The Nuts

The Nuts

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Title: The Nuts
Author: Georg Ebers
Release Date: April, 2004 [EBook #5591] [Yes, we are more than one
year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on August 17, 2002]
Edition: 10
Language: English

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BY GEORG EBERS ***

This eBook was produced by David Widger

THE NUTS
A Christmas Story for my Children and Grandchildren
By Georg Ebers

The wounded colonel, whom we were nursing back to health in our
house, was not allowed to walk long, and in the after noon, after he had
pottered about a little, he was obliged to rest in the comfortable old
easy-chair, which was known as grandfather's chair.
When twilight fell, our dear guest lighted the last of the three pipes,
which the doctor permitted him to smoke every day, and made a sign to
the children, which the young people obeyed gladly, for they loved to
listen to his stories.
The convalescent was under orders not to talk for more than half an
hour at a time, for his wounds were so severe that our experienced
physician declared it to be contrary to the laws of nature and quite
phenomenal that he should be among the living at all.
As for his stories, they had never failed to hold the attention of his
audience; this was partly due to the fact that he usually had to break
them off at the point where the interest had reached its climax.
Moreover, the deep voice of the narrator was much gentler than one
would have expected, after looking at the broad-shouldered, heavy
figure, and there lay in his suppressed, and often whispered tones a
secret charm, which the children were not the only ones to feel; besides
which his eyes produced their share of the profound impression, for
every emotion that disturbed his easily-excited soul found a reflection
therein.
That the colonel openly preferred our six-year-old Hermy to his
brothers and sisters was due to the circumstance that the child had once

burst into tears at a look from the officer, which the latter employed to
call the children to order, if they were inattentive, or exhibited signs of
unbelief when he had not expected it. After this Hermy was so
evidently his darling that there was no further chance for Hermy's
younger sister, who had at first promised to be the favourite, and I shall
never forget the soft, almost motherly, caressing tones that came from
that grey- bearded man with the large round head and strong face, when
he sought to comfort the child.
It was remarkable to see how easily this man, who was accustomed to
obedience, and famous for his bravery and keen energy, could become
a child among children. He had lost a beloved wife, a little son, about
Hermy's age, and a young daughter, and no doubt our numerous family
reminded him of these departed ones. As for his tales, he separated
them into distinct categories. Some of them he began with the words:
"Here I am," and then he held himself strictly to the truth. Others began:
"Once upon a time." While the former were drawn mostly from his own
full and eventful life, the latter were fairy stories, pure and simple,
sometimes already well known, sometimes made up, wherein fairies,
ghosts, elves, gnomes, goblins and dragons, will-o'-the-wisps, nixies,
kelpies and dwarfs disported themselves.
Christmas was approaching, and the next day, Christmas-eve, the tree
was to be lighted. On the twenty-third of December, a little while
before the hour for story-telling, Hermy came home, and exhibited to
his brothers the trifling presents, which he had chosen: an eraser for his
father, a lead-pencil for his mother, a bag of nuts for his grandmother,
and similar trifles which, though