 What Christmas is as we grow older. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org. Reading by Bologna Times. What Christmas is as we grow older? by Charles Dickens. Time was, with most of us, when Christmas day and circling all our limited world like a magic ring left nothing out for us to miss or seek. Bound together all our home enjoyments, affections, and hopes. Grouped everything and everyone around the Christmas fire and made the little picture shining and our bright young eyes complete. Time came, perhaps, also soon when our thoughts overleaped that narrow boundary when there was someone very dear we thought then very beautiful and absolutely perfect. Wanting to the fullness of our happiness when we were wanting to, or we thought so, which did just as well, at the Christmas hearth by which that someone sat. And when we intertwined with every wreath and garland of our life that someone's name. That was the time for the bright visionary Christmases which have long arisen from us to show faintly after summer rain in the palest edges of the rainbow. That was the time for the beautified enjoyment of things that were to be and never were and yet the things that were so real in our resolute hope that it would be hard to say now what realities achieve sense have been stronger. What did that Christmas never really come when we and the priceless pearl who was our young choice were received after the happiest of totally impossible marriages by the two united families previously at daggers drawn in our account when brothers and sisters-in-law who had always been rather cool to us before our relationship was affected perfectly doted on us and when fathers and mothers overwhelmed us with unlimited incomes was that Christmas dinner never really eaten after which we arose and generously and eloquently rendered honor to our late rival present in the company then and their exchanging friendship and forgiveness and founding an attachment not to be surpassed in Greek or Roman story which subsisted until death has that same rival long ceased to care for that same priceless pearl and married for money and become usurious above all do we really know now that we should probably have been miserable if we had won and worn the pearl and that we are better without her that Christmas when we had recently achieved so much fame when we had been carried in triumph somewhere for doing something great and good when we had won and honored and ennobled name and arrived and were received at home in a shower of tears of joy is it possible that that Christmas has not come yet and is our life here at the best so constituted that pausing as we advance at such a noticeable milestone in the track as this great birthday we look back on the things that never were as naturally and full as gravely as on the things that have been and are gone or have been and still are if it be so and so it seems to be must we come to the conclusion that life is little better than a dream and little worth the loves and strivings that we crowd into it no far be such miscalled philosophy from us dear reader on Christmas day nearer and closer to our hearts be the Christmas spirit which is the spirit of active usefulness perseverance cheerful discharge of duty kindness and forbearance it is in the last virtues especially that we are or should be strengthened by the unaccomplished visions of our youth for who shall say that they are not our teachers to deal gently even with the impalpable nothings of the earth therefore as we grow older let us be more thankful that the circle of our Christmas associations and of the lessons that they bring expands let us welcome every one of them and summon them to take their places by the Christmas hearth welcome old aspirations glittering creatures of an ardent fancy to your shelter underneath the holly we know you and have not outlived you yet welcome old projects and old loves however fleeting to your nooks among the steadier lights that burn around us welcome all that was ever real to our hearts and for the earnestness that made you real thanks to heaven do we build no Christmas castles and the clouds now let our thoughts fluttering like butterflies among these flowers of children bear witness before this boy there stretches out a future brighter than we ever looked on in our old romantic time but bright with honor and with truth around this little head on which the sunny curls lie heaped the graces sport as prettily as airily as when there was no scythe within the reach of time to shear away the curls of our first love upon another girl's face near it placid but smiling bright a quiet and contented little face we see home fairly written shining from the word as rays shine from a star we see how when our graves are old other hopes than ours are young other hearts than ours are moved how other ways are smoothed how other happiness blooms ripens and decays no not decays for other homes and other bands of children not yet in being nor for ages yet to be a rise and bloom and ripen to the end of all welcome everything welcome alike what has been and what never was and what we hope may be to your shelter underneath the holly to your places round the christmas fire where what is sits open-hearted and yonder shadow do we see obtruding furtively upon the blaze and enemy's face by christmas day we do forgive him if the injury he has done us may admit of such companionship let him come here and take his place if otherwise unhappily let him go hence assure that we will never injure nor accuse him on this day we shut out nothing pause says a low voice nothing think on christmas day we will shut out from our fireside nothing not the shadow of a vast city where the withered leaves are lying deep the voice replies not the shadow that darkens the whole globe not the shadow of the city of the dead not even that of all days in the year we will turn our faces towards that city upon christmas day and from its silent hosts bring those we loved among us city of the dead in the blessed name wherein we are gathered together at this time and in the presence that is here among us according to the promise we will receive and not dismiss thy people who are dear to us yes we can look upon these children angels that are light so solemnly so beautifully among the living children by the fire and can bear to think how they departed from us entertaining angels unawares as the patriarchs did the playful children are unconscious of their guests but we can see them can see a radiant arm around one favorite neck as if there were a tempting of that child away among the celestial figures there is one a poor misshapen boy on earth of a glorious beauty now of whom his dying mother said it grieved her much to leave him here alone for so many years as it was likely would elapse before he came to her being such a little child but he went quickly and was laid upon her breast and in her hand she leads him there was a gallant boy who fell far away upon a burning sand beneath a burning sun and said tell them at home with my last love how much I could have wished to kiss them at once but that I died contented and had done my duty or there was another over whom they read the words therefore we commit his body to the deep and so consigned him to the lonely ocean and sailed on or there was another who lay down to his rest in the dark shadow of great forests and on earth awoke no more oh shall they not from sand and sea and forest be brought home at such a time there was a dear girl almost a woman never to be one who made a morning Christmas in a house of joy and went her trackless way to the silent city do we recollect her worn out faintly whispering what could not be heard and falling into that last sleep for weariness oh look upon her now oh look upon her beauty her serenity her changeless youth her happiness the daughter of jarrus was recalled to life to die but she more blessed has heard the same voice and sang unto her arise forever we had a friend who was our friend from early days with whom we often pictured the changes that were to come upon our lives and merrily imagined how we would speak and walk and think and talk when we came to be old his destined habitation in the city of the dead received him in his prime shall he be shut out from our Christmas remembrance would his love have so excluded us lost friend lost child lost parent sister brother husband wife we will not so discard you you shall hold your cherished places in our Christmas hearts and by our Christmas fires and in the season of immortal hope and on the birthday of immortal mercy we will shut out nothing the winter sun goes down over town and village on the sea it makes a rosy path as if the sacred tread were fresh upon the water a few more moments and it sinks and night comes on and lights begin to sparkle in the prospect on the hillside beyond the shapelessly diffused town and in the quiet keeping of the trees that gird the village steeple remembrances are cut in stone planted in common flowers growing and grass entwined with lowly brambles around many amount of earth in town and village there are doors and windows closed against the weather there are flaming logs he tie there are joyful faces there is healthy music of voices but all un gentleness and harm excluded from the temples of the household gods but be those remembrances admitted with tender encouragement they are of the time and all its comforting and peaceful reassurances and of the history that reunited even upon earth the living and the dead and of the broad