Star over Bethlehem - Agatha Christie [3]
But in the Stable there was much fun and good company. The ass brayed, and the horses neighed and the oxen lowed, and men and women crowded in to see the baby and passed him from one to the other, and he laughed and crowed and smiled at them all.
“See,” they cried. “He loves everybody! There never was such a Child …”
A Wreath for Christmas
When Mary made a Holly wreath
The blood ran red—ran red.
Another Mary wove the Thorns
That crowned her Master’s head.
But the Mistletoe was far away
Across a Western sea,
And the Mistletoe was wreathed around
A Pagan Apple Tree.
In Glastonbury grew a Thorn,
When Joseph came to trade.
And the Holly Bush was common growth
In every wooded glade.
But the Mistletoe was sacred where
The Sun arose each morn,
And the Mistletoe knew nothing of
The Babe in Bethlehem born.
Saint Patrick sailed the stormy seas
To preach the Cross—and so
He found Eve’s Tree—with serpent coiled—
And hung with Mistletoe.
“I bid thee, Serpent, leave this Land,
And open, Plant, thine ears.”
He preached the Tale of Christ—and Lo!
The Mistletoe wept tears …
The Holly bush has berries red,
Blood-red upon each bough.
The Thorn it blooms with golden flowers,
And Kissing’s fashion now.
What will you give to Christ the Lord?
O! Pagan Bough so green?
“The Tears that I have shed for One
Whom I have never seen …”
Let Man then give his life for Man,
The blood-red berries say,
And Men have love for fellow men,
Where Gorse flowers bloom so gay.
And the Tears of Man be shed for Man
Where Mistletoe gleams white.
Come, pity, love and sacrifice …
God bless us all this night!
The Naughty Donkey
Once upon a time there was a very naughty little donkey. He liked being naughty. When anything was put on his back he kicked it off, and he ran after people trying to bite them. His master couldn’t do anything with him, so he sold him to another master, and that master couldn’t do anything with him and also sold him, and finally he was sold for a few pence to a dreadful old man who bought old worn-out donkeys and killed them by overwork and ill treatment. But the naughty donkey chased the old man and bit him, and then ran away kicking up his heels. He didn’t mean to be caught again so he joined a caravan that was going along the road. “Nobody will know who I belong to in all this crowd,” thought the donkey.
These people were all going up to the city of Bethlehem, and when they got there they went into a big Khan full of people and animals.
The little donkey slipped into a nice cool stable where there was an ox and a camel. The camel was very haughty, like all camels, because camels think that they alone know the hundredth and secret name of God. He was too proud to speak to the donkey, so the donkey began to boast. He loved boasting.
“I am a very unusual donkey,” he said, “I have foresight and hindsight.”
“What is that?” said the ox.
“Like my forelegs—in front of me—and my hind legs—behind me. Why, my great great, thirty-seventh time great grandmother belonged to the Prophet Balaam, and saw with her own eyes the Angel of the Lord!”
But the ox went on chewing and the camel remained proud.
Then a man and a woman came in, and there was a lot of fuss, but the donkey soon found out that there was nothing to fuss about, only a woman going to have a baby which happens every day. And after the baby was born some shepherds came and made a fuss of the baby—but shepherds are very simple folk.
But then some men in long rich robes came.
“V.I.P.s,” hissed the camel.
“What’s that?” asked the donkey.
“Very Important People,” said the camel, “bringing gifts.”
The donkey thought the gifts might be something good to eat, so when it was dark he began nosing around. But the first gift was yellow and hard, with no taste, the second made the donkey sneeze, and when he licked the third, the taste was nasty and bitter.
“What stupid gifts,” said