Le Jongleur de Notre Dame
Le Jongleur de Notre Dame is a religious miracle story by the French author Anatole France, first printed in a newspaper in 1890, and published in a short story collection in 1892. It is based on an old medieval legend, similar to the later Christmas carol "The Little Drummer Boy". The title character is a monk who was formerly a carnival performer. The other monks all have made beautiful works in honor of the Virgin Mary: hymns, icons, stained glass windows, and so on. But he has no such craft. So one night he goes  into the chapel and performs his best juggling tricks before the statue of the Virgin. The other monks see this and would punish him for blasphemy, but the statue comes to life and blesses the juggler for his gift. Adaptations of the story. Books. In 1980, an anthology of science fiction stories titled "The Best of All Possible Worlds" for Ace Books featured five of Spider Robinson's favorite stories by select authors, together with a favorite story recommended by each of those authors. Mr. Robinson contributed a self-translated version of the story, titled "Our Lady's Juggler," in  response to learning that the story was Robert A. Heinlein's favorite short story of all time. Film and television. None of the film or television versions have been released on DVD. Radio. During the Golden Age of Radio, the story was broadcast several times, usually under the title "The Juggler of Our Lady", and nearly always on the then-popular radio series "Family Theater". Screen Guild Theatre broadcast a version in 1940 narrated by Ronald Colman, with songs provided by Nelson Eddy.