Christmas in Legend and Story | Page 2

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 LAGERLÖF
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 LAGERLÖF
FÉLIX EVALEEN STEIN
THE SABOT OF LITTLE WOLFF FRANÇOIS COPPÉE
THE LITTLE FRIEND ABBIE FARWELL BROWN
WHERE LOVE IS, THERE GOD IS ALSO COUNT LYOF N.
TOLSTOÏ

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