beneficent and goodness the too many men have tried to tear to narrow shreds end of what Christmas is as we grow older by Charles Dickens a Christmas mystery the story of three wise men by William J. Locke read in English this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org three men who had gained great fame and honor throughout the world met unexpectedly in front of the bookstore at Paddington station like most of the great ones of the earth they were personally acquainted and they exchanged surprise greetings Sir Angus McCurdy the eminent physicist scowled at the two others beneath his heavy black eyebrows I'm going to a godforsaken place in Cornwall called Trihenna said he that's odd so am I croaked Professor Biggleswade he was a little untidy man with round spectacles a fringe of grayish beard and a weak rasping voice and he knew more of a syriology than any man living or dead a flippant pupil once remarked that the professor's face was furnished with a Babylonic cuneiform in lieu of features people called Deverell foolish castle asked Sir Angus yes replied Professor Biggleswade how curious I'm going to the Deverell's tomb said the third man this man was the right honorable Viscount Doyle the renowned empire builder and administrator around whose solitary and remote life popular imagination had woven many legends he looked at the world through tired gray eyes and the heavy drooping blonde moustache seemed tired too and had dragged down the tired face into deep furrows he was smoking a long black cigar I suppose we may as well travel down together said Sir Angus not very cordially Lord Doyle said courteously I have a reserved carriage the railway company is always good enough to place one at my disposal it would give me great pleasure if you would share it the invitation was accepted and the three men crossed the busy crowded platform to take their seats in the Great Express train a porter laden with an incredible load of paraphernalia trying to make his way through the press happened to Jossel Sir Angus McCurdy he rubbed his shoulder fretfully why the whole land should be turned into a bear garden on account of this exploded superstition of Christmas is one of the anomalies of modern civilization look at this insentic welter of fools travelling in wild hearts to disgusting places merely because it's Christmas you seem to be traveling yourself McCurdy said Lord Doyle yes and why the devil I'm doing it I've not the faintest notion replied Sir Angus it's going to be a beast of a journey he remarked some moments later as the train carried them slowly out of the station the whole country is under snow and as far as I can understand we had to change twice and wind up with a 20 mile motor drive he was an iron-faced beetle-browed stern man and this morning he did not seem to be in the best of tempers finding his companions inclined to be sympathetic he continued his lamentation and merely because it's Christmas I've had to shut up my laboratory and give my young fools a holiday just when I was in the midst of a most important series of experiments Professor Biggleswade who had heard vaguely of and rather looked down upon such newfangled toys as radium and thorium and helium and argon for the latest astonishing developments in the theory of radioactivity had brought Sir Angus McCurdy his worldwide fame said somewhat ironically if the experiments were so important why didn't you lock yourself up with your test tubes and electric batteries and finish them alone man said McCurdy bending across the carriage and speaking with a curious intensity of voice dear no I'd give a hundred pounds to be able to answer that question what do you mean asked the professor startled I should like to know why I'm sitting in this dumb train and going to visit a couple of adulthood society people whom I'm scarcely acquainted with when I might be at home in my own good company furthering the progress of science I myself said the professor I'm not acquainted with them at all it was Sir Angus McCurdy's turn to look surprised then why are you spending Christmas with them I reviewed a ridiculous blank verse tragedy written by Devril on the death of Sennacherib historically it was purile I said so in no measured terms he wrote a letter claiming to be a poet and not an archaeologist I replied that the day had passed when poets could with impunity commit the abominable crime of distorting history he retorted with some futile argument and we went on exchanging letters until his invitation and my acceptance concluded the correspondence McCurdy still bending his black brows on him asked him why he had not declined the professor screwed up his face till it looked more like a cuneiform than ever he too found the question difficult to answer but he showed a bold front I felt it my duty said he to teach that preposterous ignoramus something worth knowing about Sennacherib besides I am a bachelor and would sooner spend Christmas as to whose irritating and meaningless annoyance I cordially agree with you among strangers than among my married sisters numerous and nerve-wracking families Sir Angus McCurdy the hard metallic apostle of radioactivity glanced for a moment out of the window at the gray frost-bitten fields then he said I'm a widower my wife died many years ago and thank god we had no children I generally spend Christmas alone he looked out of the window again professor biggles wade suddenly remembered the popular story of the great scientist's antecedents and reflected that as McCurdy had once run a barefoot urchin through the Glasgow mud he was likely to have little kiss or kin he himself envied McCurdy he was always praying to be delivered from his sisters and nephews and nieces whose embarrassing demands no calculated coldness could repress children are the root of all evil said he happy the man who has his quiver empty Sir Angus McCurdy did not reply at once when he spoke again it was with reference to their prospective host I met Deverell said he at the Royal Society soiree this year one of my assistants was demonstrating a peculiar property of thorium and Deverell seemed interested I asked him to come to my laboratory the next day and found he didn't know a damn thing about anything that's all the acquaintance I have with him Lord Doine the great administrator who had been wearily turning over the pages of an illustrated weekly chiefly filled with flamboyant photographs of obscure actresses took his gold glasses from his nose and the black cigar from his lips and addressed his companions I've been considerably interested in your conversation said he and as you've been frank I'll be frank too I knew Mrs. Deverell's mother Lady Carstairs very well years ago and of course Mrs. Deverell when she was a child Deverell I came across once in Egypt he had been sent on a diplomatic mission to Tehran as for our being invited on such slight acquaintance little Mrs. Deverell has the reputation of being the only really successful celebrity hunter in England she inherited the faculty from her mother who entertained the whole world we're sure to find archbishops and eminent actors and illustrious divorces asked to meet us that's one thing third why I who loathes country house parties and children and Christmas as much as biggles weighed I'm going down there today I can no more explain than you can it's a devilish odd coincidence the three men looked at one another suddenly McCurdy shivered and drew his fur coat around him oh thank you said he to shut that window it is shut said Doine it's just uncanny said McCurdy looking from one to the other what asked Doine nothing if you didn't feel it there did seem to be a sudden draft said Professor Biggles weighed but as both window and door are shut it could only be imaginary it wasn't imaginary muttered McCurdy then he laughed harshly my father and mother came from Cromarty he said with apparent irrelevance that the Highlands said the Professor I said McCurdy Lord Doine said nothing but tugged at his moustache and looked out of the window as the frozen meadows and bits of river and willows raced past a dead silence fell on them McCurdy broke it with another laugh and took a whiskey flask from his handbag have a nip thanks no said the Professor I have to keep to a strict dietary and I only drink hot milk and water and of that sparingly I have some in a thermos bottle Lord Doine also declining the whiskey McCurdy swallowed a dram and declared himself to be better the Professor took from his bag a foreign review in which a German stylist had dared to question his interpretation of a Hittite inscription over the man's ineptitude he fell asleep and snored loudly to escape from his immediate neighborhood McCurdy went to the other end of the seat and faced Lord Doine who had resumed his gold glasses and his listless contemplation of obscure actresses. McCurdy lit a pipe Doine another black cigar the train thundered on presently they all lunched together in the restaurant car the windows steamed but here and there through a wiped patch of pain a white world was revealed the snow was falling as they passed through Westbury McCurdy looked mechanically for the famous white horse carved into the chalk of the dawn but it was not visible beneath the thick covering of snow it'll be just like this all the way to Gehenna to the Henna I mean said McCurdy. Doine nodded he had done his life's work amid all extreme fiercenesses of heat and cold in burning droughts in simoons and in icy wildernesses and a ray or two more of the pale sun or a