The best Christmas stories. Cautionary tale "Christmas Eve"

Guy de Maupassant

Christmas tale

Guy de Maupassant(1850 – 1893)

Doctor Bonanfant began to rummage through his memory, repeating in a low voice:

– A Christmas story?... A Christmas story?...

And suddenly he exclaimed:

- Well, yes! I have one memory, and even a very unusual one. This fantastic story. I saw a miracle. Yes, ladies, a miracle on Christmas night.

Are you surprised that you hear this from me, a person who does not believe in anything? And yet I saw a miracle! I’m telling you, I saw him, I saw him with my own eyes, I really saw him.

Did it surprise me? Not at all: if I do not believe in your dogmas, then I believe in the existence of faith and I know that it moves mountains. I could give many examples. But I am afraid to arouse indignation in you and weaken the effect of my story.

First of all, I admit that if I was not convinced by everything I saw, then, in any case, I was very excited, and I will try to ingenuously convey all this to you with the naive credulity of an Overlander.

I was then a village doctor and lived in the town of Rolleville, in the wilderness of Normandy.

The winter that year was fierce. From the end of November, after a week of frost, snow fell. Heavy clouds approaching from the north could already be seen from afar, then thick white flakes began to fall.

In one night the entire valley was covered with a white shroud.

Lonely farms, standing among square courtyards, behind a curtain of large trees covered with frost, seemed to have fallen asleep under this dense and light blanket.

Not a single sound disturbed the silence of the village. Only flocks of crows drew long patterns across the sky in a vain search for food and, descending in a cloud onto the dead fields, pecked at the snow with their large beaks.

Nothing was heard except the soft and continuous rustle of frozen dust, which continued to fall endlessly.

This lasted all week, then the snowfall stopped. The ground was enveloped in a blanket five feet thick.

Over the next three weeks, the sky, clear as blue crystal during the day, and at night all strewn with stars, like frost on a cold, harsh surface, stretched over an even veil of hard and shiny snow.

The valley, the hedges, the elms beyond the fence - everything seemed dead, killed by the cold. Neither people nor animals appeared on the street; only the pipes protruding from the huts in the white snowdrifts testified to hidden life thin, straight streams of smoke rising in the icy air.

From time to time, the trees cracked, as if their wooden arms were breaking under the bark: a thick branch sometimes separated and fell, because the cold froze the tree sap and tore the frozen fibers.

The dwellings, scattered here and there among the fields, seemed separated from each other by a hundred leagues. We lived as we had to. I alone tried to visit my closest patients, constantly risking being buried in some pit.

Soon I noticed that the whole area was gripped by a mysterious fear. They interpreted that such a disaster could not be a natural phenomenon. They assured me that at night they could hear voices, sharp whistles, and someone's screams.

These screams and whistles were undoubtedly made by flocks of birds flying south at dusk. But try to convince the distraught people. Horror gripped souls, and everyone was waiting for some extraordinary event.

Uncle Vatinel's forge stood at the end of the village of Epivan, on high road, in those days covered with snow and deserted. And when the workers ran out of bread, the blacksmith decided to go to the village. He spent several hours in conversation, visited half a dozen houses that made up the local center, got bread, listened to enough news and became infected with the fear that reigned in the village.

Even before dark he went home.

Walking along some fence, he suddenly noticed an egg in the snow, yes, undoubtedly, an egg, white, like everything around him. He leaned over: indeed, an egg. Where is it from? What kind of chicken could come out of the chicken coop and lay eggs in this place? The surprised blacksmith did not understand anything. However, he took the egg and brought it to his wife.

- Hey, mistress, I brought you an egg. Found him on the road.

The wife shook her head:

-An egg on the road? In this weather! Yes, you are obviously drunk.

- No, mistress, it was lying near the fence and was still warm, not frozen. Here it is, I put it in my bosom so it wouldn’t get cold. Eat it with lunch.

The egg was lowered into the cauldron where the soup was being cooked, and the blacksmith began to retell what was being talked about in the village.

The wife listened, turning pale.

- By God, last night I heard a whistle; it even seemed to me that it was coming from a pipe.

We sat at the table. First they ate soup, then, while the husband was spreading butter on the bread, the wife took the egg and examined it suspiciously.

- What if there is something in this egg?

– What do you think could be there?

- How should I know!

- It will be for you... Eat and don’t be stupid.

She broke the egg. It was very ordinary and very fresh.

She began to eat it hesitantly, now biting off a piece, now putting it away, then picking it up again. The husband asked:

- Well, what does it taste like?

