Stories about Christmas

Stories about Christmas

The main stories about Christmas

Christmas is one of the main festivals in the West and especially in the Christian world, since it celebrates the Nativity, that is, the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, considered as messiah by the Christian religion. It is celebrated on December 25 of each year, according to the calendar of the Catholic, Protestant and most Orthodox Church, while in the Russian Orthodox Church and the Church of Jerusalem (contrary to the reform of the calendar that Pope Gregory XIII led in 1582) it is celebrated on 7 January.

In the contemporary world, Christmas is an important celebration, which it is even part of the calendar of non-religious people or from cultures other than the Christian one, given its commercial and media importance. Furthermore, although ancient texts do not give a specific date for the birth of Jesus Christ and it is impossible to know if it was really a December 25, this date has a very important meaning in the religions of the ancient world, especially those who worshiped the Sun: the Romans celebrated that day the

Natalis Solis Invictus ("Birth of the undefeated Sun"), the Germans the following day as the birth of the god Frey, associated with the rising sun and fertility, and the Incas celebrated the rebirth of the Sun god, Inti.

The exact origins of Christmas are uncertain, and there are various hypothesis regarding when and how it began to be celebrated, especially since this festival does not appear in the Christian calendar of Saint Irenaeus (c. 130-c. 202), nor in Tertullian's liturgical list (c.160-c. 220). There were even times, during the fury of the reformists in the seventeenth century, when its celebration was prohibited, for being considered as a propaganda maneuver of the papacy and for its possible links with antiquity pagan.

Christmas has left a deep mark on culture.

1. Old Christmas (Old christmas, 1820)

This is one of the first literary texts of the nineteenth century that addressed the traditional European Christmas. Combining nostalgia with a humorous touch, the author of such famous stories as "Rip Van Winkle" or "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", the American romantic writer Washington Irving (1783-1859), addresses in is short novel the Christmas of a British rural family, which served as inspiration for the famous Christmas story by Charles Dickens.

On Old christmas the meeting of a traveler on horseback with an acquaintance in the middle of Christmas Eve is told, who, realizing that the traveler has nowhere to spend the parties, invites him to accompany him to his father's house, where they will undoubtedly share Christmas dinner with him despite not expecting new ones guests. The traveler accepts moved and witnesses five picturesque, friendly and endearing Christmas scenes traditional English, by the generous Bracebridges and his butler Simon, an old and inveterate old bachelor.

1. "Christmas Eve" (Ночь пе́ред Рождество́м, 1831)

Content in your book Evenings in a hamlet in Dikanka, this Christmas story was written by one of the great pens of the literature Russian, Nicolai Gogól (1809-1852), famous for his short stories, novels and dramatic works, and author of the first modern Russian novel: Dead souls. His work reflects the debate in Russian culture between its proximity to Europe and its Slavic tradition, and is considered satirical, but with a lot of interest in folklore.

On Evenings in a hamlet in Dikanka, Gogol brings together eight stories on local themes, derived from the puppet theater and the Russian oral tradition, among them, "Christmas Eve". In this short story he makes a painting of customs from the Ukrainian countryside, in the center of which a love story is told: the haughty and beautiful Oksana promises her hand to whom she gives at Christmas a pair of shoes as beautiful as her own tsarina. The town's blacksmith, Vakula, makes a pact with the demon to obtain them. She sets out on a fantastic journey to St. Petersburg, riding the devil like a horse and dealing with endless fantastic and malicious creatures of the Russian countryside, to try to take the heart of his beloved in Christmas.

1. "Christmas tree" (Grantræet, 1844)

Often translated as "The Fir Tree", it is a fairy tale by the famous Danish writer and poet Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875), author of numerous fables world-renowned (especially in the field of children's literature) such as The ugly Duckling, The little Mermaid or The emperor's new suit, many of which have been made into film and television in modern times. Christmas tree was first published together with The queen of the snow in Copenhagen on December 21, 1844, in a collection of new fairy tales.

The protagonist of this story is a fir, that is to say, a tree that was formerly cut in northern Europe to act as a Christmas tree. This, however, was a particular fir tree, which he dreamed of growing up in a hurry, fantasizing about everything he could see, do and feel once it was a large fir. Time passed, in his opinion, too slowly, although without noticing it he was growing and thickening his trunk every day.

Eventually the fir became a large tree, ready for whatever fate threw in store for it. When the men came to cut it, he was beyond emotion and he spent all the time daydreaming thinking about what he would see in the city and the experiences that awaited him. Thus, he came to the city and to a home where he was adorned to celebrate Christmas Eve. And the fir tree, expectant, could not stop thinking about the things that would come later, thinking that this would undoubtedly be the beginning of a series of wonderful experiences.

But once the holidays were over, the fir tree was thrown into a dark corner, where it began to wither, still not losing hope that the future would bring surprises. And so it was, but not as expected, as they took him out of the room and began to chop him up to make firewood. Fir, regretting not having been more present in his own life, understood that there is no point in losing the present thinking about the future.

1. Christmas story (A Christmas Carol, 1894)

This short novel by the British writer Charles Dickens (1812-1870) is probably one of the best known and covered literary stories (especially in film and television) on the subject Christmas. It became particularly famous during the English Victorian era, as it embodied a certain nostalgia for the lost Christmas traditions, in addition to being the work of an author quite celebrated at the time, by other great novels realistic like Oliver twist, Hard times and Big hopes.

Christmas story it tells of a particular Christmas Eve of the old miser Ebenezer Scrooge, a hardened and embittered "worker" interested only in making and accumulating money. On Christmas Eve, Scrooge is presented in turn by three different specters: the ghost of Christmas past, the ghost of Christmas today and ghost of Christmas to come, each inviting you to observe a Christmas Eve specific.

