News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1883-01-04
GRAY MAN OF THE FOREST.
a POLISH CHRISTMAS LEGEND.


drew near that she had nothing in tn
house with which to still the pressin
hunger of her children, who had lie
tasted food for over twelve hours-muc
less to provide presents and surprises fC
them, such as other children of their &C
quaintance were to enjoy.
While the children were sitting in
corner crying, the mother knelt dow
and prayed: "Oh dear and merciful Goo
have pity upon me in my distress. U
to the present time have been able t
provide for my darlings, but now on tn
very eve of the celebration of Thy dea
Son they must suffer hunger, go to be
supperless and rise without breakfast. "
The children seeing the despair G
their mother and having overheard he
prayer, said:
Dear mother, please don't cry; W,
viii go into the forests near by, and Gu
down a small evergreen. And if we can
not light up as our neighbors do, we
shall be able at least to look at it, anC
tomorrow those who pass by, when they
shall see it through the window, will
think we had as good a time as they did.
And who knows but in our search we
may find something or other whereby
we may be able to still your hunger and
ours ?"
The mother consented and the three,
a brother and two sisters, started out,
the boy taking a Ratchet, one sister a
saw and the other a basket. When out
in the air they had to run to keep warm,
for the cold was intense and the road
covered with fresh fallen snow. On
reaching the forest the trees glstened as
though hung with diamonds, and in
their great beauty the children forgot all
about their hunger and cold. Each was
eager to first discover the best evergreen
tree. When they found one that they
thought looked nice, it was too large;
others We're too small and so they got
deeper and deeper into the vast timber.
''At last cried the brother, whose
name was Bog51miI (Which means ''Be-
loved by God'0, Il think 1 have found
the right one and taking the Ratchet
he was about to strike blow, when a
strong, gruff voice called out to him,
Hey, boy what are You going to do p
Boguml dropped the hatchet and tim
idly replied: ''Surely there can be no
harm if [ cut down a small evergreen for
a Christmas tree, there are plenty more
in this forest. We have nothing to hang
upon it or to adorn it, but it Is the best
we can do to celebrate the day"
Beware how you cut down trees
which do not belong to you without first
asking permission from the owner. If
YOU are going to celebrate Christmas you
must be Christian children; and if so
YOU ought TO know the ten command
meuts, the eighth OF which says, Thou
shalt not steal Cutting down trees OF
taking anything, no matter how small,
that does not belong to you is stealing. -
AT this a gray-haired but strong man
was noticed by the children; his cap,
long coat and high boots were all of fur
and covered with snow; and he continued
talking to them, although they huddled
together in fear:
% No one has a moral right, not even
the owner of a forest, to cut down trees
without planting others to replace them,
otherwise there would be a scarcity of
rain, and a drouth is not good for
poor people: But never mind, the ever
greens will not run away help me to-
day to fill this bag which you see with
small branches until need you no more.
and l will see that you have a nice tree
the day is short and l have plenty to do
What say you? Are you willing to work
a little while in order to have the tree
rightfully, or would you rather wait and
cut one after have gone out of sight,
and there is no one to modest you ~
"Oh p they all cried, "we would
rather work for it and come by it hon
estly," and Bogum1 added, IF taking
a thing even in the open air without per-
mission is stealing, then I would rather
go without.
"Well, then, my children, come on y
The little ones IN the excitment of the
moment followed the gray-headed
strangers long strides cheerily. When
they had proceeded a short distance they
noticed large pile of evergreens already
cut down, upon which their new-found
friend threw several more, which he from
time to time broke off at the roots and
carried in his strong arms. The children,
to please their fUr-clad guide, shook the
snow from the branches and limbs, so
hat not a single speck of the evergreen's
winter clothing was visible but all was
green. As each tree assumed its natural
appearance he took from his fur coat
large golden apples and nuts; also small
wax-candles and tapers of different cOlors
which he placed in his long bag.
When he was through he sat down on
a stump and asked one of the girls: DO
ynu look forward to Christmas eva9 and
do you, like all good Christian children,
rejoice at the coming of the holy day I?
Would you share, if you had many nice
presents given to you, with children that
did not have them or would you be
selfish, like many children of the rich
and their parents, who only think of their
pleasures ?"
ooh, no, all three cried as with one
voice. eve would give the larger half
to those who had nothing, or less than
ourselves. Mother always taught MS
that the infant Jesus came into the
world to teach mankind to be good and
upright, and to be charitable to the
poor, and in order to be members of his
flock, we must do likewise, no matter
how poor our own lot may be "
Bogumil, however, CREDITOR he began
to feel weak having worked very hard.
he sooner felt the gnawing pangs of
hunger. fBut, somehow, the infant
Jesus does not seem to care for us poor
folks, for if he did he would not let us
suffer so.
At this the old gray-beard made
very grim face, which frightened them
all, especially Bogumil, who at once
said
''Yet I must not murmur. We will |
have a Christmas tree such as we de- |
serve. 1t will not be laden with pres
ents, for poor mother is not able to give