She did not answer and, having swallowed the remains of the egg, suddenly stared at her husband with a gaze, sullen and crazy: throwing her hands up, she clenched them into fists and fell to the ground, writhing in convulsions and emitting terrible screams.

All night she struggled in a terrible fit, shaken by mortal tremors, disfigured by disgusting convulsions. The blacksmith, unable to cope with her, was forced to tie her up.

Without stopping for a minute, she screamed in a wild voice:

– It’s in my stomach!.. It’s in my stomach!..

I was called the next day. I tried all the sedatives without any result. The woman lost her mind.

With incredible speed, despite the impassable snowdrifts, news spread across all the farms, amazing news:

“The blacksmith’s wife has been possessed by a demon!”

Curious people came from everywhere, but did not dare to enter the house. They listened from a distance to her terrible screams: it was difficult to believe that this loud howl belonged to a human being.

They let the village priest know. It was an old, simple-minded abbot. He came running in a surplice, as if to give a farewell to a dying man, and, stretching out his hands, uttered an incantatory formula while four men held a woman writhing on the bed and splashing foam.

But the demon was never cast out.

Christmas came, but the weather was still the same.

The curé came to see me the morning before.

“I want,” he said, “for this unfortunate woman to be present at the evening service today.” Perhaps the Lord will create a miracle for her at the very hour when he himself was born from a woman.

I answered him:

“I fully approve of you, Monsieur Abbot.” If the worship service has an effect on her - and this the best remedy touch her, she can be healed without medicine.

1. O’Henry “The Gift of the Magi”

This touching story about the value of a gift, regardless of its price; this story is about the importance of self-sacrifice in the name of love.

A young married couple survives on eight dollars a week, and Christmas is just around the corner. Dell cries in despair because she cannot buy her beloved husband a gift. Over many months, she was able to save only a dollar and eighty-eight cents. But then she remembers that she has simply gorgeous hair, and decides to sell it in order to give her husband a chain for his family watch.

The husband who saw his wife in the evening seemed very upset. But he was sad not because his wife began to look like a ten-year-old boy, but because he sold his gold watch to give the most beautiful combs, which she had been eyeing for several months.

It seems Christmas has failed. But these two cried not from sadness, but from love for each other.

2. Sven Nordqvist “Christmas Porridge”

Dwarves get along well with people, help them run their households, and take care of animals. And they don’t ask much from people - to bring them a special Christmas porridge for Christmas. But bad luck, people completely forgot about the gnomes. And Dwarf Dad will be terribly angry if he finds out that there will be no treats this year. How can you enjoy porridge without getting noticed by the owners of the house?

3. Sven Nordqvist “Christmas at Pettson’s House”

This wonderful work about friendship and support in Hard time. Petson and his kitten Findus live together and are already starting to prepare for Christmas. But then something bad happened - Petson accidentally injured his leg and will no longer be able to finish all his work. And as luck would have it, the house ran out of food and wood for the stove, and they didn’t even have time to put up a Christmas tree. Who will help friends not to remain hungry and lonely on Christmas?

4. Gianni Rodari “Planet of Christmas Trees”

Little Marcus turned nine years old. He dreamed of receiving a real spaceship from his grandfather as a gift, but for some reason his grandfather gave him a toy horse. Why is he a baby to play with such toys? But curiosity took its toll, and in the evening Marcus sat on the horse, which turned out to be... spaceship.

Marcus ended up on a distant planet, where New Year trees grew everywhere, the inhabitants lived according to a special New Year’s calendar, the sidewalks themselves moved, the cafes served delicious bricks and wire, and for children they came up with a special “Hit-Break” palace, where they were allowed to destroy everything.
Everything would be fine, but how to get back home?..

5. Hans Christian Andersen “The Little Match Girl”

Unfortunately, not all fairy tales end happily. And this one is impossible to read without tears. How can it be that a child wanders the streets on New Year's Eve in the hope of selling at least one match? She warmed her little fingers, and the shadows from the tiny fire outlined scenes of a happy life that she could see through other people's windows.

We don’t even know the baby’s name - for us she will always be the little match girl who, due to the greed and indifference of adults, flew to heaven.

6. Charles Dickens "A Christmas Carol"

This work has become a favorite for more than one generation. We know his film adaptation of A Christmas Carol.

This is the story of the greedy Ebenezer Scrooge, for whom nothing is more important than money. Compassion, mercy, joy, love are alien to him. But everything is about to change on Christmas Eve...

There is a little Scrooge in each of us, and it is so important not to miss the moment, to open the doors to love and mercy, so that this curmudgeon does not completely take possession of us.

