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CHRISTMAS IN LEGEND AND STORY



Some say that ever 'gainst that season comes
Wherein our Saviour's birth, is celebrated,
The bird of dawning singeth all night long:
And then, they say, no spirit dares stir abroad;
The nights are wholesome; then no planets strike,
No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm,
So hallow'd and so gracious is the time.

SHAKESPEARE.



CHRISTMAS
IN
LEGEND AND STORY

A BOOK FOR BOYS AND GIRLS


COMPILED BY

ELVA S. SMITH

CARNEGIE LIBRARY
PITTSBURGH

AND

ALICE I. HAZELTINE

PUBLIC LIBRARY
ST. LOUIS


ILLUSTRATED
FROM
FAMOUS PAINTINGS


1915



CHRISTMAS IN LEGEND AND STORY



PREFACE

In our experience in library work with children we have learned that it is
very difficult to find Christmas stories and legends which have literary
merit, are reverent in spirit, and are also suitable for children. This
collection has been made in an endeavor to meet this need, and thus to be
of service to parents, teachers, and librarians.

Most of the stories and poems in this book are of the legendary type. They
have been chosen from a wide variety of sources and represent the work of
many writers. There are other stories also, which, although not strictly
traditional, have the same reverent spirit and illustrate traditional
beliefs and customs. These have been included for their literary value and
their interest for young people.

In the arrangement of the selections we have followed the natural order of
the events in preference to grouping the stories for boys and girls of
different ages.

Although no attempt has been made to adapt the legends for story-telling,
most of them may be used for that purpose. Many of the selections are also
well suited for reading aloud.

Above all it is hoped that this book may bring real joy to the boys and
girls for whom it has been compiled.

ELVA S. SMITH,

CATALOGUER OF CHILDREN'S BOOKS,

CARNEGIE LIBRARY OF PITTSBURGH.


ALICE I. HAZELTINE,

SUPERVISOR OF CHILDREN'S WORK,

ST. LOUIS PUBLIC LIBRARY.



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The compilers wish to thank Mrs. Margaret Deland for permission to use
"The Christmas Silence;" Mrs. Etta Austin McDonald for her adaptation of
Coppee's "Sabot of Little Wolff" from "The Child Life Fifth Reader;"
Josephine Preston Peabody for "The Song of a Shepherd-Boy at Bethlehem;"
Mrs. William Sharp for "The Children of Wind and the Clan of Peace," by
Fiona Macleod; Nora Archibald Smith and the editors of the _Outlook_ for
"The Haughty Aspen;" and the editors of _Good Housekeeping Magazine,_
Little, Brown & Company and Mrs. Velma Swanston Howard for her translation
of "The Legend of the Christmas Rose," by Selma Lagerloef, taken from _Good
Housekeeping Magazine_, copyright, 1907. Copyright, 1910, by Little, Brown
& Company.

Thanks are also due to the following publishers for permission to reprint
poems and stories on which they hold copyright: The Century Company for
four selections from _St. Nicholas_, "The Little Gray Lamb" by A.B.
Sullivan, "A Christmas Legend" by Florence Scannell, "Felix" by Evaleen
Stein, "The Child Jesus in the Garden;" The Churchman Company for "The
Blooming of the White Thorn" by Edith M. Thomas; Doubleday, Page & Company
for "Neighbors of the Christ Night" by Nora Archibald Smith; E.P. Dutton &
Company for "The Sin of the Prince Bishop" by William Canton; Ginn &
Company for "Christmas Carol" from "Open Sesame;" Mr. William Heinemann
for "The Flight into Egypt" by Selma Lagerloef; Houghton Mifflin Company
for "The Child Born at Bethlehem" by H.E. Scudder, "The Christmas Song of
Caedmon" by H.E.G. Pardee, "The Little Mud-Sparrows" by Elizabeth Stuart
Phelps.

"St. Christopher of the Gael" and "The Cross of the Dumb" are included
through the courtesy of Messrs. Duffield & Company. From "Poems and
Dramas" by Fiona Macleod, copyright, 1901, 1903, 1907, by Thomas B.
Mosher; 1910 by Duffield & Company.

The selection "Christmas at Greccio" from "God's Troubadour" by Sophie
Jewett is included by special arrangement with T.Y. Crowell Company. "The
Little Friend" by Abbie Farwell Brown, "Christmas Hymn" by R.W. Gilder,
"The Three Kings" by H.W. Longfellow, and "The Star Bearer" by E.C.
Stedman are included by special arrangement with Houghton Mifflin Company;
and "The Three Kings of Cologne" by Eugene Field, and "Earl Sigurd's
Christmas Eve" by H.H. Boyesen, by special arrangement with Charles
Scribner's Sons.

The story of St. Christopher is taken chiefly from the "Golden Legend,"
but a few suggestions for its adaptation were obtained from a version by
Olive Logan.



