Although it is generally agreed that the Christmas tree in its current form came from Germany in the early 19th century, the tradition of decorating a tree to mark winter celebrations dates back hundreds of years to Roman times, when they used to decorate evergreen trees with small pieces of metal to celebrate Saturnalia.
尽管人们普遍认为现在的圣诞树来自19世纪初的德国，但装饰圣诞树以庆祝冬季的传统可以追溯到几百年前的罗马时代，当他们用小金属片装饰常青树来庆祝农神节时。在中世纪，
In medieval times the 'Paradise Play' was performed every year on 24 December. This depicted the creation of Man and the fall of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden and always included an evergreen hung with apples which represented the apple tree of temptation.
的人在每年的12月24日表演天堂游戏。这幅图描绘了人类的创造和亚当夏娃从伊甸园坠落的情景，其中总有一棵挂着苹果的常青树，代表着诱惑的苹果树。
There is a legend that St Boniface, an English monk, came upon a group of pagans gathered around an oak tree who were preparing to sacrifice a child to the God Thor. In order to stop the sacrifice, and save the child's life, St Boniface is said to have felled the tree with one blow of his fist. Later on, a fir tree grew in place of the oak and this, St Boniface told the pagans, was the Tree of Life and represented the Christ Child.
传说英国僧侣圣博尼法斯，遇见一群异教徒聚集在一棵橡树旁，他们正准备把一个孩子献给雷神。据说，圣博尼法斯为了停止献祭，挽救这孩子的生命，一拳就把树砍倒了。后来，一棵冷杉代替了橡树生长，圣博尼法斯告诉异教徒，这是生命之树，代表着基督的孩子。
Legend also suggests that, in the late 16th century, Martin Luther (the founder of the Protestant religion) was the first to decorate an indoor tree with candles when he attempted to recreate the stars shining over a forest of evergreens.
的传说还表明，在16世纪末，马丁路德（新教的创始人）第一个用蜡烛装饰室内树，当时他试图重现星星在常绿的森林里闪耀着光芒。
The first mention of decorated trees being taken indoors came in 1605 in Germany - a country with a long Christmas tree history! The trees were initially decorated with fruit and sweets together with hand made objects such as quilled snowflakes and stars. German Christmas Markets began to sell shaped gingerbreads and wax ornaments which people bought as souvenirs of the fair and took home to hang on their tree.
第一次提到装饰树木被带进室内是在1605年的德国-一个有着悠久圣诞树历史的国家！这些树最初装饰有水果和糖果，还有手工制作的物体，如羽毛状的雪花和星星。德国圣诞节市场开始出售人们买来作为集市纪念品带回家挂在树上的形状姜饼和蜡饰，约1610年德国也发明了
Tinsel was also invented in Germany in about 1610. Up until fairly recently real silver was used, which was pulled into wafer thin strips by special machines. This was durable but tarnished quickly and mmany experiments took place to try and find an alternative - including a mix of lead and tin, which was too heavy and kept breaking. It was only in the mid 20th century that a viable alternative was found.
的金箔。直到最近，真正的银才被使用，它被特殊的机器拉成薄片。这是持久的，但很快就失去了光泽，我做了很多实验，试图找到一个替代品，包括铅和锡的混合物，它太重了，一直在破碎。直到20世纪中叶，人们才找到了一种可行的替代方法。1880&39年代，
Artificial trees were invented in the 1880's in a bid to try and stop some of the damage being caused to real trees due to people lopping the tip off large trees, thus preventing the trees from growing any further. It got so bad in Germany that laws had to be brought in to prevent people having more than one tree.
的人工树木被发明出来，目的是试图阻止人们砍掉大树的尖端而对真正的树木造成的损害，从而阻止树木继续生长。在德国，情况变得如此糟糕，以至于不得不出台法律来阻止人们拥有一棵以上的圣诞树。
Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, is credited with being responsible for introducing the custom of the Christmas tree to the British public by decorating the first English Christmas tree at Windsor Castle in 1841 using candles, sweets, fruit and gingerbread.
的维多利亚女王的丈夫阿尔伯特亲王（Prince Albert）在1841年用蜡烛装饰了温莎城堡（Windsor Castle）的第一棵英国圣诞树，负责向英国公众介绍圣诞树的习俗，糖果、水果和姜饼。
The popularity of the Christmas tree grew in Britain during the first half of the 20th century, with trees becoming bigger and more elaborately decorated with bells, baubles and tinsel. However, the onset of the Second World War resulted in a ban on cutting down trees for decoration and people resorted to having small, artificial tabletop trees bearing home made decorations. These were often taken down into the air raid shelters when the sirens sounded to provide a bit of Christmas cheer!
20世纪上半叶，圣诞树在英国越来越受欢迎，树越来越大，用铃铛、装饰品和金属丝装饰得更加精致。然而，第二次世界大战的爆发导致了一项禁止砍伐树木进行装饰的禁令，人们求助于用小的、人造的桌面树来承载自制的装饰。当汽笛响起时，它们常常被带到防空洞里，为圣诞节带来些许欢乐！
This all changed following the war, and large trees were erected in many public places to celebrate Christmas. The most famous of these is the tree in Trafalgar Square, London which is an annual gift from the Norwegian government to give thanks for the help they received from Britain during the war.
这一切在战后都发生了变化，许多公共场所都竖起了大树来庆祝圣诞节。其中最著名的是伦敦特拉法加广场的一棵树，这是挪威政府每年送给他们的礼物，以感谢他们在战争期间从英国得到的帮助。