7. Catherine Holabert "Angelina Meets Christmas"

Little mouse Angelina is looking forward to Christmas. She had already planned what she would do at home, but now she noticed a lonely, sad Mr. Bell in the window, who had no one to celebrate the holiday with. Sweet Angelina decides to help Mr. Bell, but she doesn’t even suspect that thanks to her good heart will find the real Santa Claus!

8. Susan Wojciechowski "Mr. Toomey's Christmas Miracle"

Mr Toomey makes his living as a wood carver. Once upon a time he smiled and was happy. But after the loss of his wife and son, he became gloomy and received the nickname from the neighbor children Mr. Gloomy. One Christmas Eve, a widow with her little son came knocking and asked him to make them Christmas figurines, since they had lost theirs after moving. It would seem that there is nothing wrong with an ordinary order, but gradually this work changes Mr. Toomey...

9. Nikolai Gogol “The Night Before Christmas”

A long-loved work for both adults and children. Amazing story about evenings on a farm near Dikanka, which formed the basis for films, musicals and cartoons. But if your child does not yet know the story of Vakula, Oksana, Solokha, Chub and other heroes, and also has not heard that the devil can steal the moon, and what other miracles happen on the night before Christmas, it is worth devoting several evenings to this fascinating story .

10. Fyodor Dostoevsky “The Boy at Christ’s Christmas Tree”

This difficult work, without pathos or decoration, the author truthfully depicts the life of the poor. Parents will have to explain a lot, because, thank God, our children do not know such hardships as main character.

The little boy is frozen from the cold and exhausted from hunger. His mother died in some dark basement, and he is looking for a piece of bread on Christmas Eve. The boy probably sees someone else for the first time in his life, happy life. Only she is there, outside the windows of wealthy people. The boy was able to get to the Christmas tree to see Christ, but after he froze outside...

11. Marco Cheremshina “Tear”

This short story will not leave either adults or children indifferent. Fits on one page whole life poor family. Marusya's mother became seriously ill. To prevent her mother from dying, a little girl goes to the city to get medicine. But the Christmas frost does not spare the child, and snow pours into his holey boots as if out of spite.

Marusya is exhausted and quietly dies in the snow. Her only hope is the last child's tear, which miraculously fell on the cheek of the Christmas angel...

12. Mikhail Kotsyubinsky “Christmas tree”

A deep, dramatic, insightful work. It will not leave any reader indifferent, and the intrigue will not let you relax until the very end.
Once upon a time, little Vasyl’s father gave him a Christmas tree; it grew in the garden and made the boy happy. And today, on Christmas Eve, my father sold the tree because the family really, really needed money. When they cut down the tree, it seemed to Vasyl that she was about to cry, and the boy himself seemed to have lost a dear person.

But Vasylko also had to take the tree to the city. The road went through the forest, the Christmas frost crackled, the snow covered all the tracks, and, as luck would have it, the sleigh also broke down. It is not surprising that Vasylko got lost in the forest. Will the boy be able to find his way home, and will Christmas be a joyful holiday for his family?

13. Lydia Podvysotskaya “The Tale of a Christmas Angel”

The Christmas angel looked into one of the rooms and saw little boy, who was in a fever and breathing hoarsely, and above him, bent over, sat a slightly older girl. The angel realized that the children were orphans. It is very difficult and scary for them to live without their mother. But that’s why he’s a Christmas angel, to help and protect good children...

14. Maria Shkurina “A star as a gift for mom”

Little Anya’s mother has been sick for a long time, and the doctor just looks away and sadly shakes his head. And tomorrow is Christmas. Last year they had so much fun with the whole family, but now mom can’t even get out of bed. A little girl remembers that wishes come true at Christmas and asks the star in the sky for health for her mother. Will a distant star hear a child’s prayer?

Christmas is the period when magic comes into its own. Teach your children to believe in miracles, in the power of love and faith, and to do good themselves. And these wonderful stories will help you with this.

Guy de Maupassant

Christmas tale

Guy de Maupassant(1850 – 1893)

Doctor Bonanfant began to rummage through his memory, repeating in a low voice:

– A Christmas story?... A Christmas story?...

And suddenly he exclaimed:

- Well, yes! I have one memory, and even a very unusual one. This is a fantastic story. I saw a miracle. Yes, ladies, a miracle on Christmas night.

Are you surprised that you hear this from me, a person who does not believe in anything? And yet I saw a miracle! I’m telling you, I saw him, I saw him with my own eyes, I really saw him.

Did it surprise me? Not at all: if I do not believe in your dogmas, then I believe in the existence of faith and I know that it moves mountains. I could give many examples. But I am afraid to arouse indignation in you and weaken the effect of my story.

