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diff --git a/15552-h/15552-h.htm b/15552-h/15552-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ce6ed9d --- /dev/null +++ b/15552-h/15552-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1881 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" + content="text/html; charset=us-ascii" /> +<meta content="pg2html (binary v0.18b)" name="generator" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of + Christmas Outside of Eden, + by Coningsby Dawson. +</title> +<style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[*/ + <!-- + body { margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%; } + p { text-indent: 1em; + margin-top: .75em; + font-size: 100%; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { text-align: center; } + hr { width: 50%; } + hr.full { width: 100%; } + .foot { margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 85%; } + .poem { margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: left; } + .poem .stanza { margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em; } + .poem p { margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em; } + .poem p.i2 { margin-left: 1.5em; } + .quote { margin-left: 6%; margin-right: 6%; text-indent: 0em; font-size: 90%; } + .toc { margin-left: 15%; font-size: 80%; margin-bottom: 0em;} + center { padding: 0.8em;} + .figure {padding: 1em; margin: 0; text-align: center; font-size: 0.8em; margin: auto; width: 70%; font-variant: small-caps;} + .figure img {border: none;} +/*]]>*/ + // --> +</style> +</head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Christmas Outside of Eden, by Coningsby Dawson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Christmas Outside of Eden + +Author: Coningsby Dawson + +Release Date: April 5, 2005 [EBook #15552] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRISTMAS OUTSIDE OF EDEN *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, David Garcia and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div style="height: 6em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + +<a name="image-0001"><!--IMG--></a> +<div class="figure"> +<a href="images/cover.jpg"><img src="images/cover.jpg" style="width:100%;" +alt="Christmas Outside of Eden--Book Cover" /></a> +</div> + +<a name="image-0002"><!--IMG--></a> +<div class="figure"> +<a href="images/frontis.jpg"><img src="images/frontis.jpg" style="width:100%;" +alt="There, seated in the entrance to the cave, the Man saw the Woman, but +not the Woman as he had left her." /></a><br /> +There, seated in the entrance to the cave, the Man saw the Woman, but +not the Woman as he had left her. +</div> + +<h1> + Christmas Outside of Eden +</h1> + +<h2> +<span style="font-size:60%;"> +BY +</span> +<br /> +Coningsby Dawson +</h2> +<h4> +Author of "The Garden Without Walls," "Carry On," etc. +</h4> + + +<h3> +<span style="font-size:60%;"> +ILLUSTRATIONS BY +</span> +<br /> +Eugene Francis Savage +</h3> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> +<p style="text-indent: 0; text-align: center; font-size: 75%;"> +NEW YORK <br /> +DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY <br /> +1922 +</p> + +<hr /> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> +<p style="text-indent: 0; text-align: center; font-size: 75%;"> +<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Copyright 1921,</span> <br /> +<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">By DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY, Inc.</span> <br /> +1922 +</p> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> +<hr /> + +<h2>Contents</h2> + +<p style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0;"> +<a href="#h2H_4_0002">I</a> +<a href="#h2H_4_0003">II</a> +<a href="#h2H_4_0004">III</a> +<a href="#h2H_4_0005">IV</a> +<a href="#h2H_4_0006">V</a> +<br /> +<a href="#h2H_4_0007">VI</a> +<a href="#h2H_4_0008">VII</a> +<a href="#h2H_4_0009">VIII</a> +<a href="#h2H_4_0010">IX</a> +<a href="#h2H_4_0011">X</a> +</p> + +<hr /> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + +<h2> + ILLUSTRATIONS +</h2> +<p style="text-indent:0;"><a href="#image-0002"> +There, seated in the entrance to the cave, the Man saw the Woman, but +not the Woman as he had left her.</a> +</p> +<p style="text-indent:0;"><a href="#image-0003"> +God had given the Man and Woman no time to pack. He had marched them +beyond the walls and locked the golden gates of Eden against them +forever.</a> +</p> +<p style="text-indent:0;"><a href="#image-0004"> +The Man yawned. "I am still tired. Fetch the horse, that he may carry me +back to my dwelling."