flake or two more of the gentle snow of England mattered to him but little but Bigglesway rubbed the pain with his table napkin and gazed apprehensively at the prospect if only this wretched train would stop said he I would go back again and he thought how comfortable it would be to sneak home again to his books and thus elude not only the devils but the Christmas jollities of his sister's families who would sink him miles away but the train was timed not to stop till Plymouth two hundred and thirty-five miles from London and thither was he being relentlessly carried then he quarrelled with his food which brought a certain consolation the train did stop however before Plymouth indeed before Exeter an accident on the line had dislocated the traffic the express was held up for an hour and when it was permitted to proceed instead of thundering on it went cautiously subject to continual stoppings it arrived at Plymouth two hours late the travellers learned that they had missed the connection on which they had counted and that they could not reach Trehenna till nearly ten o'clock after weary waiting at Plymouth they took their seats in the little cold local train that was to carry them another stage on their journey hot water cans put in at Plymouth mitigated to some extent the iciness of the compartment but that only lasted a comparatively short time for soon they were set down at a desolate shelterless wayside junction dumped in the midst of a hilly snow-covered waste where they went through another weary wait for another dismal local train that was to carry them to Trehenna and in this train there were no hot water cans so that the compartment was as cold as death McCurdy fretted and shook his fist in the direction of Trehenna and when we get there we have still a twenty miles motor-drive to Foulis Castle it's a full name and we're fools to be going there I shall die of bronchitis wailed Professor Biggleswade a man dies when it is appointed for him to die said Lord Doine in his tired way and he went on smoking long black cigars it's not the dying that worries me said McCurdy that's a mere mechanical process which every organic being from a king to a cauliflower has to pass through it's the being forced against my will and my reason to come on this accursed journey which something tells me will become more and more accursed as we go on that is driving me to distraction what will be will be said Doine I can't see where the comfort of that reflection comes in said Biggleswade and yet you've travelled in the east said Doine I suppose you know the valley of the Tigris as well as any man living yes said the Professor I can say I dug my way from Tikrit to Baghdad and left not a stone unexamined perhaps after all Doine remarked that's not quite the way to know the east I never wanted to know the modern east returned the Professor what is there in it of interest compared with the mighty civilizations that have gone before McCurdy took a pull from his flask I'm glad I thought of having a refill at Plymouth said he at last after many stops at little lonely stations they arrived at Trehenna the guard opened the door and they stepped out onto the snow-covered platform an oil lamp hung from the tiny penthouse roof that structurally was Trehenna station they looked around at the silent gloom of white undulating moorland and it seemed a place where no man lived and only ghosts could have a bleak and unsheltered being a porter came up and helped the guard with the luggage then they realized that the station was built on a small embankment for looking over the railing they saw below the two great lamps of a motor car a fur-clad chauffeur met them at the bottom of the stairs he clapped his hands together and informed them cheerily that he had been waiting for four hours it was the bitterest winter in these parts within the memory of man said he and he himself had not seen snow there for five years then he settled the three travellers in the great roomy touring car covered with a cape-cart hood wrapped them up in many rugs and started after a few moments the huddling together of their bodies for the professor being a spare man there was room for them all on the back seat the pile of rugs the serviceable and all but airtight hood induced a pleasant warmth and a pleasant drowsiness where they were being driven they knew not the perfectly upholstered seat eased their limbs the easy swinging motion of the car soothed their spirits they felt that already they had reached the luxuriously appointed home which after all they knew awaited them McCurdy no longer railed professor bigglesway'd forgot the dangers of bronchitis and lord doine twisted the stump of a black cigar between his lips without any desire to relight it a tiny electric lamp inside the hood made the darkness of the world to right and left and in front of the talc windows still darker McCurdy and bigglesway'd fell into a dose lord doine chewed the end of his cigar the car sped on through an unseen wilderness suddenly there was a horrid jolt and a lurch and a leap and a rebound and then the car stood still quivering like a ship that has been struck by a heavy sea the three men were pitched and tossed and thrown sprawling over one another onto the bottom of the car bigglesway'd screamed McCurdy cursed doine scrambled from the confusion of rugs and limbs and tearing open the side of the cape cart hood jumped out the chauffeur had also just leapt from his seat it was pitch dark save for the great shaft of light down the snowy road cast by the acetylene lamps the snow had ceased falling what's gone wrong it sounds like the axel said the chauffeur roofily he unshipped a lamp and examined the car which had wedged itself against a great drift of snow on the off side meanwhile McCurdy and bigglesway'd had alighted yes it's the axel said the chauffeur then we're done remarked doine i'm afraid so my lord what's the matter can't we get on asked bigglesway'd in his quarrelous voice McCurdy laughed how can we get on with a broken axel the things as useless as a man with a broken back god i was right i said it was going to be an infernal journey the little professor rung his hands but what's to be done he cried trampit said lord doine lighting a fresh cigar it's ten miles said the chauffeur it would be the death of me the professor wailed i utterly refused to walk ten miles through a polar waste with a gouty foot McCurdy declared rothfully the chauffeur offered a solution of the difficulty he would set out alone for foolish castle five miles farther on was an in where he could obtain a horse and trap and would return for the three gentlemen with another car in the meanwhile they could take shelter in a little house which they had just passed some half mile up the road this was agreed to the chauffeur went on cheerily enough with a lamp and the three travelers with another lamp started off in the opposite direction as far as they could see they were in a long desolate valley a sort of no man's land deathly silent the eastern sky had cleared somewhat and they faced a loose rack through which one pale star was dimly visible i'm a man of science said McCurdy as they trudged through the snow and i dismissed the supernatural as contrary to reason but i have highland blood in my veins that plays me exasperating tricks my reason tells me that this place is only a common place more yet it seems like a valley of bones haunted by malignant spirits who have lured us here to our destruction there's something guiding us now it's just uncanny my honor did we ever come croaked pickles wait Lord Doine answered the Quran says nothing can befall us but what God hath destined for us so why worry because i'm not a Mohammedan retorted biggles wait you might be worse said Doine presently the dim outline of the little house grew perceptible a faint light shone from the window it stood unfenced by any kind of hedge or railing a few feet away from the road in a little hollow beneath some rising ground as far as they could discern in the darkness when they drew near the house was a mean dilapidated hovel a guttering candle stood on the inner sill of the small window and afforded a vague view into a mean interior Doine held up the lamp so that its rays fell full on the door as he did so an exclamation broke from his lips and he hurried forward followed by the others a man's body lay huddled together on the snow by the threshold he was just like a peasant in old corduroy trousers and a rough coat and a handkerchief was knotted round his neck in his hand he grasped the neck of a broken bottle Doine set the lamp on the ground and the three bent down together over the man close by the neck lay the rest of the broken bottle whose contents had evidently run out into the snow drunk asked biggles wait Doine felt the man and laid his hand on his heart no said he dead McCurdy leapt to his full height I told you the place was uncanny he cried it's fair then he hammered wildly at the door there was no response he hammered again till it rattled this time a faint prolonged sound like the wailing of a strange sea creature was heard from within the house McCurdy turned round his teeth chattering did you hear that Doine perhaps it's a dog said the professor Lord Doine the man of action pushed them aside and tried the door handle it yielded the door stood open and the gust of cold wind entering the house extinguished the candle within they entered and found themselves in a miserable stone-paved kitchen furnished with poverty-stricken meagerness a wooden