First of all, I admit that if I was not convinced by everything I saw, then, in any case, I was very excited, and I will try to ingenuously convey all this to you with the naive credulity of an Overlander.

I was then a village doctor and lived in the town of Rolleville, in the wilderness of Normandy.

The winter that year was fierce. From the end of November, after a week of frost, snow fell. Heavy clouds approaching from the north could already be seen from afar, then thick white flakes began to fall.

In one night the entire valley was covered with a white shroud.

Lonely farms, standing among square courtyards, behind a curtain of large trees covered with frost, seemed to have fallen asleep under this dense and light blanket.

Not a single sound disturbed the silence of the village. Only flocks of crows drew long patterns across the sky in a vain search for food and, descending in a cloud onto the dead fields, pecked at the snow with their large beaks.

Nothing was heard except the soft and continuous rustle of frozen dust, which continued to fall endlessly.

This lasted all week, then the snowfall stopped. The ground was enveloped in a blanket five feet thick.

Over the next three weeks, the sky, clear as blue crystal during the day, and at night all strewn with stars, like frost on a cold, harsh surface, stretched over an even veil of hard and shiny snow.

The valley, the hedges, the elms beyond the fence - everything seemed dead, killed by the cold. Neither people nor animals appeared on the street; only the chimneys protruding from the huts in the white snowdrifts testified to hidden life in thin, straight streams of smoke rising in the icy air.

From time to time, the trees cracked, as if their wooden arms were breaking under the bark: a thick branch sometimes separated and fell, because the cold froze the tree sap and tore the frozen fibers.

The dwellings, scattered here and there among the fields, seemed separated from each other by a hundred leagues. We lived as we had to. I alone tried to visit my closest patients, constantly risking being buried in some pit.

Soon I noticed that the whole area was gripped by a mysterious fear. They interpreted that such a disaster could not be a natural phenomenon. They assured me that at night they could hear voices, sharp whistles, and someone's screams.

These screams and whistles were undoubtedly made by flocks of birds flying south at dusk. But try to convince the distraught people. Horror gripped souls, and everyone was waiting for some extraordinary event.

Uncle Vatinel's forge stood at the end of the village of Epivan, on the high road, which in those days was covered with snow and deserted. And when the workers ran out of bread, the blacksmith decided to go to the village. He spent several hours in conversation, visited half a dozen houses that made up the local center, got bread, listened to enough news and became infected with the fear that reigned in the village.

Even before dark he went home.

Walking along some fence, he suddenly noticed an egg in the snow, yes, undoubtedly, an egg, white, like everything around him. He leaned over: indeed, an egg. Where is it from? What kind of chicken could come out of the chicken coop and lay eggs in this place? The surprised blacksmith did not understand anything. However, he took the egg and brought it to his wife.

- Hey, mistress, I brought you an egg. Found him on the road.

The wife shook her head:

-An egg on the road? In this weather! Yes, you are obviously drunk.

- No, mistress, it was lying near the fence and was still warm, not frozen. Here it is, I put it in my bosom so it wouldn’t get cold. Eat it with lunch.

The egg was lowered into the cauldron where the soup was being cooked, and the blacksmith began to retell what was being talked about in the village.

The wife listened, turning pale.

- By God, last night I heard a whistle; it even seemed to me that it was coming from a pipe.

We sat at the table. First they ate soup, then, while the husband was spreading butter on the bread, the wife took the egg and examined it suspiciously.

- What if there is something in this egg?

– What do you think could be there?

- How should I know!

- It will be for you... Eat and don’t be stupid.

She broke the egg. It was very ordinary and very fresh.

She began to eat it hesitantly, now biting off a piece, now putting it away, then picking it up again. The husband asked:

- Well, what does it taste like?

She did not answer and, having swallowed the remains of the egg, suddenly stared at her husband with a gaze, sullen and crazy: throwing her hands up, she clenched them into fists and fell to the ground, writhing in convulsions and emitting terrible screams.

All night she struggled in a terrible fit, shaken by mortal tremors, disfigured by disgusting convulsions. The blacksmith, unable to cope with her, was forced to tie her up.

Without stopping for a minute, she screamed in a wild voice:

– It’s in my stomach!.. It’s in my stomach!..

I was called the next day. I tried all the sedatives without any result. The woman lost her mind.

With incredible speed, despite the impassable snowdrifts, news spread across all the farms, amazing news:

“The blacksmith’s wife has been possessed by a demon!”

Curious people came from everywhere, but did not dare to enter the house. They listened from a distance to her terrible screams: it was difficult to believe that this loud howl belonged to a human being.

