We arrived to Christmas once again and what better than these dates to read: storybooks, stories, novels… All set in this era, and from all periods and authors. so there goes one selection of story beginnings as classic as The little match girl de Andersen to futuristic tales of Ray Bradbury, going through classics like Jacinto Benavente o Leopoldo Alas "Clarin". Beginnings for us to continue reading or discovering these stories. Merry Christmas to all the world.
Christmas stories and stories
Hans Christian Andersen— The little match girl
How cold it was! It was snowing and it was starting to get dark; It was the last night of the year, the night of San Silvestre. Under that cold and in that darkness, a poor girl was passing through the street, barefoot and with her head uncovered. It is true that when she left her house she was wearing slippers, but, what use were they to her! They were slippers that her mother had been wearing lately, and they were so big for her little girl that she lost them when she ran across the street to get rid of two cars that were coming at full speed. There was no way to find one of the slippers, and the other one of hers had been put on by a youngster, whom she said she would make it serve as a cradle the day she had children by her.
And so the poor thing walked barefoot with her bare little feet completely blue from the cold. In an old apron she carried a handful of matches, and a packet in one hand. In the whole holy day no one had bought anything from her, nor had she given him a measly penny; she'd come home to hers hungry and half-frozen, and she looked so down, poor thing! Snowflakes fell on her long blond hair, whose beautiful curls covered her neck; but she was not there to brag.
Leopoldo Alas «Clarin» — King Balthazar
Don Baltasar Miajas had been an employee in a Madrid office for more than twenty years; he first had eight thousand reais in salary, then ten, then twelve and then… ten; because he was unemployed, there was no way to replace him in his last job and he had to settle, because it was worse to die of hunger, in the company of all his family, with the immediate… lower salary. "This rejuvenates me!" He said with a most innocent irony; humiliated, but without shame, because he had not done anything ugly, and to the staff Catos who advised him to renounce destiny for dignity, he answered with good words, agreeing with them, but determined not to resign, what an atrocity! Shortly after, when still some colleagues, more to annoy him than out of esprit de corps, spoke with indignation of the "unheard-of case of Miajas", the person concerned no longer remembered hurting anyone because of the downturn, and he was with his ten thousand as if in life he had had twelve.
Madrid, Spain (1866-1954)
After the midnight mass celebrated in the oratory and listened to with more seclusion than an old-fashioned comedy on a classic Monday, the guests of the Marchioness of San Severino went into the dining room.
The party was one of pure intimacy; the marchioness had limited the invitation to the closest members of her family and a few favorite friends of hers.
Among all they did not exceed fifteen.
–Christmas Eve is a family party. All year long one lives in hope, open heart to the first one who arrives; Today I want to collect myself in the memories: I know that all of you are with me tonight because you really love me, and I feel very happy by your side.
The guests nodded graciously at the compliment.
Edward Galeano Christmas Eve
Fernando Silva runs the children's hospital in Managua.
On Christmas Eve, he stayed up working very late. The rockets were already ringing, and the fireworks were beginning to light up the sky, when Fernando decided to leave. At his house they were waiting for him to celebrate. He made one last tour of the rooms, seeing if everything was in order, and he was doing that when he felt that some footsteps were following him. A few cotton steps: he turned and discovered that one of the sick people was walking behind him. In the dim light, he recognized it. He was a boy who was alone. Fernando recognized his face, already scarred by death, and those eyes that apologized or perhaps he was asking for permission.
Fernando approached and the boy touched him with his hand:
“Tell…” the boy whispered. Tell someone, I'm here.
The next day would be Christmas, and as the three of them headed to the spaceship station, the father and mother were worried. It was the boy's first flight in space, his first rocket ride, and they wanted it to be as pleasant as possible. When they were forced to leave the gift at customs because it exceeded the maximum weight by a few ounces, like the little tree with its beautiful white candles, they felt that they were taking away something very important to celebrate that party. The boy was waiting for his parents at the terminal. When they arrived, they were muttering something against the interplanetary officers.
-What will we do?
"Nothing, what can we do?"
–The child was so excited about the tree!
The siren wailed, and the passengers rushed toward the Mars rocket. The mother and father were the last to enter.