The first ghost leads him back to his own childhood and youth, when Scrooge was still innocent and kind, and there he remembers his beloved sister Fran, who died young in childbirth. many years. The second ghost takes him to the home of Bob, one of his employees, who lives in an impoverished house and of her with a sick child, but she celebrates Christmas Eve with enthusiasm and gratitude for the love of her family.

The ghost also leads Scrooge to the home of his nephew Fred, who year after year invites his uncle to spend the holidays with his family, despite always receiving a refusal. And the third ghost leads Scrooge to the future, to a Christmas Eve in which no one remembers him, his house has been ransacked by bandits and no one visits his gray and desolate grave.

Horrified by these visions, Scrooge reflects on what is really important and decides to change his habits of life, determined to cultivate love, generosity, and gratitude over money during the years that remain.

1. "The mule and the ox" (1876)

It is a short story by the Spanish novelist, chronicler and politician Benito Pérez Galdós (1843-1920), considered one of the most great novelists of European realism of the nineteenth century and also one of the greatest literary voices of the language Hispanic. It was published in the magazine The Spanish and American illustration a December 22, 1876, and narrates throughout its eleven chapters a story set in the days before Christmas Day.

It is about the story of Celinina, a terribly ill three-year-old girl, who is surprised by death before seeing her greatest wish fulfilled: have a mule and an ox for the Christmas crib, as the tradition says that Joseph and Mary had in the stable where the child came into the world Jesus. Her father, afflicted by not having been able to fulfill that request, recalls the last five days of her life, leaves the little body of her daughter in the care of a A woman who falls asleep during the wake and cannot see how Celinina's soul emerges from her body and with her new wings joins a chorus of little angels.

That same Christmas Eve, in Madrid, in a wealthy family home, the same flock of angels does a tremendous thing: they mess up the luxurious crib and they carry the mule and the ox, until on their return to heaven, the other little angels convince Celinina to return for a moment and return them to their owners. And behold, in the town of her origin, Celinina's father returns to the wake to say goodbye to his deceased girl and what It is her surprise to discover in her hands, firmly grasped, the clay statuettes of the mule and the ox of a manger.

1. "The gift of the wise men" (The Gift of the Magi, 1906)

This short story, by the American William Sidney Porter (1862-1910), better known by his pseudonym, O. Henry is one of the best known of the author, to whose career the annual award that bears his name, one of the most prestigious in the United States and which has been awarded since 1919, pays tribute.

In "The Gift of the Magi" the story of the Dillingham Young marriage is told: Jim and Delia, an impoverished young couple at the that more than anything in the world they would like to express their love for each other at Christmas, but they lack the money to make the least of it gift from him.

Desperate for the arrival of Christmas Eve, each of them decides to give the other a meaningful gift, even if it It involves sacrificing his only valuable possessions: the gold watch left for Jim by his dead father and formerly his own. grandfather; and Delia's long, beautiful hair, which fell over her shoulders like a waterfall of gentle water.

So Delia goes to a hair buyer and accepts a measly twenty dollars for her perfect hair, at the same time Jim in a thrift store was selling her proud watch. They both went with the money received to buy the other a perfect gift, happy to give their partner a merry Christmas.

When they were home, however, the surprise could not have been greater: Delia had bought Jim a gold chain so that he could finally carry his watch in his pocket and see the time when whimper. And Jim, for her part, had bought her two beautiful and delicate combs for her to wear on her perfect hair. But at least they had each other, and with that, they understood in the end, it was enough for them to spend a happy holiday.

1. The letters from Santa Claus (The Father Christmas Letters, 1976)

It is a beautiful book of letters written by the British poet, writer and philologist J. R. R. Tolkien (1892-1973), famous for his fantastic novels The Hobbit, The Silmarillion and The Lord of the rings. In these letters, the author pretended to be Santa Claus himself (he even simulated a shaky writing style, since he wrote them freezing to death) and they were addressed by Tolkien to his children from 1920 to 1943 and, after the author's death, were compiled and published by his son Christopher Tolkien and his wife Baillie.

The plot of the letters is very diverse, but in general it tells the adventures of Santa Claus at the North Pole that, Along with his assistant and his polar bear, Karhu, he had to defend himself from the attacks of goblins and other creatures. malignant. As the book progresses, many other fantastic characters participate, such as gnomes, elves, snowmen and Karhu's own nephews, the cubs Paksu and Valkotukka; and in many editions the beautiful drawings with which Tolkien accompanied these stories are also reproduced.

1. Auggie Wren's Christmas Carol (Auggie Wren’s Christmas Story, 1991)

We close with one of the best-known short stories of the American writer and screenwriter Paul Auster (1947-), whose work is considered among the main ones in the contemporary literature of his country. Author of police stories, absurd and with an important load of existentialism, Auster published this story commissioned by the New York Times and its success was such that it was covered in the film Smoke 1995.

In the story the storyteller tells of the strange case of his friend Auggie, owner of the Brooklyn store where he usually buys his cigarettes, whose older hobby in life is taking pictures of the street at different times of the day, but always with the same and exact angle, throughout the years. Thus, Auggie enjoys watching the repeating people in the photo and the tiny daily changes.

Eventually, Auggie goes to her photo archive to find someone who has lost her wallet. Her investigations lead him to the house of an old blind woman, who takes him for her son who has visited her again, and they share the lonely woman's last Christmas dinner together.

References:

• "Christmas in Wikipedia.
• "Nativity" in Wikipedia.
• "The relationship between literature and Christmas" in Short Narrative.
• "The literature that forged the tradition of Christmas" in The nation (Argentina).

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