chair or two a dirty table some broken crockery old cooking utensils a fly-blown missionary society almanac and a fireless grate Doine set the lamp on the table we must bring him in said he returned to the threshold and as they were bending over to grip the dead man the same sound filled the air but this time louder more intense a cry of great agony the sweat dripped from McCurdy's forehead they lifted the dead man and brought him into the room and after laying him on a dirty strip of carpet they did their best to straighten the stiff limbs Biggleswade put on the table a bundle which he had picked up outside it contained some poor provisions a loaf a piece of fat bacon and a paper of tea as far as they could guess and as they learned later they guessed rightly the man was the master of the house who coming home blind drunk from some distant inn had fallen at his own threshold and got frozen to death as they could not unclasp his fingers from the broken bottleneck they had to let him clutch it as a dead warrior clutches the hilt of his broken sword then suddenly the whole place was rent with another and yet another long soul piercing moan of anguish there's a second room said Doine pointing to a door the sound comes from there he opened the door peaked in and then returning for the lamp disappeared leaving McCurdy and Biggleswade in the pitch darkness with the dead man on the floor the heavens say give me a drop of whiskey said the professor or I shall faint presently the door opened and Lord Doine appeared in the shaft of light he beckoned to his companions it is a woman in childbirth he said in his even tired voice we must aid her she appears unconscious does either of you know anything about such things they shook their heads and the three looked at each other in dismay masters of knowledge that had won them worldwide fame and honor they stood helpless abashed before this the communist phenomenon of nature my wife had no child said McCurdy I've avoided women all my life said Biggleswade and I've been too busy to think of them God forgive me said Doine the history of the next two hours was one that none of the three men ever cared to touch upon they did things blindly instinctively as men do when they come face to face with the elemental a fire was made they knew not how water drawn they knew not whence and a kettle boiled Doine accustomed to command directed the others obeyed at his suggestion they hastened to the wreck of the car and came staggering back beneath rugs and traveling bags which could supply clean linen and needful things for amid the poverty of the house they could find nothing fit for human touch or use early they saw that the woman's strength was failing and that she could not live and there in that nameless hovel with death on the hearthstone and death and life hovering over the pitiful bed the three great men went through the pain and the horror and squalor of birth and they knew that they had never yet stood before so great a mystery with the first whale of the newly born infant a last convulsive shudder passed through the frame of the unconscious mother then three or four short gasps for breath and the spirit passed away she was dead professor biggles wage through a corner of the sheet over her face for he could not bear to see it they washed and dried the child as any crone of a midwife would have done and dipped a small sponge which had always remained unused in a cut glass bottle in Doine's dressing bag in the hot milk and water of biggles wage thermos bottle and put it to his lips and then they wrapped him up warm in some of their own woolen undergarments and took him into the kitchen and placed him on a bed made of their fur coats in front of the fire as the last piece of fuel was exhausted they took one of the wooden chairs and broke it up and cast it into the blaze and then they raised the dead man from the strip of carpet and carried him into the bedroom and laid him reverently by the side of his dead wife after which they left the dead in darkness and returned to the living and the three grave men stood over the whisper flesh that had been born a male into the world then their task being accomplished reaction came and even Doine who had seen death in many lands turned faint but the others losing control of their nerves shook like men stricken with palsy suddenly McCurdy cried in a high-pitched voice my god don't you feel it and clutched Doine by the arm an expression of terror appeared on his iron features there it's here with us little professor biggles wage sat on a corner of the table and wiped his forehead i heard it i felt it it was like the beating of wings it's the fourth time said McCurdy the first time was just before i accepted the devil's invitation the second in the railway garage this afternoon the third on the way here this is the fourth biggles wage plucked nervously at the fringe of whisker under his jaws and said faintly it's the fourth time up to now i thought it was fancy i have felt it too said doine it is the angel of death and he pointed to the room where the dead man and woman lay for god's sake let us get away from this cried biggles wage and leave the child to die like the others said doine we must see it through said McCurdy a silence fell upon them as they sat round in the blaze with the newborn babe wrapped in its odd swaddling clothes asleep on the pile of fur coats and it lasted until Sir Angus McCurdy looked at his watch good lord said he it's twelve o'clock Christmas morning said biggles wage a strange Christmas mused doine McCurdy put up his hand there it is again the beating of wings and they listened like men spellbound McCurdy kept his hand up lifted and gazed over their heads at the wall and his gaze was that of a man in a chance and he spoke unto us a child is born unto us a son is given doine sprang from his chair which fell behind him with a crash man what the devil are you saying then McCurdy rose and met biggles wage eyes staring at him through the great round spectacles and biggles wage turned and met the eyes of doine a pulsation like the beating of wings stirred the air the three wise men shivered with a queer exaltation something strange mystical dynamic had happened it was as if scales had fallen from their eyes and they saw with a new vision they stood together humbly divested of all their greatness touching one another in the instinctive fashion of children as if seeking mutual protection and they looked with one accord irresistibly compelled at the child at last McCurdy unbent his black brows and said hoarsely it was not the angel of death doine but another messenger that drew us here the tiredness seemed to pass away from the great administrator's face and he nodded his head with the calm of a man who has come to the quiet heart of a perplexing mystery it's true he murmured unto us a child is born unto us a son is given unto the three of us biggles wage took off his great round spectacles and wiped them gas-bar melky all belters are but where are the gold frankincense and myrrh in our hearts man said McCurdy the babe cried and stretched its tiny limbs instinctively they all knelt down together to discover if possible and administer ignorantly to its wants the scene had the appearance of an adoration then these three wise lonely childless men who in furtherance of their own greatness had cut themselves adrift from the sweet and simple things of life and from the kindly ways of their brethren and had grown old in unhappy and profitless wisdom knew that an inscrutable providence had led them as it had led three wise men of old on a Christmas morning long ago to an activity which should give them a new wisdom a new link with humanity a new spiritual outlook a new hope and when their watch was ended they wrapped up the babe with precious care and carried him with them an inalienable joy and possession into the great world end of a christmas mystery by william j loch this is a libra wax recording all libra wax recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit libra wax.org read by ivy watcher and in the sixth month the angel gabriel was sent from god into a city of galilee named nazareth to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was joseph of the house of david and the virgin's name was mary and the angel came in under her and said hail thou that art highly favored the lord is with thee blessed art thou among women and when she saw him she was troubled at his saying and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be and the angel said unto her fear not mary for thou has found favor with god and behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son and shall call his name jesus he shall be great and shall be called the son of the highest and the lord god shall give unto him the throne of his father david and he shall reign over the house of jacob forever and of his kingdom there shall be no end then mary said unto the angel how shall this be seeing as i know not a man and the angel answered and said unto her the holy ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the son of god and behold thy cousin elizabeth she has also conceived a son in her old age and this is the sixth month with her who was called baron for with god nothing shall be impossible and mary said behold the handmaiden of the lord be done to me according to thy word and the angel departed from her and mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste into a city of juda and entered into the house of zecharias and saluted elizabeth and it