CONTENTS

"THE GRACIOUS TIME"

THE ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS
  ST. LUKE, II, 1-16

THE CHILD BORN AT BETHLEHEM
  HORACE ELISHA SCUDDER

AS JOSEPH WAS A-WALKING
  OLD ENGLISH CAROL

THE PEACEFUL NIGHT
  JOHN MILTON

THE CHRISTMAS SILENCE
  MARGARET DELAND

NEIGHBORS OF THE CHRIST NIGHT
  NORA ARCHIBALD SMITH

CHRISTMAS CAROL
  FROM THE NEAPOLITAN

A CHRISTMAS HYMN
  RICHARD WATSON GILDER

THE SONG OF A SHEPHERD--BOY AT BETHLEHEM
  JOSEPHINE PRESTON PEABODY

THE FIRST CHRISTMAS ROSES
  ADAPTED FROM AN OLD LEGEND

THE LITTLE GRAY LAMB
  ARCHIBALD BERESFORD SULLIVAN

THE HOLY NIGHT
  ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING

THE STAR BEARER
  EDMUND CLARENCE STEDMAN

THE VISIT OF THE WISE MEN
  ST. MATTHEW, II, 1-12

THE THREE KINGS
  HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW

THE THREE HOLY KINGS
  ADAPTED FROM THE GOLDEN LEGEND, AND OTHER SOURCES

THE THREE KINGS OF COLOGNE
  EUGENE FIELD

BABOUSCKA
  ADELAIDE SKEEL

THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT
  SELMA LAGERLOeF

THE HAUGHTY ASPEN
  NORA ARCHIBALD SMITH

THE LITTLE MUD-SPARROWS
  ELIZABETH STUART PHELPS

THE CHILDREN OF WIND AND THE CLAN OF PEACE
  FIONA MACLEOD

THE CHILD JESUS IN THE GARDEN
  AUTHOR UNKNOWN

THE MYSTIC THORN
  ADAPTED FROM TRADITIONAL SOURCES

THE BLOOMING OF THE WHITE THORN
  EDITH MATILDA THOMAS

LEGEND OF ST. CHRISTOPHER
  ADAPTED FROM THE GOLDEN LEGEND

ST. CHRISTOPHER OF THE GAEL
  FIONA MACLEOD

THE CROSS OF THE DUMB
  FIONA MACLEOD

THE CHRISTMAS SONG OF CAEDMON
  H.E.G. PARDEE

GOOD KING WENCESLAS
  JOHN MASON NEALE

THE CHRISTMAS AT GRECCIO: A STORY OF ST. FRANCIS
  SOPHIE JEWETT

THE SIN OF THE PRINCE BISHOP
  WILLIAM CANTON

EARL SIGURD'S CHRISTMAS EVE
  HJALMAR HJORTH BOYESEN

A CHRISTMAS LEGEND
  FLORENCE SCANNELL

THE LEGEND OF THE CHRISTMAS ROSE
  SELMA LAGERLOeF

FELIX
  EVALEEN STEIN

THE SABOT OF LITTLE WOLFF
  FRANCOIS COPPEE

THE LITTLE FRIEND
  ABBIE FARWELL BROWN

WHERE LOVE IS, THERE GOD IS ALSO
  COUNT LYOF N. TOLSTOI



CHRISTMAS IN
LEGEND AND STORY



"THE GRACIOUS TIME"


According to tradition, on the Holy Night there fell upon Bethlehem of
Judea a strange and unnatural calm; the voices of the birds were hushed,
water ceased to flow and the wind was stilled. But when the child Jesus
was born all nature burst into new life; trees put forth green leaves,
grass sprang up and bright flowers bloomed. To animals was granted the
power of human speech and the ox and the ass knelt in their stalls in
adoration of the infant Saviour. Then it was that the shepherds abiding in
the field with their flocks heard the angels praising God, and kings of
the Orient watching in their "far country" saw ablaze in the heavens the
long-expected sign. Even in distant Rome there sprang up a well or
fountain which "ran largely" and the ancient prophetess, Sibyl, looking
eastward from the Capitoline hill heard the angel song and saw in vision
all the wonders of that night.

There are many such traditional tales of the nativity, of the "star-led
wizards" and of the marvels wrought by the boy Christ. They tell of the
bees singing their sweet hymn of praise to the Lord, of the palm-tree
bending down its branches that the weary travellers fleeing from the wrath
of Herod might be refreshed by its fruit, of the juniper which opened to
conceal them and of the sweet-smelling balsam which grew wherever the
drops of moisture fell from the brow of the Boy "as He ran about or toiled
in His loving service for His Mother." Quaint fancies some of these,
perhaps, and not all of them worth preserving; but oftentimes beautiful,
and with a germ of truth.

From the centuries between then and now, come stories of holy men, of
bishops and peasant-saints, and of brave men who preached the White Christ
to the vikings of the north or on Iona's isle. As in popular belief, with
each returning eve of the nativity the miracles of the first Christmas
happen again, so in these tales the thorn-tree blossoms anew and wonderful
roses bloom in the bleak forest.

Other stories tell how on each Christmas eve the little Christ-child comes
again to earth and wanders through village or town, while lighted candles
are placed in the windows to guide Him on His way.

These various legends and traditional tales, which sprang up among the
people like flowers by the wayside and became a part of the life of the
Middle Ages, are still of interest to us of to-day and have a distinct
charm of their own. And when the childlike faith and beauty of thought of
the finest of these have found expression in literary form they seem
particularly suited for our reading at "the gracious time."



THE ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS

ST. LUKE, II, 1-16


And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from
Ca