</a> +</p> +<hr /> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + +<h1> +CHRISTMAS OUTSIDE OF EDEN +</h1> + +<a name="h2H_4_0002" id="h2H_4_0002"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + +<h2> + I +</h2> +<p> +This is the story the robins tell as they huddle beneath the holly on +the Eve of Christmas. They have told it every Christmas Eve since the +world started. They commenced telling it long before Christ was born, +for their memory goes further back than men's. The Christmas which they +celebrate began just outside of Eden, within sight of its gold-locked +doors. +</p> +<p> +The robins have only two stories: one for Christmas and one for Easter. +Their Easter story is quite different. It has to do with how they got +the splash of red upon their breasts. It was when God's son was hanging +on the cross. They wanted to do something to spare him. They were too +weak to pull out the nails from his feet and hands; so they tore their +little breasts in plucking the thorns one by one from the crown that had +been set upon his forehead. Since then God has allowed their breasts to +remain red as a remembrance of His gratitude. +</p> +<p> +But their Christmas story happened long before, when they weren't robin +red-breasts but only robins. It is a merry, tender sort of story. +They twitter it in a chuckling fashion to their children. If you prefer +to hear it first-hand, creep out to the nearest holly-bush on almost +any Christmas Eve when snow has made the night all pale and shadowy. +If the robins have chosen your holly-bush as their rendezvous and you +understand their language, you won't need to read what I have written. +Like all true stories, it is much better told than read. It's the story +of the first laugh that was ever heard in earth or heaven. To be enjoyed +properly it needs the chuckling twitter of the grown-up robins and the +squeaky interruptions of the baby birds asking questions. When they get +terrifically excited, they jig up and down on the holly-branches and the +frozen snow falls with a brittle clatter. Then the mother and father +birds say, "Hush!" quite suddenly. No one speaks for a full five +seconds. They huddle closer, listening and holding their breath. That's +how the story ought to be heard, after night-fall on Christmas Eve, when +behind darkened windows little boys and girls have gone to bed early, +having hung up their very biggest stockings. Of course I can't tell it +that way on paper, but I'll do my best to repeat the precise words in +which the robins tell it. +</p> +<a name="h2H_4_0003" id="h2H_4_0003"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + +<h2> + II +</h2> +<p> +It was very long ago at the beginning of all wonders. Sun, moon and +stars were new; they wandered about in the clouds uncertainly, calling +to one another like ships in a fog. It was the same on earth; neither +trees, nor rivers, nor animals were quite sure why they had been created +or what was expected of them. They were terribly afraid of doing wrong +and they had good reason, for the Man and Woman had done wrong and had +been locked out of Eden. +</p> +<p> +That had happened in April, when the world was three months old. Up to +that time everything had gone very well. No one had known what fear was. +No one had guessed that anything existed outside the walls of Eden or +that there was such a thing as wrong-doing. Animals, trees and rivers +had lived together with the Man and the Woman in the high-walled garden +as a happy family. If they had wanted to know anything, they had asked +the Man; he had always given them answers, even though he had to invent +them. They had never dreamt of doubting him—not even the Woman. The +reason for this had been God. +</p> +<p> +Every afternoon God had come stepping down from the sky to walk with the +Man through the sun-spangled shadows of the grassy paths. They had heard +the kindly rumble of His voice like distant thunder and the little tones +of the Man as he asked his questions. At six o'clock regularly God had +shaken hands with the Man and climbed leisurely back up the sky-blue +stairs that led to Heaven. Because of this the Man had gained a +reputation among the animals for being wise. They had thought of him as +God's friend. He had given orders to everybody—even to the Woman; and +everyone had been proud to obey him. +</p> +<p> +It had been in April the great change had occurred. There had been all +kinds of rumours. The first that had been suspected had been when God +had failed to come for His customary walk; the next had been when He had +arrived with His face hidden in anger. The trees of Eden had bent and +clashed as if a strong wind were blowing. Everything living that was not +rooted, had run away to hide. Nevertheless, when God had called to the +Man, they had tiptoed nearer to listen. The trouble had seemed to be +about some fruit. God had told the Man that he must not pluck it; he had +not only plucked it, but had eaten of it. So had the Woman. It had +seemed a small matter to make such a fuss about. They had supposed that +God's anger would soon blow over and that everything would be again as +friendly as before. +</p> +<a name="image-0003"><!--IMG--></a> +<div class="figure"> +<a href="images/ill-p08.jpg"><img src="images/ill-p08.jpg" style="width:100%;" +alt="God had given the Man and Woman no time to pack. He had marched them +beyond the walls and locked the golden gates of Eden against them +forever." /></a><br /> +God had given the Man and Woman no time to pack. He had marched them +beyond the walls and locked the golden gates of Eden against them +forever. +</div> + +<p> +And so everything might have been had it not been for the Man. Instead +of saying he was sorry, he had started to argue and blame the Woman. At +that God had refused to speak with him longer. He had ordered the Man +and Woman and all the animals to leave Eden immediately. He had given +them no time to pack. Lining them up like soldiers, He had numbered them +to make certain that none were missing and then, with the Man and