came to pass that when elizabeth heard the salutation of mary the babe leaped in her womb and elizabeth was filled with the holy ghost and she spake out with a loud voice and said blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb and whence is this to me that the mother of my lord should come to me for low as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears the babe leaped in my womb for joy and blessed is she that believed for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the lord and mary said my soul doth magnify the lord and my spirit hath rejoiced in god my savior for he hath regarded the lowest state of his handmaiden for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed for he that is mighty hath done to me great things and holy is his name and his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation he hath showed strength with his arm and he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts he hath put down the mighty from their seats and exalted them of low degree he hath filled the hungry with good things and the rich he hath sent away empty he hath hulpened his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy as he spake to our fathers to Abraham and to his seed for ever and Mary abode with her about three months and returned to her own house and it came to pass in those days that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed and this taxing was first made when Serenius was governor of Syria and all went to be taxed every one unto his own city and Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea and to the city of David which is called Bethlehem because he was of the house and lineage of David to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife being great with child and so it was that while they were there the days were accomplished that she should be delivered and she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and lied him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn and they were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field keeping watch over their flocks by night and lo the angel of the Lord came upon them and the glory of the Lord shone round about them and they were were so afraid and the angel said unto them fear not for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people for unto you is born this day in the city of David a savior which is Christ the Lord and this shall be a sign unto you you shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger and suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying glory to God and the highest and on earth peace good will toward men and it came to pass as the angels were gone away from them into heaven the shepherd said to one another let us now go even unto Bethlehem and see this thing which has come to pass which the Lord has made known unto us and they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger and when they had seen it they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child and all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds but Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart and the shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen as it was told unto them and gospel of Luke chapter one verses one twenty six through fifty six and chapter two verses one through twenty old christmas returned author unknown read in english this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org All you that to feasting and mirth are inclined come here is good news for to pleasure your mind old christmas is come for to keep open house he scorns to be guilty of starving a mouse then come boys and welcome for diet the chief plum pudding goose capon mince pies and roast beef a long time together he has been forgot they scarce could afford for to hang on the pot such miserly sneaking in england has been as by our forefathers near used to be seen but now he's returned you shall have in brief plum pudding goose capon mince pies and roast beef the times were near good since old christmas was fled and all hospitality has been so dead no mirth at our festivals late did appear they scarcely would part with a cup of March beer but now you shall have for the ease of your grief plum pudding goose capon mince pies and roast beef the butler and baker they now may be glad the times they are mended though they have been bad the brewer he likewise may be of good cheer he shall have good trading for ale and strong beer all trades shall be jolly and have for relief plum pudding goose capon mince pies and roast beef the holly and ivy about the walls wind and show that we ought to our neighbours be kind inviting each other for pastime and sport and where we best fare there we most do resort we fail not for vitals and that of the chief plum pudding goose capon mince pies and roast beef the cooks shall be busy by day and by night in roasting and boiling for taste and delight their senses in liquor that snappy they'll steep though they be afforded to have little sleep they still are employed for the dressers in brief plum pudding goose capon minced pies and roast beef although the cold weather does hunger provoke tis a comfort to see how the chimneys do smoke provision is making for beer ale and wine for all that are willing already to dine then haste to the kitchen for diet the chief plum pudding goose capon mince pies and roast beef all travellers as they do pass on their way at gentlemen's halls are invited to stay themselves to refresh and their horses to rest since that he must be old christmas's guest neither poor shall not want but have for relief plum pudding goose capon mince pies and roast beef now mock beggar hall it no more shall stand empty but all shall be furnished with freedom and plenty the hoarding old misers who used to preserve the gold in their coffers and see the poor starve must now spread their tables and give them in brief plum pudding goose capon mince pies and roast beef the court and the city and country a glad old christmas is come to cheer up the sad broad pieces and guineas about now shall fly and hundreds be losers by cogging a die whilst others are feasting with diet the chief plum pudding goose capon mince pies and roast beef those that have no coin at the cards for to play may sit by the fire and pass time away and drink of their moisture contented and free my honest good fellow come here is to thee and when they are hungry fall to their relief plum pudding goose capon mince pies and roast beef young galants and ladies shall foot it along each room in the house to the music shall throng whilst jolly carouses about they shall pass and each country swaying trip about with his lass mean time goes the caterer to fetch in the chief plum pudding goose capon mince pies and roast beef the cooks and the scullion who toil in their frocks their hopes to depend upon their christmas box there are very few that do live on the earth but enjoy at this time either profit or mirth yay those that are charged to find or relief plum pudding goose capon mince pies and roast beef then well may we welcome old christmas to town who brings us good cheer and good liquor so brown to pass the cold winter away with delight we feasted all day and we frolic all night both hunger and cold we keep out with relief plum pudding goose capon mince pies and roast beef then let all curmudgeons who dot on their wealth and value their treasure much more than their health go hang themselves up if they will be so kind old christmas with them but small welcome shall find they will not afford to themselves without grief plum pudding goose capon mince pies and roast beef end of old christmas returned author unknown read by ruse golden der weinachtsbaum by ernst moritz ant red in german this is a liberal box recording all liberal box recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit liberal box dot org der weinachtsbaum steht er da der weinachtsbaum wie ein bunter goldner traum spiegelt unschuld kinder glück als sein paradies zurück und wir schauen und denken dann wie uns heute das heil begann wie das kindlein jesus christ heute zur welt geboren ist wie das kind von himmelsart lag auf stroh und halmen hart wie der menschheit hort und rust erden elend hat er lust also stehen und schauen wir gottes lust her was uns in dem kindlein zart alles heute geboren war blüten leuchte goldner baum erden traum und himmels traum blühe und leucht in ewigkeit durch die arme zeitlichkeit sei uns bild und sei uns schein dass wir sollen fröhlich sein fröhlich durch den süßen kreist der des lebens leuchte ist sei uns bild und sei uns schein dass wir sollen tapfer sein auf des lebens pilgebahn kämpfen gegen luke und wann sei uns bild und sei uns schein dass wir sollen heilig sein rein wie licht und himmel klar wie das kindlein jesus war end of der weinachtsbaum bei ernst moritz ant la niña a quien dijo el angel balope de vega red in spanish this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org la niña quien dijo el angel que estaba de gracia llena cuando de ser de dios madre le trujote an altas nuevas ya le miran un pesebre y orando lagrimas tiernas que obligandose a ser hombre también se obliga sus penas que tenéis dulce jesus le dice la niña de ella tan presto sentís mis ojos el dolor de mi pobreza yo no tengo otros palacios en que recibir os pueda sino mis brazos y pechos que os regalan y sustentan no puedo más amor mío porque si yo más pudiera vos sabéis que vuestros cielos envidiaran mi riqueza el niño recién nacido no mueve la pura lengua aunque es la sabiduría de