圣誕節(jié)是最艱難的。盡管如此，圣誕節(jié)也是一個讓我們想想我們要感恩的人的時刻。

的確，過去的這一年，世界不得不面對諸多黑暗時刻。可《約翰福音》中有一句充滿希望的話這樣說，圣誕贊歌中也常常朗誦：“光明照亮了黑暗，黑暗卻無法蒙蔽光明。”

今年夏天紀念二戰(zhàn)結束七十周年是一件值得感恩的事。在對日作戰(zhàn)勝利日，我們給仍然在世的參加過遠東戰(zhàn)場作戰(zhàn)的老兵們授勛，也緬懷數(shù)千名沒有能夠再次回到祖國的犧牲者們。

從騎兵衛(wèi)隊場到威斯敏斯特宮的隊伍大抵是行進最慢的一次，因為太多的人想對他們說一聲“謝謝”。

二戰(zhàn)結束后，奧斯陸人民每年向特拉法加廣場贈送一棵圣誕樹。樹上掛著1500個燈泡;不僅基督徒喜愛它，無論何種信仰或有無信仰的人們都喜愛它。在樹頂有一顆明星，它代表著“伯利恒之星”（所謂“伯利恒之星”是《圣經(jīng)》中記載的一顆奇特天體。據(jù)說，在耶穌誕生時，有三個博士在東方觀察到一顆屬于“猶太人之王”的星，前來耶路撒冷拜見，就在博士們前往附近的伯利恒尋找時，先前看見的那顆星，又忽然出現(xiàn)在前方，引領他們來到耶穌降生之處。后世科學家推測這可能是金星和木星交匯。）。

這一習俗也要追溯到阿爾伯特親王時代。他把一個天使放在自家的圣誕樹頂，提醒我們圣誕節(jié)紀念了一個家庭的故事。

對于約瑟和瑪麗而言，耶穌出生在馬廄，這樣的環(huán)境難免不夠理想，可更糟糕的是這家人還被迫逃離故土。然而，這個故事依舊捕捉著我們的想象力，繼續(xù)激勵著全世界所有的基督徒，這并不令人驚訝。

基督短暫的一生中顛沛流離、飽受迫害，可盡管如此，他一如既往地倡導的不是復仇，不是暴力，而是人人相愛。

盡管踐行不易，我們也不要灰心。相反，這鼓勵著我們要加倍努力，感謝那些給我們生命帶來愛和幸福的人，并想方設法將這份愛傳遞給他人——無論何時，無論身處何處。

長壽的喜悅之一是兒孫繞膝。先是兒女，然后是孫輩，現(xiàn)在有重孫輩幫我裝扮圣誕樹。今年，我家又有一位新成員共享天倫。

自維多利亞和阿爾伯特的圣誕樹出現(xiàn)以來，傳統(tǒng)的圣誕裝飾變化甚微，當然，電燈取代了蠟燭。

老話說，“點燃蠟燭勝過咒罵黑暗”。如今，我們的世界上有成百上千萬的人都在點燃希望的蠟燭。

值此圣誕佳節(jié)，向他們表示感謝，對所有給我們生活帶來光明的人表示感謝。

愿諸君圣誕快樂。

詞匯累積

1. evoke vt. 引起

2. inspirational adj. 鼓舞人心的

3. reflect on 反思

4. confront vt. 對抗，面對

5. verse n. 頌歌

6. veteran n. 老兵

7. procession n. 隊伍

8. go back to 追溯到（同義詞組為date back to）

9. capture vt. 俘獲，捕捉

10. displaced adj. 顛沛流離

11. persecute vt. 迫害

12. rather adv. 相反（此時相當于instead）

知識延伸

人們常在問候的時候說“Happy New Year”、“Happy Valentines day”，可為什么圣誕祝福用“Merry Christmas”而不用“Happy Christmas”呢？ 今天我們來探究一下Merry Christmas的來源吧。

據(jù)說，Merry Christmas最早出現(xiàn)在1565年的一份海軍元帥所寫的祝福手稿上。手稿如下：（感覺像是英文中的文言文）

And thus I comytt you to god， who send you a mery Christmas & many.

我于是送你到主面前，愿主賜你圣誕快樂，萬事如意。

而Merry Christmas真正流行起來要歸功于英國文學界的“一哥”——查爾斯·狄更斯。1843年，狄更斯發(fā)表了一部中篇小說—— 《圣誕頌歌》（A Christmas Coral）?！妒フQ頌歌》只是一本薄薄的書，可Merry Christmas卻出現(xiàn)了14次。此外，精明的英國商人順勢推出了印有Merry Christmas字樣的圣誕賀卡，賣到近乎斷貨。于是，1843年，史上最早的Merry Christmas 賀卡問世。從那以后，Merry Christmas的說法隨著年復一年的圣誕賀卡傳遍了世界各地，并和Happy New Year組成了經(jīng)久不衰的黃金搭檔。

但我們還是不禁想問：Happy Christmas真的就不可以嗎？

其實，Happy Christmas從語法到用法都沒有問題。不僅如此，使用Happy Christmas的都是些有文化有修養(yǎng)的大咖。沒錯，英國女王——伊麗莎白二世就是代表人物，她從不使用Merry Christmas。在每年的圣誕講話的最后，女王陛下都會不疾不徐地道一聲：Happy Christmas。

女王為什么如此執(zhí)著地“不走尋常路”呢？也許是因為merry一詞的本義。早期的merry，總是和酗酒（intoxication）聯(lián)系在一起。因此，“一身酒氣”的merry明顯沒有happy健康、陽光。所以，即便Merry Christmas贏得了主流民意，Happy Christmas卻依然深得上心。不過，happy也好，merry也罷，對于大眾來說，不去計較圣誕背后的宗教情懷，它們都為寒冷的冬日平添一份節(jié)日的溫馨。

So Merry/Happy Christmas！