Woman +leading, had marched them beyond the walls and locked the golden gates +of Eden against them forever. +</p> +<p> +Since then all had been privation and confusion. The animals, from +regarding the Man as their lord, had grown to despise him. They had +blamed him for their misfortunes. They had told him that it was his +fault that they had lost their happiness and that God walked the earth +no more. The woman had told him so most particularly. Of all the created +world only the dog and the robin had remained faithful to him. The dog +slept across his feet at night to keep them warm and the robin sang to +him each dawn that he should not lose courage. +</p> +<a name="h2H_4_0004" id="h2H_4_0004"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + +<h2> + III +</h2> +<p> +Through the world's first summer things had not been so bad, though of +course the wilderness that grew outside of Eden was not so comfortable +as the garden they had lost. In the garden no one had needed to work: +food had grown on the trees to one's hand and, because it was so +sheltered, the weather had been always pleasant. It hadn't been +necessary to wear clothing; it hadn't been necessary to build houses, +for it had never rained. Birds hadn't troubled to make nests, nor +rabbits to dig warrens. Everybody had felt perfectly safe to sleep +out-of-doors, wherever he happened to find himself, without a thought +of protection. +</p> +<p> +Here in the wilderness it was different. There were no paths. The jungle +grew up tall and threatening. Thorns leant out to tear one's flesh. If +it hadn't been for the elephant uprooting trees in his fits of temper, +no one would have been able to travel anywhere. One by one the animals +slunk away and began to lead their own lives independently, making lairs +for themselves. Every day that went by they avoided the Man and Woman +more and more. At first they used to peep out of the thicket to jeer at +their helplessness; soon they learnt to disregard them as if they were +not there. From having believed himself to be the wisest of living +creatures the Man discovered himself to be the most incompetent. Often +and often he would creep to the gold-locked gates and peer between the +bars, hoping to see God walking there as formerly. But God walked no +more. As He had climbed back into Heaven, He had destroyed the sky-blue +stairs behind Him. There was no way in which the Man could reach Him to +ask His advice or pardon. +</p> +<p> +But it was the Woman who caused the Man most unhappiness. It wasn't that +she despised and blamed him. He'd grown used to that since leaving Eden. +Everybody, except the dog and the robin, despised and blamed him. The +Woman caused him unhappiness because she was unwell—really unwell; not +just an upset stomach or a headache. In Eden she had always been strong +and beautiful, like sunlight leaping on the smooth, green lawn—so white +and pink and darting. Her long gold hair had swayed about her like a +flame; her white arms had parted it as though she were a swimmer. Her +eyes had been shy and merry from dawn to dusk. She had been a darling; +never a cross word had she spoken. The furry creatures of the woods had +been her playmates and the birds had perched upon her shoulders to sing +their finest songs. +</p> +<p> +Now she was wan and thin as a withered branch. Like the elephant +uprooting trees, she often lost her temper. Sometimes she was sorry for +her crossness; more often she wasn't. When the Man offered her things to +eat, no matter what trouble he'd taken to get them, she'd say she wasn't +hungry. And yet he loved her none the less for her perverseness. He was +so afraid.... He couldn't have told you of what he was afraid, for +nobody had had time to die in the world as yet. He was filled with dread +lest, like God, she might vanish and walk the earth no more. So he +cudgelled his brains to find things to cure her. He invented wrong +remedies, just as in Eden he had invented wrong answers to the animals' +questions. He was never certain whether they would do her good or harm; +but he always assured her gravely that, if she'd only try them, she'd +feel instantly better. She never did; on the contrary she felt worse +and worse. Perhaps the wilderness was the cause. Perhaps it was the +forbidden fruit she had eaten. Perhaps it was a little of both, plus a +touch of Eden-sickness. She had never known an hour's ill-health up to +the moment when she had eaten the fruit and been turned out of the +garden. The poor Man was distracted. He didn't care what he did or whom +he robbed, if only he might hear her singing again and see her once more +smiling. +</p> +<p> +What he did wasn't tactful; it only made the animals hate him—all +except the dog and the robin—and brought new dangers about his head. It +was the month of October and nights were getting shivery. He had scraped +together fallen leaves to make a bed for her and had woven a covering of +withered grasses. In spite of this, from the setting of the sun till +long after its rising, all through the dark hours her teeth chattered. +She cried continually; every time she cried, out in the jungle the hyena +scoffed. The Man rarely got any rest until full day. All night he was +rubbing her back, her feet and hands in an effort to make her warm. As +a consequence he slept late and