su eterno padre inmensa más revelándole al alma de la virgen la respuesta cubrió de sueño en sus brazos blandamente sus estrellas ella entonces desatando la voz regalada y tierna así tuvo a su armonía la de los cielos suspensa pues andáis en las palmas ángeles santos que se duerme mi niño tened los ramos palmas de velen que se mueven aerados los furiosos vientos que suenan tanto no le hagáis ruido corred más paso que se duerme mi niño tened los ramos el niño divino que está cansado de llorar en la tierra por su descanso sosegar quiere un poco del tierno llanto que se duerme mi niño tened los ramos rigurosos hielos le están cercando ya veis que no tengo con que guardarlo ángeles divinos que vais volando que se duerme mi niño tened los ramos end of la niña a quien dijo el ángel palope de vega read by maryon matten the legend of the christmas tree by lucy wheel off read in english this is a libravox recording all libravox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit libravox dot org two little children were sitting by the fire one cold winter's night all at once they heard a timid knock at the door and one ran to open it they're outside in the cold and the darkness stood a child with no shoes upon his feet and clad in thin ragged garments he was shivering with cold and he asked to come in and warm himself yes come cried both children you shall have our place by the fire come in they drew the little stranger to their warm seat and shared their supper with him and gave him their bed while they slept on a hard bench in the night they were awakened by strains of sweet music and looking out they saw a band of children in shining garments approaching the house they were playing on gold hearts and the air was full of melody suddenly the stranger child stood before them no longer cold and ragged but clad in silvery light his soft voice said i was cold and you took me in i was hungry and you fed me i was tired and you gave me your bed i am the christ child wandering through the world to bring peace and happiness to all good children as you have given to me so may this tree every year give rich fruit to you so saying he broke a branch from the fir tree that grew near the door and he planted it in the ground and disappeared but the branch grew into a great tree and every year it bore wonderful golden fruit for the kind children end of the legend of the christmas tree by lucy wheeler this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org sashka wanted to stop doing what is called life not wash up in the morning with cold water in which thin plates of ice are swimming do not go to the gym do not listen there as everyone scolds him and do not experience pain in the chest and in the whole body when the mother puts him on a whole evening on his knees but since he was 13 years old and he did not know all the ways what people stop to live when they want it, then he continued to go to the gym and stand on his knees and it seemed to him that life will never end, a year will pass and another year and another year and he will go to the gym and stand at home on his knees and since sashka had a humble and brave soul, then he could not calmly take revenge for the evil and threaten life for this purpose, he beat the comrades, crushed the bosses, tore the textbooks and the whole day lied to the teachers, to the mothers, he did not lie to only one father when he was in a fight, his nose was torn apart, he tore it up even more and cried without tears, but so loud that everyone felt unpleasant, moistened and closed their ears as much as he needed, he immediately shut up, showed his tongue and drew a caricature on himself in black ink, as he curled at the top of the closed ears and annoyed by the fear of the winner, the entire ink was filled with caricatures and more often such a thick and low woman beat with a knife as thin as a match of a boy at the bottom with large and uneven letters, blackened the signature ask for forgiveness, sonny, and the answer is not to be asked, at least in tears, in front of the childhood, sashka was kicked out of the gym and when the mother began to beat him, he bite her finger, it gave him freedom and he threw himself in the morning, ran all day with the guys and beat them and was afraid of one hunger, since the mother stopped eating him at all and only the father hid bread and potatoes for him, in these conditions, sashka found the existence possible in the Friday, on the eve of Christmas, sashka played with the guys until they went out to the houses and did not creak the frosty creak with the frosty creak, with the last of them, it was already dark and from the field where one end of the deaf clock came out, the gray snowy corner, in low black mood standing across the street on the exit, the red-haired flashing light, the frost has intensified and when sashka passed through the light of the circle that was formed from the lit light, he saw slowly pouring little dry snow in the air, had to go home, where in the middle of the night, the boy screamed at his mother, the fist did not hit her hand, her hands were soaked in white, thick hands, and on a bare-faced flat face, the drops of sweat came out, when sashka passed by her, he felt the familiar smell of vodka, the mother rubbed her head with a thick, finger with short and dirty nails, and since there was no armor, she just swung and screamed, statistics, one word, sashka surprisingly rubbed his nose and passed through the fence, where he heard the heavy breathing of his father, Ivan Savvich, he was always cold, and he was trying to warm up, sitting on a heated bed, and putting his hands under himself, with palm trees, sashka, and you were called to the Christmas tree, the roots came, he whispered, you lie, asked for trust, sashka, hey god, this witch says nothing, and the ear of the jacket was prepared, you lie, everything was more surprised, sashka, the wealth of Svechnikov, who determined him in the gym, did not lead, after his exception, to show to him, the father once again bowed down and sashka came to mind, well, get up, sit down, said the father, jumping on a short bed and added, and to these drawings, I will not go, fat pain will become, if I still go to them, spoiled boy, pulled sashka in the nose, he himself is good, he was careful, ah, sashka, sashka, went down from the cold, father, do not be afraid of your head, and you were afraid, the group shuddered, sashka, keep quiet, the women are afraid, oh, Tura, the father sat quietly and ate, the weak light penetrated through the wide gap in the top, where the cross on the fourth did not reach the ceiling, and the light on the fifth was lying on his high forehead, under which the depths of the eyes were darkened, once Ivan Savvich drank a lot of vodka, and then the wife was afraid and hated him, but when he began to bark with blood and could not drink more, she began to drink, gradually getting used to vodka, and then she put everything out that she had to suffer from a high, narrow chest of a person who spoke incomprehensible words, drove out of disruptiveness and drinking from the service, and introduced himself to the same long-haired unimaginable and proud people as he himself, in the opposite position of the husband, she healed as she drank, and her fists were all heavy, now she said what she wanted, now she led men and women to her, what she wanted, and loudly sang with them cheerful songs, and he was lying behind the fence, silent, leaving a constant mark, and thought about injustice and horror of human life, and everyone who had to talk to Ivan Savvich's wife, she complained that she did not have such enemies as husband and son, both proud men and statistics, and I am telling you that you will go, and in every word, the actress Petrovna hit a fist on the table on which the washed cups were jumping and shaking each other, and I'm telling you that I won't go, cold-bloodedly answered Sasha and his lips twitched from the desire to caress his teeth, in the gym for this habit he was called a wolf, and I will kill you, oh how I will kill you, said the mother, what are you doing? the actress Petrovna knew that the son who began to bite, she can no longer, and if you throw it out on the street, he will go out for a walk and soon freeze, what will go to the candlelight, so she ran to the authority of this husband, and also the father is called, the mother can't take care of the insult, but Sasha, you step in, what are you breaking off from the face of that sly woman, they can be satisfied with you again, they are kind people, Sasha laughed bitterly, the father for a long time, before Sasha's birthday, was a teacher of the teachers, and since then he thought that they are the best people, then he also served in the winter statistics and did not drink anything, he left them, after getting married to the pregnant daughter of the apartment owner, began to drink and went down to such a degree that his drunkard was raised on the street and took him to the plot, but the candlelight continued to help him with money, the actress Petrovna, although she hated them as books and everything that was related to her husband's past, she was expensive to acquaintance and praised him, maybe you will bring me something from the tree, the father continued, he was cunning, Sasha understood this and mocked the father for weakness and lies, but he really wanted to bring something to the sick and the pitiful person, he has long been sitting without a good tobacco, well, okay, Burknov, let's go to the court, the coward came, but after all