They let the village priest know. It was an old, simple-minded abbot. He came running in a surplice, as if to give a farewell to a dying man, and, stretching out his hands, uttered an incantatory formula while four men held a woman writhing on the bed and splashing foam.

But the demon was never cast out.

Christmas came, but the weather was still the same.

The curé came to see me the morning before.

“I want,” he said, “for this unfortunate woman to be present at the evening service today.” Perhaps the Lord will create a miracle for her at the very hour when he himself was born from a woman.

I answered him:

“I fully approve of you, Monsieur Abbot.” If the divine service affects her - and this is the best way to move her - she can be healed without drugs.

The old priest muttered:

– You, doctor, are an unbeliever, but you will help me, won’t you? Will you undertake to deliver it?

I promised him my help.

Evening came, then night. The church bell rang, dropping a sad ringing into the dead space, onto the white and frozen surface of the snow.

Obedient to the copper call, groups of black figures slowly reached out. The full moon illuminated the horizon with a bright and pale light, further emphasizing the dull whiteness of the fields.

I took four strong men and went to the blacksmith.

The possessed woman was still howling, tied to the bed. Despite wild resistance, she was carefully dressed and carried.

The church, cold but illuminated, was now full of people; the singers sang a monotonous tune; the organ wheezed; a small bell in the hands of the servant rang, controlling the movements of the believers.

I locked the woman and her guards in the kitchen church house and began to wait for a favorable, in my opinion, moment.

I chose the moment after communion. All peasants, men and women, having received communion, joined their god in order to soften his severity. While the priest performed the sacrament, deep silence reigned in the church.

At my order the door opened and my four assistants brought in the madwoman.

As soon as she saw the light, the kneeling crowd, the illuminated choir and the golden ark, she began to beat with such force that she almost broke out of our hands, and began to scream so shrilly that a thrill of horror swept through the church. All heads rose, many of the worshipers ran away.

She lost her human appearance, writhed and squirmed in our hands, with distorted face and crazy eyes.

She was dragged to the steps of the choir and forcefully bent to the floor.

The priest stood and waited. When she was seated, he took the monstrance, at the bottom of which lay a white wafer, and, taking a few steps, raised it with both hands above the head of the possessed woman, so that she could see it...

She was still howling, her gaze fixed on the shiny object.

The abbot continued to stand so motionless that he could have been mistaken for a statue.

This dragged on for a long, long time.

The woman seemed to be gripped by fear: she, enchanted, without looking away, looked at the bowl, still shaking at times with terrible trembling, and continued to scream, but not in such a heartbreaking voice.

Christmas stories are special genre, which every writer understands differently. Some believe that good magic must happen at the end, others - that the story should remind of those who do not have so much fun at Christmas. "Mel" collected six different stories- joyful, sad, instructive, - which can be read and discussed with children on pre-Christmas evenings.

For those preparing for the main school exam

1. Gianni Rodari« Journey of the Blue Arrow"

“If you behave badly, your toys will go to another boy,” perhaps this threat in childhood forced someone to go to bed on time and clean their room. But if toys could actually choose their owners, it’s unlikely that obedience would be the main criterion.

Yellow Bear, the great chief Silver Feather, the rag dog Button and the three Puppets whole year They wonder who they will end up under the Christmas tree, watching the children passing by the window of a toy store. In the original Italian tale children's writer Gianni Rodari they are waiting for Christmas, and in Russian translation - New Year.

The shop is run by a Fairy - however, not an airy creature with wings, as you might think, but a “well-bred old lady.” Good-natured, but stingy. This means that little Francesco Monti is definitely not entitled to any gift for his birthday. New Year, because his name is written in the debt book. Over the past two years, Francesco's mother has already owed the Fairy for a toy top and a horse.

But the toys did not see the debt book, but saw only the sad eyes of the boy, who every day came to the window to look at the wonderful electric train with two barriers and a station, called the Blue Arrow by the Fairy. Having learned that the Fairy is going to leave him without a gift, the toys themselves decide to create a real miracle for him and give him themselves.

" - But this is a riot! - exclaimed the General. - There is no way I can afford such a thing. I suggest you obey my orders!

And go where the Fairy takes us? Then Francesco will not receive anything this year either, because his name is written in the debt book...

A thousand whales!..”

