In a log cabin,
deep in the countryside next to a forest, lived a poor woodcutter with his wife
and two children. The children were sister and brother; the girl was named Anne
and she was the eldest, and the boy was named Noah and he was the youngest.
Anne and Noah were good children and did everything they could to help their
parents and always tried to not cause any trouble.
The woodcutter
earned a living by cutting down trees and selling wood to people. But of course
selling wood didn’t make a lot of money, but just enough for the woodcutter to
buy some food for his family. This worried him sometimes; he really wished that
he had the money to give his family a life of ease.
One snowy day it
was Christmas Eve and the woodcutter and his family decided that it was time to
get the cabin ready for Christmas tomorrow. The woodcutter got ready to go into
the forest to get a christmas tree. Anne and Noah asked their mother if they
could go with him. The wife saw nothing wrong with that and agreed. But she
told the children to be good and to listen to their father. So the woodcutter
and the children set off into the forest to get a tree, and the mother stayed
home to tidy up the house.
The woodcutter and
his children walked into the forest, with a sled to carry the tree, and started
to look for a christmas tree. As the log cabin wasn’t very big; they needed to
find a tree that would just fit in the cabin. “Stay close to me Anne and Noah,”
said the woodcutter “I don’t want any of you two getting lost”. “Yes Papa” said
Anne and Noah together. Just then Anne noticed some pine cones on the ground.
“Let’s pick some up for the tree” she said. She and Noah picked up as many as
they could carry. The family didn’t really have much to decorate the christmas
tree, so every christmas they would find things in the forest like pine cones
and anything else good to decorate the tree with. After picking up pine cones,
the family went on their way again to look for a tree.
Suddenly the woodcutter noticed an old man
sitting on a tree stump, and the old man looked really weak. “Excuse me sir,”
said the woodcutter “but are you all right?” “Please excuse me for looking so
weak,” said the old man “but the truth is I haven’t had anything to eat or
drink since yesterday. Is there any chance that I can share any of the food
that you have with you?” “Of course sir, my children will gladly share our food
with you” said the woodcutter. The woodcutter was a kind man and was always willing
to help others if he could. The woodcutter and his children had some bread and
cheese with them and three bottles of water. Anne served some bread and cheese
to the old man and Noah gave him some water. The old man was grateful and
thanked the family at once.
Anne noticed that
there were some pine trees nearby and asked her father if she and Noah could
pick one out for the cabin. Pine trees were trees that were commonly used for christmas
trees. The woodcutter agreed, but told his children to stay close to where he
was or they could get lost. Anne and Noah understood and went to look at the
pine trees at once.
While the children
were gone, the woodcutter and the old man had a chat with each other. “You
certainly have happy children there sir” said the old man. “Yes they are always
happy around Christmas,” said the woodcutter “but I fear sometimes that they
won’t be happy for very long”. The woodcutter told the old man of his troubles
of being a poor woodcutter, and with earning enough money to keep his family
happy. “Oh I wouldn’t fret so much now sir,” said the old man “I mean they say
that miracles do happen on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to those who are
kind and honest. So I’m pretty sure that a miracle will happen to you and your
family”. “I do hope you’re right about that” said the woodcutter.
At that moment
Anne and Noah turned up and told their father that they had found the perfect christmas
tree. The woodcutter and old man came to have a look at the tree. Sure enough
Anne and Noah had found the perfect tree; the pine tree was the right size for
the log cabin and there was nothing wrong with it at all. The woodcutter agreed
with the children’s decision and cut it down at once. Once they placed the tree
on the sled, the woodcutter said it was time to go home now. The old man said
that he was going to go home too. “Before I leave, I would like to give you
this as a thank you gift” he said. He produced a dirty stone that looked like a
star. “I know this doesn’t look much, but you can place it on top of your tree
if you like”. Anne liked the star shaped stone and accepted the gift at once.
“Thank you sir” she said. Noah and the woodcutter thanked him too, and then they
all left the forest to go home.
Once the
woodcutter and his children were home, the family started to decorate the tree
at once. Apart from pine cones, the family had bits of holly, some straw and
some pond rushes to decorate the tree with. The woodcutter’s wife had given the
dirty star shaped stone a wash and the woodcutter placed it on top of the tree.
“I’m glad the old man gave you that star shaped stone dear,” said the wife
“because I think it makes the tree look very decorative now”. “I’m glad too my
love” said the woodcutter.
That night, while
Anne and Noah were asleep, the woodcutter and his wife were still getting ready
for Christmas tomorrow. The wife was making some gloves for the children. The
woodcutter was carving out some wooden toys for the children; wooden dolls for
Anne and wooden blocks for Noah. “Even though the children love it when I make
wooden toys for them, I do wish that I could give them proper toys for
Christmas” the woodcutter sighed. “Yes I wish we could too,” said the wife “but
still they enjoy your wooden figurines and they are always grateful for what
they’ve got”. The woodcutter knew his wife was right; they had always taught
their children to always appreciate with what they’ve got. Just as they finished
the preparations, the woodcutter told his wife about what the old man said in
the forest about Christmas Eve being a night of miracles. “I’ve heard stories
about that too,” said the wife “and it would be nice to have a miracle happen
to us for once”. After finishing the preparations, the woodcutter and his wife
went to bed.
Later that night
it was now midnight and at that moment the most extraordinary thing happened.
The star shaped stone on top of the christmas tree started to glow and it transformed
into a real christmas star. Apparently the star was magic and it started to
spread its magic across the cabin. First the christmas tree was beautifully
decorated with proper christmas decorations; there were also candy canes and
gingerbread cookies. Then lots of Christmas presents, wrapped in paper and
ribbons, appeared under the tree and then a lot of food appeared on the table.
There was turkey, potatoes, carrots and corn all cooked. There was also a
christmas pudding, christmas cookies and walnuts. Last of all a silver bell
appeared on the table, and then the magic stopped.
When the
woodcutter and his family woke up on Christmas Day they couldn’t believe their
eyes once they saw the tree, the food and the presents. “Is this a dream?”
asked the woodcutter. Anne bravely grabbed one of the christmas cookies on the
table and took a bite. “This cookie is real,” she said, happily, “which means
this is all real”. She and Noah started to open their presents at once. Anne
got a new dress, with shoes and a coat, some books and some actual dolls to
play with. Noah got a new scarf, hat and shoes, and some toy soldiers. The
woodcutter and his wife got some presents too; the woodcutter got a new warmer
coat with gloves and boots, and the wife got a new dress, with a scarf and
coat. “I don’t know who did all of this,” said the woodcutter “but I’m glad
they did; this has turned out to be the best Christmas that we have ever had”.
“Indeed,” said the wife “this is a real christmas miracle for us”.
After all the
presents had been opened and all the food had been eaten, the woodcutter had
his eyes on the silver bell. He gave it a shake to hear it ring, but when he
did that silver coins fell from the bell. This silver bell was magic. “With
this magic bell, we can now live a life of ease and happiness” smiled the
woodcutter. His family agreed.
What the family
didn’t know was that the old man, from the forest yesterday, was watching them
enjoy their Christmas through the window. “It’s like I told you woodcutter,
miracles do happen to those who are kind and honest on Christmas Eve.
Apparently the old man was a magic man and he gave the magical christmas star
to the family for a gift as they were kind and honest to him yesterday. Then
the man magically disappeared, hoping he could spread his christmas magic to
another kind and honest family next Christmas.
