Christmas begins at the night of the 23rd after the kids have gone to bed. Adults stay up late drinking coffee, making food, decorating and organizing so that when children wake up early the next day, the house is clean and smells good. 圣诞活动从二十三号晚上小孩子们上床睡觉后开始。 大人们熬夜喝咖啡，准备食物，装饰和整理房子好让小孩子们在第二天一早起床时有个干淨并充满香气的环境。

　　For breakfast, people eat rice porridge with cinnamon, sugar, and cold milk. There's an almond hidden in the porridge and it's said that whoever gets it will be very lucky or get married the next year. 人们吃加了肉桂、糖和牛奶的粥当做早餐，而且深信谁吃了粥里藏著的那一颗杏仁果，那么第二年将会非常幸运或是会结婚。

　　The animals also have to have their Christmas, so kids give special treats to their pets. People take a wheat bunch outside to the little birds. 所有的动物也要过圣诞节，所以小孩子们会给他们的宠物特别的小礼物，而人们也会拿麦束去给外面的鸟儿吃。

　　In the midst of all the cooking, adults sip glogg with raisins and nuts. Kids go to see some relatives with their father. Sauna is naturally an important part of the Finnish Christmas. 准备圣诞大餐的中场休息时间，大人们喝着加了葡萄干和干果的格拉格酒，小孩们则由父亲带着去拜访亲戚。 当然啦! 其中最重要的一样休闲活动是洗芬兰浴。

　　The Christmas dinner is of course the most important part of the day. People eat, for example, ham with mustard, carrot and potato casserole, boiled peas and potatoes, herring, mushroom salad, home made cheese and loads more. 圣诞晚餐当然是一天当中最重要的时刻，人们通常吃沾了芥末的火腿, 热腾腾的红萝卜、马铃薯砂锅，水煮豆加马铃薯，鲱鱼，蘑菇沙拉和家庭自制的乳酪和面包。

　　People drink beer, wine and the usual beverages. For desert there's coffee, gingerbread cookies and plum pudding. 人们还喝啤酒、红白酒、以及其它的饮料。至于甜点方面，包括了咖啡、姜饼和干果布丁。

　　The next day, Christmas Day, some families go to church in the morning, the tradition is if a family lives in the countryside, they wake up really early Christmas morning and take a sleigh to church. 第二天是圣诞节，有一些家庭会早起去教堂。 依照传统，如果有些家庭住在较偏远的地方，那么他们会起个大早驾着雪橇去教堂。

　　(文/杨晓元；英语辅导报初中教师版04~05学年第25期；版权归英语辅导报社所有，独家网络合作伙伴新浪教育，未经许可，不得以任何形式进行转载。)