2. Fyodor Dostoevsky “The Boy at Christ’s Christmas Tree”

The story about the “Christ’s Christmas tree” may be fictional, but the boy in it is very real - a little beggar of about seven years old, whom the writer met several times on the same corner. This is a story about him and about other boys and girls who really want to spin around the Christmas tree, laugh and unwrap packages with gifts. But they only look at other boys and girls in elegant dresses, flattening their noses on the glass, and stand at the shop windows until their hands without mittens ache from the cold. And at home, only beatings and abuse await them. And one day they also end up on the Christmas tree, where everything is fine, and everything sparkles and shines, and their mothers look at them and laugh joyfully.

“Let’s go to my Christmas tree, boy,” a quiet voice suddenly whispered above him.

...Christ always has a Christmas tree on this day for little children who don’t have their own Christmas tree... - And he found out that these boys and girls were all just like him, children, but some were still frozen in their baskets, in which they were thrown onto the stairs to the doors of St. Petersburg officials, others suffocated at the chukhonkas, from the orphanage while being fed, others died at the withered breasts of their mothers, during the Samara famine, others suffocated in third-class carriages from the stench, and yet they are all here now.” .

3. Charles Dickens "A Christmas Carol"

The famous miser Scrooge, whose name has become a household name for greedy businessmen, first appeared in Dickens's Christmas story. And he appeared for a reason. In the 40s of the twentieth century, English factories were very difficult conditions labor, including children's, and the writer was asked to advocate for a law limiting the working day. This is how a series of Christmas stories appeared, the first of which was the story about the old miser Scrooge.

For Scrooge, Christmas is an empty vanity, because this day does not bring any benefits, only expenses. On Christmas Eve, he reluctantly lets his employee leave the office to go to his family, and he goes home alone. At home he is visited by the spirit of his late companion, who during his lifetime was as callous as Scrooge. The spirit warns Scrooge that terrible torment awaits him after death if he does not stop being indifferent to the misfortunes of others. Over the next three nights, Scrooge travels with the spirits through the past, present and future and discovers a world that he did not see behind bonds and securities.

What would you like? - the Spirit asked him.

“Nothing,” answered Scrooge. - Nothing. Last night a little boy sang a Christmas song at my door. I would like to give him something, that’s all.”

4. Pavel Zasodimsky “Blizzard and Blizzard”

The girl Masha lives with a stepfamily in Sobachy Lane, and at Christmas the same story happens to her that changed the life of Cosette from Hugo’s novel. The hostess sends her out into the cold to buy candles, and, stumbling, the girl loses a coin. Now you can’t even buy a candle, and you’re scared to return home—they’ll beat you up. The frozen Cosette is found by the escaped convict Jean Valjean, and Masha, who is groping in the snow with her hands, is found by a simple worker Ivan. A worker misses someone who died three years ago. younger brother. He takes the girl to him, calls her sister, and decorates her first Christmas tree in her life.

“On this tree there were a dozen multi-colored wax candles Yes, there were walnuts, gingerbread cookies and candies hanging; There were, however, between them two or three candies with painted pictures. This modest Christmas tree seemed delightful to Masha. She had never experienced such joy at Christmas before in her life, at least she doesn’t remember. Masha forgot the landlady, and the landlady’s cruel brother, and the snowstorm and blizzard raging outside the window, forgot her grief and tears and ran around the tree, clapping her hands and tilting first one or the other green twig towards herself.”

5. Hans Christian Andersen “The Christmas Tree”

What will Christmas be like if you look at it through the eyes of a Christmas tree? After all, before she was chosen, brought home and decorated with tinsel, she had her own forest life. She grew up reaching out to the sun and wondering where trees go after people cut them down with an axe.

The Christmas tree in Andersen's story is a vain person. She does not rejoice in her youth and freshness, but only waits until she finally grows so big and beautiful that people will notice her. From the stories of the sparrows, she knows that she will stand in a warm room and shine with the light of a thousand candles. Finally, the tree is cut down, but its happiness is short-lived. From the warm and bright living room it is soon put into a closet, and then completely thrown out. But the tree always thinks that something special is waiting for it.

“Now I’ll live,” the tree rejoiced, straightening its branches. But the branches were all dried out and yellowed, and she lay in the corner of the yard among the nettles and weeds. But on top of it there was still a star made of gilded paper and sparkling in the sun.”

6. Alexander Kuprin “Poor Prince”

In fact, Danya is not a prince, but a very ordinary boy. And not poor at all - in any case, he grows up in prosperous family, and for Christmas a decorated tree and a fun holiday with other dressed-up children await him. But this holiday is organized by adults who understand nothing at all about fun - they will probably force you to dance in circles and clap your hands in an organized manner.

“And, to be honest, what’s fun about this Christmas tree? Well, familiar boys and girls will come and pretend for the sake of big, smart and well-mannered children... Behind each of them there is a governess or some old aunt... They will force them to speak English all the time... They will start some boring game in which you definitely have to name names of animals, plants or cities, and adults will intervene and correct the little ones.”

