by Raymond MacDonald Alden
Away at the North
End of the World, farther than men have ever gone with their ships or their
sleds, is a land filled with children. It's filled with children because nobody
who lives there ever grows up. The king and queen, the princes and couriers,
may be as old as you please, but they are children for all that. They play a
great deal of the time with dolls and tin soldiers, and every night, at seven
o'clock, have a bowl of bread and milk and go to bed.
There are all
sorts of curious things about the way they live in the Great Walled Country,
but this story is only of their Christmas season. One can imagine what a fine
thing their Christmas must be, so near the North Pole, with ice and snow
everywhere; but this is not all. Grandfather Christmas lives just on the north
side of the country, so that his house leans against the great wall and would
tip over if it were not for its support. Grandfather Christmas is his name in
the Great Walled Country; no doubt we would call him Santa Claus here. At any
rate, he is the same person, and best of all the children in the world, he
loves the children behind the great wall of ice.
One very pleasant
thing about having Grandfather Christmas for a neighbor is that in the Great
Walled Country they never have to buy their Christmas presents. Every year on
the day before Christmas, before he makes up his bundles for the rest of the
world, Grandfather Christmas goes into a great forest of Christmas
But there was
once a time, so many years ago that they would have forgotten about it if the
story were not written in their Big Book and read to them every year, when the
children in the Great Walled Country had a very strange Christmas. There come a
visitor to the land. He was an old man and was the first stranger, for very
many years, who had succeeded in getting over the wall.
When this old man
inquired about their Christmas celebration, and was told how they carried it
out every year, he said to the king, “That is very well, but I should think
that children who have Grandfather Christmas for a neighbor could find a better
and easier way. You tell me you all go out on Christmas Eve to gather presents
to give to one another the next morning. Why take so much trouble, and act in
such a round-about way? Why not go out together, and everyone gets his own
present? That would save the trouble of dividing them again, and everyone could
pick out just what he wanted for himself!”
They decided it
was a very practical idea and so the proclamation was made, and the plan seemed
as wise to the children of the country as it had to the king and his
counselors. Everyone at some time had been a little disappointed with his
Christmas gifts, and now there would be no danger of that.
On Christmas Eve
they always had a meeting at the palace, and sang carols until the time for
going to the forest. When the clock struck ten, everyone said, “I wish you a
Merry Christmas!” to the person nearest him and then they separated to go on
their way to the forest. On this particular night it seemed to the king that
the music was not quite so merry as usual, and that when the children spoke to
one another their eyes did not shine as gladly as he had noticed them in other
years; but there could be no reason for this, since everyone was expecting a
better time than usual. So he thought no more of it.
There was only
one other person at the palace that night who was not pleased with the new
proclamation about the Christmas gifts. This was a little boy named Inge, who
lived not far from the palace with his sister. Now this sister was a cripple,
and had to sit all day looking out of the window from her chair; and Inge took
care of her and tried to make her life happy from morning to night. He had
always gone to the forest on Christmas Eve and returned with his arms and
pockets full of pretty things for his sister, which would keep her amused all
the coming year. And although she was not able to go after presents for her
brother, he did not mind at all, especially as he had other friends who never
forgot to divide their good things with him.
But now, said
Inge to himself, what would his sister do? For the king had ordered that no one
should gather presents except for himself, or any more than he could carry away
at once. All of Inge's friends were busy planning what they would pick for
themselves, but the poor crippled child could not go a step toward the forest.
After thinking about it for a long time, Inge decided that it would not be
wrong, if, instead of taking gifts for himself, he took them altogether for his
sister. This he would be very glad to do; for what did a boy who could run
about and play in the snow care for presents, compared with a little girl who
could only sit still and watch others having a good time? Inge did not ask the
advice of anyone, for he was a little afraid others would tell him not to do
it, but he silently made up his mind not to obey the proclamation.
And now the
chimes had struck ten, and the children were making their way toward the forest
in starlight that was so bright that it lit their way toward the forest, in the
starlight that was so bright it almost showed their shadows on the sparkling
snow. As soon as they came to the edge of the forest, they separated, each one
going by himself in the old way, though now there was really no reason why they
should have secrets from one another.
Ten minutes
later, if you had been in the forest, you might have seen the children standing
in dismay with tears on their faces, and exclaiming that they had never seen
such a Christmas Eve before. For as they looked eagerly about them to the
low-bending branches of the evergreen trees, they saw nothing hanging from them
that they had seen other Christmas Eves. No presents. No one could guess
whether Grandfather Christmas had forgotten them, or whether some dreadful
accident had kept him away.
As the children
were trooping out of the forest after hours of weary searching, some of them
came upon little Inge, who carried over his shoulder a bag that seemed to be
full to overflowing. When he saw them looking at him he cried; “Are they not
beautiful things? I think Grandfather Christmas was never so good to us
before.”
“Why, what do you
mean?” cried the children. “There are no
presents in the forest!”
“No presents!”
Inge said. “I have a bag full of them.” But he did not offer to show them,
because he did not want the children to see that they were really all for this
sister, instead of him.
Then the children
begged him to tell them in what part of the forest he had found his presents,
and he turned back and pointed them to the place where he had been.
“I left many more
behind than I brought away,” he said. “There they are! I can see some of the
things shining on the trees even from here.”
But when the
children followed his footsteps in the snow to the place where he had been,
they still saw nothing on the trees, and thought that Inge must be walking in
his sleep, and dreaming that he had found presents. Perhaps he had filled his
bag with the cones from the evergreen trees.
On Christmas Day
there was sadness all through the Great Walled Country. But those who came to
the house of Inge and his sister saw plenty of books and dolls and beautiful
toys piled up about the little crippled girl's chair, and when they asked where
those things came from and were told, “Why, from the Christmas tree forest.”
And they shook their heads, not knowing what it meant.
The king held a
council and appointed a committee to go on a very hard journey to visit
Grandfather Christmas and see if they could find out what was the matter.
They had to go
down Father Christmas's chimney and when they reached the bottom of it they
found themselves in the very room where Grandfather Christmas lay sound asleep.
It was very difficult to wake him, but when they finally did, the prince, who
was in charge of the committee said, “Oh, Sir! We have come from the king of
The Great Walled Country, who has sent us to ask why you forgot us this
Christmas, and left no presents in the forest?”
“No presents?”,
said Grandfather Christmas. “I never forgot anything. The presents were there.
You did not see them, that's all.”
The children told
him they had searched long and hard and found nothing. “Indeed!” said
Grandfather Christmas.
“And did little
Inge, the boy with the crippled sister find none?” The committee had heard and
didn't know what to say.
“The presents
were there, but they were not intended for children who were looking only for
themselves. I am not surprised that you could not see them. Remember, that not
everything that wise travelers tell you is wise.”
The Proclamation
was made next year that everyone was to seek gifts for others!!!!
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