Childs Story Garden | Page 5

as he did so he smiled and nodded his head,
for the music was very sweet. The violin, which had once been Pine
Tree, and then part of a ship, and the ridge-pole of the cottage and the
barn, seemed to sing to the man the songs of the forest, the songs of the
ocean, the songs of the home, and the songs of the lowly barn.
One day the man put the violin in a case and took it away on a long
journey. When the case was opened, the violin saw that they were in a
strange hall full of people, and many of them were talking of this
man--the violin-maker.
The man lifted the violin from the case and went out upon a large
platform before the people, and began playing for them. He seemed to
say to the violin, "Sing for me," and as he drew the bow across the
strings the violin sang. It sang to the people, first the very songs that the
tall pines sang in the forest. The song changed, and the lap of the
waters, and the dip of the oar could be heard as on a moonlight summer
night; then the angry wind and the dash of the waves could be heard as
in a fierce storm. Slowly this song died, and everything was quiet. Then,
after a little while, the faraway sound of children's voices--their
laughter and singing--was heard, and then came the sweet lullaby to the
sleepy babes.
These songs all died away, and the violin sang the songs of the birds in
the summer-time, and the lowing of cattle, and the bleating of sheep in
the cold winter-time.

At last the violin could sing no longer the songs it knew, but a new
song came forth which was also very beautiful, and which caused the
people to bend forward and listen with eager faces, for it was the song
that came from the heart of the old man who was master of the violin.

A CHRISTMAS STORY
It was so long ago that the whole world has forgotten the date and even
the name of the little town in which lived a little boy whose name was
Hans.
Little Hans lived with his aunt, who was quite an old lady. She was not
always kind to Hans, but this made no difference to him. He loved her
just the same, and forgot that she was ever cross and very unkind to
him at times.
Hans went to school with many other boys, but he was not clothed as
they were. He had to wear the same clothes both week days and
Sundays; the same even in the summer that he wore in the winter.
It was now midwinter, when everything was wrapped in snow and
glazed with ice, while the north winds sang loud and whistled down the
chimneys, played very roughly with the bare trees, and crept through
every crack and crevice of the house. The frost, too, was busy pinching
the cheeks and biting the toes of the boys, and making them run, jump
and dance to keep warm.
The children were wild with the excitement and the joy that was astir at
this time. For there were secrets in the air. Every one was busy making
gifts for some loved one.
It was the night before Christmas, the one great birthday on which the
whole world rejoiceth and when all endeavor to make their fellow men
happy.
The schoolmaster and all of his pupils started for the midnight worship
and prayer at the church. All of the boys were well clothed, with heavy
coats, fur caps, thick mittens, and very heavy and warm shoes. But little
Hans had only a poor, plain, ragged suit, with no overcoat, no mittens,
and his shoes were only wooden ones. It was a very cold night, and the
boys and the schoolmaster had to walk very fast to keep warm. But
little Hans did not mind the cold so much, because the stars smiled
down upon him and seemed like so many diamonds set in a deep blue
canopy, each one glittering and flashing in the darkness. The snow, too,

was a sparkling mass, and Hans wondered if the stars could see
themselves reflected in the tiny snow crystals which covered the earth.
At last they reached the church, whose windows were shedding forth a
soft, golden light on the stillness and darkness of the cold winter night.
This little group of worshipers quietly passed into the church and sank
noiselessly into their pews. It was a beautiful place to Hans. He loved it
dearly, and was always happy to come here. The candles were all
lighted, and they burned steadily brighter and brighter, filling the
church with a