Dana is bored walking around the Christmas tree, because he is already very big and dreams of becoming an aviator or polar explorer. Most of all, Dana wants to join the street boys from the neighboring house - the children of shoemakers, janitors and laundresses. He heard from his nanny that at Christmas time they all go caroling together with a homemade multi-colored star and a nativity scene with a candle inside. Dana is forbidden to communicate with “bad children,” and looking at them from the window, he seems to be an enchanted prince who is forced to live in a boring, albeit rich, kingdom.

“An insanely bold thought flashes through Dani’s head - so bold that he even bites his lower lip for a minute, makes big, frightened eyes and cringes. But isn’t he really an aviator and a polar explorer? After all, sooner or later you will have to frankly tell your father: “Dad, don’t worry, please, but today I’m going across the ocean in my airplane.” Compared to such scary words, getting dressed slowly and running out into the street is a mere trifle.”

Rated the book

There are “New Year” and “Christmas” books. For me, these categories cannot be equated. After the collection “Christmas Stories” foreign writers“a flurry of criticism rained down, frowning with displeasure, I wanted to figure out what the reason was. Everything turned out to be simple: people expect a “New Year’s” effect from a “Christmas” book - a lift in the mood, a desire to eat half a kilo of tangerines, wrap a garland around the floor lamp and go looking for a cookie recipe.

Yuletide Stories- they are about something else, they are full of biblical motifs and they are closer to parables, because their task is to educate. Therefore, yes, there is also an exorcism of the devil and the beating of infants, which will seem creepy and even blasphemous to a reader who does not deeply know about the origins of the bright holiday or is simply ignorant.

Only Dickens's A Christmas Carol and The Nutcracker and mouse king"Hoffmann, but about them at the end.

I'll start with Anatole France, because the collection presents 2 of his creations: short story "Balshazzar" and " New Year's gift Mademoiselle de Dusin", both with a somewhat anti-church orientation and are intended rather as parodies. The short story “Balshazzar” in its first edition bore the subtitle “A Christmas Story.” It’s not for nothing that I tell you, because the plot is connected with the gospel legend about the worship of the Magi to the newborn Jesus Christ. But the cunning author conditionally changes the vector to the side in no time biblical story about the Queen of Sheba, and, being French, cannot avoid the adventurous, amorous plot and exoticism of the East. The “wisdom” acquired by the hero about renouncing everything worldly is very doubtful. “Mademoiselle de Dusin’s New Year’s Gift” is in the same tone, ridiculing arrogant religiosity and rejection of interpretations of the Bible, of which in moderation large number its authors are countless.

Brothers Grimm's story "Mary's Child"
Like all fairy tales from the pen of the Brothers Grimm, this one is not inferior in gloom and some hopelessness, but it is important precisely because of the ending: “Whoever confesses and repents of his sin, his sin is forgiven!” As a person who spent half of his childhood in the fairy-tale kingdoms created by Grimm, I can safely say: it’s better to read from the end.

"Christmas in hunting lodge» Thomas Myne Reid is full of Irish motifs and reminds that someone celebrates the holiday by savoring a delicious pudding, while others defend themselves by shooting back from enemies. It’s corny, but it’s true, and that’s why it hurts.

"Port in a Storm" by George MacDonald– the most frivolous story, and Christmas is played out as a decoration family history about meeting the parents, but it leaves a pleasant impression.

"The Christmas Miracle" by Guy de Maupassant- about a somewhat unattractive, but possible form of manifestation of miracles - the exorcism of the devil. What can you do, miracles are deeper and more significant than the transformation of a pumpkin into a carriage and back.

"Massacre of the Innocents" by Maurice Maeterlinck– the case when the name speaks for itself. If you think that Christmas has nothing to do with it, then look at the frescoes and mosaics from the beginning of the Renaissance. Murdered babies are revered as holy martyrs, because they were the first to suffer for the sake of Christ.

"God in the Cave" by Gilbert Keith Chesterton– it’s like the icing on the cake in this collection. “Yes, opposites truly came together in Bethlehem.” This is not a story, it is a worthy and beautiful, simply brilliant treatise in which Christianity is examined as if “from the outside,” sensibly and subtly. There are too many inconsistencies and incidents in the Christian perception of the world, religion, and even oneself, but this in no way makes the faith obsolete.