I know you, the second, the children were not yet allowed in the hall where the Christmas tree was, and they were sitting in the children's room and chatting, Sasha listened to such naïve speeches with a despicable high-ranking, and swung into the Burk's pocket the already broken papyrus, which managed to drag him out of the office of the owner, then came to him the smallest candlelight, the bell, and stopped motionless, with the appearance of madness, with the composition of the legs on the legs inside and putting the finger on the corner of the puffed lips, six months ago he threw a square habit of putting the finger into the mouth at the distance of the relatives, but he could not completely give up on this gesture, he had white hair cut on the forehead and curls on the shoulders, and blue surprised eyes, and in all his form he belonged to the boys who especially followed Sasha, you are not a grateful boy, asked Sasha, I missed, she said, and I was angry, what is better, answered that, looking at the short barbed wire and a large bowtie, do you want, Luzio, yes, pulled the boy around, tied to him with a stick, the wolf took the spring and, aiming at the nose, nothing suspicious of Kolya, pulled the dog, the stick hit the nose and jumped, talking on the thread, the blue eyes of Kolya opened even wider and showed tears in them, moving the finger from the mouth to the red nose, Kolya often covered with long eyelashes and whispered, evil, evil boy, in childhood a young, beautiful woman with a smooth hair hiding part of the neck, it was the wife's sister, the same one with whom Sasha used to be a father, this one, she said, showing it to Sasha, accompanied by her bald master, bow down, Sasha, it's not good to be so rude, but Sasha did not bow down neither to her nor to the bald master, the beautiful lady did not suspect that he knows a lot, knows that the pitiful father loved him, and she left for another, and although it happened after he married himself, Sasha could not forgive the changes, the stupid blood sighed Sophie Dmitrievna, here is not the husband or Platon Mikhailovich, arrange him, the husband says that it is appropriate for him more than in the gym, Sasha, do you want an appropriate one? I do not want, the short answer of Sasha, hearing the word husband, what is it, brother, do you want to eat, asked the master, no, not in the kitchen, he was offended, Sasha, where are you, Sasha did not know where he wants, I still answered, he thought, at least in the kitchen, the bald master, with indignation, considered a strange boy, when he turned his eyes on Sasha's face from the paid soap, the last one pulled out the tongue, and again hid him so quickly that Sophie Dmitrievna did not notice anything, and the old master came in an incomprehensible and annoying state, I want to be temporary, the modest said Sasha, the beautiful lady was happy and thought about the strength that has an old love over people, but either there is a vacation, the dry one noticed the old master, avoiding looking at Sasha and stroking up on the back of the hair, however, we will still see, the children were worried and noisy, impatiently waiting for the Christmas tree, the experience with a gun, made by a boy who had a sense of respect for himself, the growth and reputation of the spoiled one, found in himself irritants, and several round noses have already been painted, the girls laughed, pressing both hands to the chest and bending when their knights with a sense of fear and pain, but the mournful expectations received the blows of a trial, but the doors opened and someone said to the voice, children, go quietly, quietly, in the morning, bringing out the eyes, from the silence breathing, children, in a steam room, went into a bright lit hall, quietly surrounded by a open tree, she threw a strong light without a shadow on their face surrounded by eyes and lips, One minute, the silence of a deep silence, immediately changed the form of delightful exclamations. One of the girls was not in the power of the owner who captured her with delight, and stubborn and silent, she jumped in one place. A small pigtail with a clenched blue ribbon clenched on her shoulders. Sasha was grumpy and sad. Something bad happened to her little one from her heart. The tree blinded her with its beauty and screaming in the deep glow of countless candles. But she was a stranger to him, hostile as the ones around her, clean and beautiful children. And he wanted to push her so that she would fall down on these bright heads. It seemed that some of the iron hands took his heart and squeezed out of it the last drop of blood. Stabbing at the royal, Sasha sat there in the corner, unconsciously gave him the last papyrus in his pocket, and thought that he had a father, mother, and his own house. And it turns out that there was nothing like that, and he had nowhere to go. He tried to imagine a pierced knife that he recently changed and loved very much. But the knife turned out to be very bad, with a thin clenched blade and only half of a yellow bone. Tomorrow he will break the knife, and then he will have nothing left of him. But suddenly, the gloomy eyes of Sasha flashed with astonishment, and his face instantly accepted the usual expression of stubbornness and self-confidence. The tree next to him, which was illuminated weaker than others, and made it a mistake, he saw what was not enough in the picture of his life, and without which the circle was so empty, exactly surrounding people, not alive. Then there was a wax angel, unbredly hung in the thick darkness of the branches, and like a lightning in the air. His transparent, sterile wings were shaking from the falling light on them, and he seemed alive and ready to fly away. The pink handles with the knitted fingers stretched up, and behind them was a head with the same hair as Kolya. But there was something else in it, which was deprived of the face of Kolya and all other faces and things. The face of the angel did not shine with joy, did not fog up with sadness, but was lying on it with an impression of a new feeling, an indescribable word, an indescribable thought, and only such a feeling was available for understanding. Sasha did not realize the secret power of his angel, but felt that he always knew it and always loved it. He loved it more than a pierced knife, more than a father, than everything else. Full of indescribable, anxiety, incomprehensible delight, Sasha put his hands on his chest and whispered, Dear, dear angel, and the more attentive he looked, the more important the expression of the angel became more important. He was infinitely far away and does not look like everything that surrounded him here. Other toys seemed to be proud of the fact that they were hanging on a row, beautiful, on this twinkling Christmas tree, and he was sad and was afraid of the bright blue light, and secretly hid in the dark greenery, so that no one would see him. It would be crazy to touch his gentle wing with cruelty. Dear, dear, whispered Sasha. Sasha's head burned. He put his hands behind his back and, in complete readiness for the deadly battle for the angel, he walked carefully and secretly. He did not look at the angel so as not to attract his attention to others, but felt that he was still here, did not fly away. The owner in the doors seemed to be an important, high lady with a bright mariole of gray, high-haired hair. The children surrounded her with the expression of their delight, and the little girl, the one who jumped, was tired and hung on her hands and had a hard time with her eyes. Sasha approached him. His throat was overflowing. Auntie, what about Auntie? He said, trying to speak sweetly, but came out even more rude than always. Auntie, auntie, she did not hear and Sasha was impatiently pulled her back. What do you want? Why are you pulling me back? The lady was surprised. This is not polite. Auntie, give me one thing from the tree. Angel. You can not. The lady answered equally. We will pick up the tree for the new year. And you are no longer small and you can call me by name. Maria Dmitrievna. Sasha felt that he was falling into the abyss and caught up with the last means. I am disappointed. I will learn. The priest said he. But this formula, which turned out to be a noble influence on teachers, did not make the lady impressed. You will do well, my friend. She answered equally. Sasha said roughly. Yes, Angel. You can not. The master said. How do you not understand this? But Sasha did not understand. And when the lady turned to the exit, Sasha followed her. Unintentionally looked at her black, gray dress. In his hot-working brain, a memory of how a gymnast of his class asked the teacher to put a triplet. And when he received the refusal, he became the teacher on his knees, put his hands to the palm of the palm, like on a prayer, and cried. Then the teacher was angry, but I still put a triplet. At the same time, Sasha had an old-fashioned episode in the caricature, but now there is no new means left. Sasha pulled her aunt's dress, and when she turned, fell with a knock on her knees and put her hands up in a pronounced way. But she could not cry. Are you crazy? She walked away, called out to the lady and looked away. Fortunately, there was no one in the office. What's wrong with you? Standing on her knees, with folded hands, Sasha with hatred looked at her in a rude manner. Yes, angel! Sasha's eyes, drunk into the gray lady and holding on her lips the first word they uttered, were very bad, and the lady rushed to