孩子真正想要的圣诞礼物你知道吗？

The Christmas list.
圣诞愿望清单。

There’s the request for the Nerf Rhino-Fire Blaster, or the desire for those little Monster High dollies of the night. But pull away from the kids you know and take a look at what’s on the Christmas lists that end up in mailboxes all over town, addressed to the North Pole.
也许你身边的孩子想要犀牛双管机枪，或是精灵高中的玩偶。但是暂时忘掉那些孩子的愿望吧，看看寄到北极的信，看看孩子们在信上写的圣诞愿望清单。

The chief elf-in-charge of these letters is Sherry Johnson-Battle, and she’s letting us look through some of the 500 letters that came from children in the nation’s capital this year.
主管这些信的圣诞老人精灵助手是雪莉·约翰森-百特尔，她让我们有机会看到了来自纽约小朋友的500封信中的一部分。

More than half of the requests were taken on by companies or fellow elves to make sure the wishes were filled.
孩子们的心愿超半数都由公司或精灵助手来帮助达成。

Yes, the children want Xboxes, iPhones and televisions. They provide specific information for the make, model and color of the $100 sneakers they will outgrow in two weeks.
的确，孩子们想要游戏机、苹果手机和电视。还有孩子给出了自己想要的100美元运动鞋的具体信息，包括产地、型号和颜色，尽管他们要的鞋穿不到两个星期就小了。

And there are sure signs of self-confidence.
有些孩子体现出了高度的自信心。

“I would like you to grant me my wishes because I’m a great child.
“我希望你答应我三个愿望，因为我是个很棒的孩子。

1. electric scooter
电动踏板车

2. Barbie Dream House
芭比梦幻屋

3. Baby Alive.”
淘气宝贝娃娃”

Maybe a trophy, too, great child?
再来一个奖杯，怎么样？

But then you come across the stories of a city in these letters, too.
不过，你也会在这些信中读出一个城市的故事。

“Dear Santa,” they all begin.
“亲爱的圣诞老人”，他们都这样开头。

“I am the middle child,” one continues.
“我是老二”，一个孩子紧接着写道。

“I lived in a shelter for 5 years. My father abanded [sic] me all my life ever since I was born. My mother was trying to take care of us but she was struggling to put food in our mouths.”
“我在一家收容所生活了5年。差不多从我出生起，我爸爸就抛弃了我。妈妈设法照顾我们，但也却只能勉强糊口。”

These are the tough ones to read.
读这些信会让你难过。

Because they also tell you about the state of a city and a civilization, the way an economy, situations and environment mold a child’s soul.
因为他们也告诉你一个城市和一种文明的状态。一个经济体、某种情境和环境对孩子心灵的影响。

“Dear Santa. For Christmas, I will not ask for much. I really need khaki uniform pants,” wrote one 11-year-old girl, who explained that she has “very few pairs of pants for school.”
一个11岁的女孩这样写道，“亲爱的圣诞老人，我不会要太多圣诞礼物。我真的很想要卡其制服的裤子，因为我几乎没有上学穿的裤子。”

“I also need a very steep and nice-size bookbag for school. I’m in 6th grade and carry alot of books,” she said, explaining that her bag had ripped.
小女孩说，“我还想要一个很大很能装的书包。我现在上六年级，背的书很多。”她解释道她的书包已经破了。

The kids who have these stories almost always ask for something for a parent or a sibling, too. Or, more often, they ask for things only for others.
此外，有这种故事的孩子总是为父母或兄弟姐妹要礼物。或者，更多情况下，他们要的礼物都给别人的。

It’s a community and spirit baked into some of the American underclass. For centuries, even.
几个世纪以来，这种“团队”文化与精神已经深入到美国底层阶级的思想中。

A New York guy remodeling his Hell’s Kitchen apartment recently found letters to Santa from more than 100 years ago. A fatherless child of Irish immigrants wrote a letter in 1907 asking for a wagon for her brother. And then reminded Santa: “P.S. Please do not forget the poor.”
最近，一名正在整修其地狱厨房公寓的纽约人发现了一些100多年前写给圣诞老人的信。1907年，一名失去父亲的爱尔兰移民小孩在信中写道，想要一辆马车作为哥哥的圣诞礼物。还提醒圣诞老人：“注：请不要忘记穷人。”

Sometimes, a request raises the elf’s eyebrows:
有时，也会有些让精灵助手吃惊的请求：

“A Victoria’s Secret gift card for mom,” we read.
比如，我们会读到这样的信，“想要给妈妈一个维多利亚的秘密（内衣名牌）的礼品卡，”

“Guess she wants mom to get her swag,” the elf said.
孩子说，“可能她想让妈妈也拉风一回，”

But most of those letters in the nation’s capital come from kids asking Santa to help pay parents’ bills, to help dads get jobs, to get the family an apartment or to bring a “grocery cart” to help mom lug her groceries home.
但大多数纽约孩子都会在信中请求圣诞老人来帮助父母支付账单、帮助父亲找到工作、帮助家庭买一套公寓或给一辆“购物车”帮妈妈把杂货运回家等。

It looks like a class thing. But the truth is, all children have that light within. And we adults choose what to do with it.
这看起来像是专属于某个阶层的愿望。但事实是，所有的孩子内心都是善良的。我们成年人来选择如何面对。

This week, when my son started a last-minute scramble to rewrite his Christmas list (again), he surprised me.
这周，当我的儿子在最后时刻匆忙重写他的圣诞列表时，让我吃了一惊。

He had just talked on the phone to my brother, a commercial fisherman who can’t leave the waters this time of year, and the boys ached to see him.
他刚刚和我弟弟通过电话。我的弟弟是一个商业渔民，每年这个时候不能离开水，但是孩子们很渴望能见到他。

“I only want one thing from Santa. A plane ticket for Uncle Mike so he could be with us,” my son said.
儿子写道，“我只希望圣诞老人帮我实现一件事。给麦克叔叔一张机票，这样他就可以和我们团聚了。”

Listen to the kids, my friends.
听听孩子的声音吧，朋友们。

英文来源：华盛顿邮报
译者：赵丽丽
审校&编辑：丹妮