"The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" by Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann- a work from childhood, which I did not like then. I perceived “The Nutcracker” as a fairy tale for children; for this reason, even Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s ballet of the same name, when I was already in high school, I watched without much enthusiasm. But how great was my surprise that there are 2 versions of the story - full and abridged. This collection contains a complete one, thanks to which I perceive Hoffmann’s “The Nutcracker” as a fairy tale not only for children.

"A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens- the most amazing thing in the collection. She is like a favorite Christmas ball, the shine and charm of which does not fade over the years. Continuing the analogy, I would call A Christmas Carol a decoration self made, with soul and wisdom put into it. This is an excellent example of a fairy tale with near-religious motives, after reading which you want to be better and kinder, so as not to resemble the miserly Uncle Scrooge, as he appears to us at the beginning.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Rated the book

I don't know what others expect when they look at a book with such a festive cover and title. But to be honest, I'm very disappointed. Because some of the stories here are completely off topic, they were shoved in for volume or something...

There was clearly not enough Christmas spirit for the entire collection. For me here are the key ones:

1. "A Christmas Carol" Charles Dickens. I think everyone knows this story more or less, some have read it, some have watched it, and some may have heard it out of the blue from someone else. I admit, I didn’t read or watch, but I knew about Scrooge. In general, I really like Dickens’ style, and this little story is so wintry and magical.

And how many Scrooges are there in the world who are not happy about anything, greedy and unfriendly beeches who don’t need anyone? But, unfortunately, there is not enough magic for all such beech trees. So, change yourself, all the best and happiness to you.

And I'll be happy to watch the cartoon.

2. "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" Goffman.

How sweet and good fairy tale. How nice it is to immerse yourself in such fairy tale, where toys come to life, where good conquers evil, where love works miracles.

While reading, I remembered soviet cartoon and at first I thought that I forgot something there. But I watched it, I don’t argue, the cartoon is good, but everything is not the same as it was in the fairy tale. I already looked modern version and she was upset too. I want it to be like in a fairy tale :)

3. B "Child of Mary" Brothers Grimm's most important thought is: “Whoever confesses and repents of his sin, his sin is forgiven.”

Stop, stop!!! This does not mean that you should now run headlong and repent, because no one has canceled the rule for others “the less you know, the better you sleep,” have pity on your listeners, let some secrets remain only yours.

But this masterpiece - "Massacre of the innocents" I can’t even understand how I got here. This is just a bloody thriller, if you bought this book for children, then cut out these pages. Here children's limbs are cut off, heads fly in all directions. And I didn’t catch the essence at all, murdered children and grief-stricken parents.

Rated the book

One of several Christmas and New Year collections from the Nikaia publishing house. A small format, a wonderful cover without unnecessary decorations, and finally, excellent content - in total we have a wonderful New Year's gift! True, perhaps, it is more likely for the older generation (there are other collections for the younger ones).

Although everything starts out very well. Dickens, Grimm and Hoffmann suggest that you can pick up a book at any age, but before you settle into it, still skim the contents to the end. "Christmas at the Hunting Lodge" by Thomas Myne Reid - okay, the intensity of passions, shooting, but Cooper, beloved by young people, has had worse. Next is “Balshazzar” by Anatole France. Hmm... Stormy love with the Queen of Sheba, and in the literal sense, not the Disney sense, makes you think, especially since this woman is generous with affection to many. However, the impression is quickly softened by the sweet story “Mademoiselle de Dusin’s New Year’s Gift” - a charming and educational story, especially for those who consider the New Year to be a pagan holiday and refuse to celebrate it (that is, for me to some extent).

"The Christmas Miracle" by Guy de Maupassant and "Port in a Storm" by George MacDonald are clearly intended for older people, but there is nothing reprehensible about them. And then!..

No, look at fairy tale names. A Christmas Carol, a Miracle, a Gift... and the MASSACRE OF THE BABIES. I was hooked even after a quick glance at the content. But I thought it was nothing like that. Surely we will come to Jesus and his miracles, well, really, we have Christmas stories. But no matter how it is. This is a natural beating, detailed description how poor children were killed. They killed everyone - period. Merry Christmas! No, as a lover of tinplate, I even quite liked the story. But what he is doing in this collection is not clear to me personally. And, in my opinion, the faint of heart should not read it, even if the author is Maurice Maeterlinck (please remember that he is famous not only for “The Blue Bird”, but also for much worse).

It all ends with Chesterton’s “God in the Cave,” which is less a story than a philosophical essay that does little to correct the impression of the hacked children.

On the other hand, those who read the Bible without abbreviations, and it is precisely to its events that almost all stories are referred, have nothing to fear. After this, nothing is scary anymore. Therefore, it is recommended to create a Christmas atmosphere!