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 dare 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.
-Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 1
For your Yuletide enjoyment, here are a few Christmas-themed short stories suitable for those long evenings sitting by the inglenook (courtesy of eastoftheweb.com): | A Kidnapped Santa Claus . . . L. Frank Baum
One might think that Santa Claus would have no enemies on all the earth - and for a long time, he didn't ...
then the Daemons came along. | | The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle . . . Arthur Conan Doyle
A Christmas mystery for detective Sherlock Holmes beginning with a lost hat and an abandoned goose. | | How Santa Claus Came To Simpson's Bar . . . Bret Harte
On Christmas Eve in a remote settlement cut off by heavy flooding, a group of men pay a visit
to a deprived boy. | | The Fir Tree . . . Hans Christian Andersen
Fairy tale about a little fir tree that wants to grow up.
The Gift of the Magi . . . O. Henry
A tragic, ironic Christmas for one hard up couple.
| | Markheim . . . Robert Louis Stevenson
Markeim arrives at an antique dealer's on Christmas day, ostensibly to buy a present for a lady.
A tale of evil and its nature. | | Bertie's Christmas Eve . . . Saki
Bertie Steffink takes action against his disapproving relatives. | | Captain Eli's Best Ear . . . Frank Stockton
Two reclusive, retired ship's Captains decide to celebrate Christmas for the first time in years. | |
And a few favorites of my own:
The Burglar's Christmas- Willa Cather
At Christmas Time- Anton Chekhov
A Child's Christmas In Wales- Dylan Thomas
A Christmas Memory- Truman Capote
A Miserable Merry Christmas-
Lincoln Steffens
One Christmas Eve- Langston
Hughes Susie’s Letter from Santa-
Mark Twain Our Lady's Juggler- Anatole France A Christmas Dream and How It Came True- Louisa May Alcott The Story of the Goblins Who Stole a Sexton (from The Pickwick Papers)- Charles Dickens Christmas With Queen Bess (from Master Skylark)- John Bennett Dancing Dan's Christmas- Damon Runyon (added to list via comment thread- thanks, Dave)
Christmas Eve at Sea
A wind is rustling "south and soft,"
Cooing a quiet country tune.
The calm sea sighs, and far aloft
the sails are ghostly in the moon.
Unquiet ripples lisp and purr,
A block there pipes and chirps i' the sheave,
The wheel-ropes jar, the reef-points stir
Faintly --and it is Christmas Eve.
The hushed sea seems to hold her breath,
and o'er the giddy, swaying spars,
Silent and excellent as Death,
The dim blue skies are bright with stars.
Dear God -- they shone in Palestine
Like this, and yon pale moon serene
Looked down among the lowing kine
On Mary and the Nazarene.
The angels called from deep to deep,
The burning heavens felt the thrill,
startling the flocks of silly sheep
And lonely shepherds on the hill.
To-night beneath the dripping bows
where flashing bubbles burst and throng,
The bow-wash murmurs and sighs and soughs
A message from the angels' song.
The moon goes nodding down the west,
The drowsy helmsman strikes the bell;
Rex Judaorum natus est,
I charge you, brothers, sing Nowell, Nowell,
Rex Judaorum natus est.
-John Masefield
Christmas! 'Tis the season for kindling the fire of hospitality in the hall, the genial fire of charity in the heart. -Washington Irving
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Wishing You All A Joyous Holiday Season!
-Maureen Lang
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