Greece
希腊
Residents will fill a shallow bowl with water and then tie wire with a wooden cross and a sprig of basil over the bowl. Once a day the cross and basil are dipped into holy water， which is then sprinkled through the house. This ceremony is used to keep out goblins， known as Killikantzaroi out of the house.
希腊人会将一只浅碗灌满水，然后用金属丝把一个木制十字架和罗勒小枝系在碗上。每天都要把十字架和罗勒枝浸到圣水中，然后满屋撒圣水。这个礼节是用来防止小妖精（Killikantzaroi）进屋。
These mischievous goblins that come from the center of the earth only appear during the twelve days of Christmas. While bratty， they’re not really evil and tend to do bratty things like souring milk and extinguishing fires. Because they are said to enter the house through the fireplace， fires are left burning all day and night during this time of year.
这些爱恶作剧的小妖精来自地球的中心，只在圣诞这十二天出现。它们虽然讨厌，但不是真正的恶魔，只是会做讨厌的事情，例如撒出牛奶和熄灭炉火。据说它们是从房子的壁炉进来的，因此希腊人在圣诞期间白天和夜晚都会燃着炉火。
Iceland
冰岛
Icelandic children were once told to behave or they would be eaten by a pair of ogres that lived up in the hills. The characters were considered to be so terrifying that a public decree banned the use of these stories to scare children into behaving.
冰岛的孩子们曾经被告知，如果表现不好就会被住在山上的食人魔夫妇吃掉。由于“食人魔”形象太过恐怖，冰岛颁布了一项公开法令，禁止用这个故事来吓唬不听话的小孩子。
Instead of talking about the ogre couple， parents instead started telling stories of the ogre’s children， the Jolasveinar， who are bad， but not nearly as evil as their parents. Jolasveinars were originally said to play tricks on people and steal food， but now they are responsible for giving gifts to children. Bad children don’t get presents though， they get potatoes or other items that remind them that they weren’t forgotten， but don’t deserve real presents.
父母们不再讲食人魔夫妇，转而讲他们俩的孩子（Jolasveinar）。食人魔小孩很坏，但不像他的爸妈那样邪恶。据说食人魔小孩经常捉弄人们，还偷食物。但他们现在负责给孩子们发礼物。坏孩子们虽然得不到礼物，但他们得到土豆或者其他物品，这是用来告诉他们，他们没被遗忘，但不值得得到真正的礼物。
Italy
意大利
In Italy， there is no Santa， but instead there a woman called a Befana that performs the general duties of Saint Nick. The story is that the three wise men stopped during their travels and asked a woman for food and shelter. She said no， but later realized her mistake when it was too late. She now travels the earth looking for the baby Jesus and on January 6th， she leaves kids a sock filled with candy or a lump of coal.
意大利没有圣诞老人，但有一个叫贝法娜（Befana）的女巫，她履行圣诞老人一般的职责。据说从前有三位智者在旅行中请求一位女士给些吃的，并能让他们留宿，但女士拒绝了。她接着意识到了自己的错误，但这已经太晚了。如今她环游全球，寻找婴孩时的耶稣，并会在1月6号给孩子们留下装满糖果或煤块的袜子。