answer. Well, lady, lady! Oh, how stupid you are! Of course, lady, what are you asking? But why don't you want to wait until the New Year? Get up! And never, the teacher added to the lady, do not stand on your knees. It humiliates a person. You can only stand on your knees before God. Push! And there. Sasha tried to go to the aunt and step on her dress. When she took off her toy, Sasha drank with her eyes, hurt her nose and sprained her fingers. It seemed to him that the high lady would break the angel. Beautiful thing! said the lady, which became a pity and apparently expensive toy. Who hung it here? Well, listen, why do you need this toy? Because it's so big, what are you going to do with it? There are books there with drawings, and I promised Kolya to give it. He asked so, she said. Now Sasha's anger became invulnerable. He whispered with a shy mouth and even screamed at them. The lady was most afraid of the scene and then slowly pulled Sasha to the angel. Well, here she is, she said with pleasure, she is so worthy. The hands of Sasha, whom he took the angel, seemed tense and tense, like two other springs, but so soft and careful, that the angel could breathe in the air. Ahhh! He broke out a long-living sigh from Sasha's chest and on his eyes two small tears and stopped there, used to the light. Slowly approaching the angel in his chest, he looked down and smiled quietly and with a short smile in the sense of unearthly joy. It seemed that when the gentle angel's wings touched Sasha's chest and chest, something so joyful and so bright that never happened on a sad, sinful and suffering earth. Ahhh! He broke out a long-living sigh when the angel's wings touched Sasha and before the light of his face, it seemed that it was painted on a burning Christmas tree and happily smiled a sad, important lady and touched with a dry face and died in the silence of the children who touched the veins of human happiness. And in this short moment they noticed a mysterious resemblance between her and Klyusha with her dress and a gymnast and a spiritual hand of an unknown artist the face of the angel. But the next minute the picture has changed sharply. Visiting as preparing for the Pantera jump, Sasha, with a dark look, looked around and said, Who dares to touch his angel? I'll go home. The deaf said, Sasha, pointing the way in the crowd. To the father, the third, the mother fell asleep talking about the whole day of work and drinking vodka. In a small room behind the fence there was a cooking lamp and it was burned through a burnt glass. Throwing strange shadows on Sasha's face and his father. Good? asked Sasha about it. He held the angel in the distance and did not allow to touch it. Yes, there is something special in it. The father whispered thinking about the toy. His face expressed the same focused attention and joy as Sasha's face. Look at the father. He is going to fly now. He saw the precious, answered Sasha. Do you think blind? And you look at the wings. Do not touch. The father pulled the lesson and studied the details of the angel while Sasha whispered. What brother do you have a habit of squirming to grab with all your hands? Because you can break it. On the wall there were ugly and motionless shadows with a bowed head. One with a big bow and the other with a small circle. The big head was a strange, painful, but at the same time a joyful work. The eyes looked at the angel and under these prehistoric views he became more and more bright and the wings began to tremble and all the surrounding logs, covered with the wall, then Sasha poured it all into a smooth, gray mass without shadows, without light. And the person who died was surprised that he heard a pitiful voice from that wonderful world where he once lived and where he was in the age of death. There was no dirt, no dirt, only a light of a fierce struggle of selfishness. There are no people who know how to raise a person with a smile on the street and beat him up with the hands of the stars. There is a clean, joyful and light and all this clean found a welcome in her soul, the one she loved more saving the unnecessary life. To the smell of wax, rustling from the toy, the unwavering aroma mixed and the person who died in wonder, as touched by the tickling of her dear fingers, which he would like to kiss on one, and so long until death will close his mouth forever. That's why this toy was so beautiful, that's why there was something special in it that attracted to itself, unwavering words. The angel went down from the sky, on which was her soul, and brought light to the raw, soaked tea room, and into the black soul of a person, about whom everything was taken, and love, and happiness, and life, and next to the eyes of the living person, the eyes of the beginning of life were sparkling and the angel was licking, and for them the present and the future disappeared, and eternal sorrowful and pitiful father, and a rude, invulnerable mother, and the dark darkness of the battle, cruelty, humiliation, and unwavering burden. Without Formland, the foggy were dreams of Sasha, but the deeper they were worried about his ridiculous soul, all the kindness shining over the world, all the deep sorrow and the hope that brought both souls into itself, the angel. And from that he lit such a soft divine light, from that he was trampled by the silent trampling, his transparent sterile wing. Father and son did not see each other, they were different, they were crying, and their sick hearts were happy, but there was something in their feelings, that poured out the food on their hearts, and destroyed the unhappiness that separated a person from a person, and makes him so lonely, unhappy and weak. Father with a unconscious movement put his hands on the neck of his son, and the head of the last one was also not free to the chest of the devil, she gave it to you, whispered father, without looking at the angel's eyes. At another time, Sasha would answer with a rough reprimand, but now in his soul he himself sounded the answer, and the ears quietly brought down the jealous lie. And the same, of course, she. I was silent, the silence of Sasha, something crept in the next room, it crept on the mix of silence, and the clock of the battle was in a hurry, one, two, three. Sasha, have you ever dreamt about what your father asked for? No, I found out about Sasha, and no, once I saw him, he fell from the roof. Behind the blue clouds I climbed, and I was torn, and I constantly see. Miracles happen in dreams. You see everything that was, you love and suffer, like on him. He closed again, and Sasha felt how his hand was lying on his neck, all the stronger she was trembling and twitching, and a subtle silence of night suddenly broke out with a creepy, bitter sound, holding on to his crying. Sasha, harshly, moved her eyebrows, and carefully, so as not to shake the already heavy, trembling hand, turned her eyes with a tear. It was so strange to see how a big and old man is crying. Oh, Sasha, Sasha, the father screamed, why all this? Well, what else? Sasha was severely tortured. Really? Well, just like a little one. I won't, I won't. Unfortunately, the father apologized. What? Why? She turned to her stifles of the actress Petrovna. She sighed loudly, and stifled, strangely annoyingly. Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. I can't wait to get up and go to bed. Before that, to arrange for the night clock. It was impossible to leave it on the ground. It was hung on a thread attached to the soul of the stove, and clearly drawn out on the white background of the coffin. So both could see Sasha and the father. Briefly, throwing a corner of each brick, on which he slept. I quickly split up and lay on my back, to quickly start looking at the angel. What are you not dressing up? Father asked, taking some broken blanket and fixing it on the broken leg of the pole. Nothing, I will soon get up. Sasha wanted to add that he did not want to sleep at all, but did not have time, because he fell asleep so quickly, that he definitely found one deep and fast river. Soon he fell asleep, father. Short, calm and carefree face of the person who was rejected and a brave face of the person who was just starting to live. And the angel, hung on a hot stove, began to melt. The lamp, left on fire in the distance of Sasha, filled the room with the smell of kerosene, and through the smoked glass, threw a sad light on the picture, slowly destroying it. The angel somehow moved. By the pink leg, he was rolled out of thick drops and fell on the bed. The smell of kerosene combined with the heavy smell of burnt wax. The angel was shaking, like for a flight, and fell with a soft knock on a hot plate. A curious pebble ran, burning around the unformed tile, gathered on a sterile roof and, pulling his ears, ran further. A blueish light of the starting day was breaking through the locked window, and at the door he was already knocking on the iron pickaxe. The angel, Leonid Andreev. We have heard the children say, Gentle children whom we love, Long ago on Christmas Day, came a message from above. Still, as Christmas Tide comes round, they remember it again, Echo still the joyful sound, Peace on earth, goodwill to men. Yet the hearts must childlike be, Where such heavenly guests abide, Unto children in their glee, All the year is Christmas Tide, Thus forgetting tricks and play, For a moment, lady dear, We would wish you if we may, Merry Christmas, glad new year. Christmas, 1867 End of Christmas Greetings By Lewis Carroll Read by Lucy Perry On November the 12th 2009