accomplished hardly any work. He didn't +even have time to notice how all the animals were building houses. The +Woman was so fretful that he never dared leave her for longer than an +hour. The poor thing was forever complaining that God might have made +her out of something better than a rib, if He was going to make her +at all. +</p> +<p> +It was a colder night than usual, when the Woman was crying very +bitterly and the hyena was doing more than his ordinary share of +scoffing, that the idea occurred to the Man. The hyena was scoffing +because he was comfortable; he was comfortable because of the heavy coat +that he wore. The Man determined to teach him a lesson by taking his +coat from him. It was another remedy; he hoped that if he clothed the +Woman with it, she might grow strong. Telling her that he wouldn't be +gone for long, he padded stealthily away, followed by the dog, and faded +out of sight among the shadows. +</p> +<p> +They found the hyena in an open space which the elephant had been +clearing the day before. He was seated on his hind legs, gazing up +at the moon with his fine warm coat all bristly, scoffing and scoffing. +He was far too busy with his ill-natured merriment to hear them coming. +In a flash the dog had him by the throat, holding him while the man +robbed him of his clothing. When they had stripped him of everything, +even of his bushy tail, they let him go and he fled naked, howling the +alarm through the forest. By the time they got back to the Woman all the +underbrush was stirring. From every part of the wilderness, in twos and +threes, the animals were coming together. The night was alive with their +glowing eyes; the leaves trembled with their savage muttering. +</p> +<p> +"Be quick," whispered the Man. "Put this on." +</p> +<p> +She dried her tears as she felt the warmth of the fur. "It's comfy," she +sobbed. "It fits exactly." And then, "Oh, Man, I'm frightened. What have +you done? You gave me a present once before." +</p> +<p> +The Man was making a club out of a tree. As he stripped it of its +branches, he answered boastfully, "It was I and the dog; we did it +together. You were cold, so we stole the hyena's coat from him. All the +animals are angry. They know that we shall do again what we have done +once. They feel safe no longer. They say it must be stopped. They want +to get back the hyena's coat from us." +</p> +<p> +"And they will, oh, my master," the dog interrupted, "unless we protect +ourselves. Through the wilderness, not many miles from here, a limestone +ridge rises above the forest. In the limestone ridge there is a cave. If +we can win our way to it before our enemies come together, we can stand +in the entrance and guard the Woman." +</p> +<p> +So the dog ran ahead growling with such fierceness that everything fled +from his path. Behind him came the Man carrying the Woman very closely +because he loved her, and trailing his tremendous club. By dawn, before +their enemies could guess their purpose, they had gained the cave. By +the time the animals had held their conference and decreed that the Man +and the dog must be punished, they had escaped and were ready to defy +all comers. +</p> +<a name="h2H_4_0005" id="h2H_4_0005"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + +<h2> + IV +</h2> +<p> +From that moment a new and exciting kind of life started. Not an hour +out of the twenty-four was free from anxiety. Always, whether it was +day or night, the Man and the dog had to take turns at guarding the +entrance. The Man gathered piles of stones and learnt how to throw them +unerringly. The dog trusted to his teeth and the fear which his bark +inspired. The animals were furiously determined; they never ceased from +attempting to surprise them. Quite often they would have succeeded, had +it not been for the robin, who hiding in the bushes, overheard their +strategies and flew back to the Man in time with warnings. +</p> +<p> +The cave was well chosen. It was approached by a steep and narrow path. +Only one enemy could attack at once, so the defenders were always able +to roll down bowlders on him before he gained a footing. That was how +they treated the lion, when he came thrashing his tail and roaring on +the first morning to make them prisoners. They gave a rock a big shove +and knocked him over like a ninepin. He was so hurt in his feelings that +he sulked in bed for a week; for many more weeks he was easily tired. +Seeing that he was the King of the Beasts and the President of their +Conference, this made the animals the more indignant and the more +determined that the Man and the dog must be punished. The next to +attempt their capture were the elephant and the rhinoceros. They boasted +that they weren't afraid of rocks; nevertheless they came together to +back up each other's courage. Half way up the slope they stuck. They +were too heavy for so steep a path. The ground crumbled from under them, +the dog worried them, the Man struck them, and away they went, bumping +down the hill, rolling over and over. They never stopped till they had +reached the bottom, where they lay on their backs with their feet in the +air, grunting and panting like a pair of upturned locomotives. +</p> +<p> +At first the Man and the dog regarded the enmity they had aroused in the +light of a huge joke; they got a good deal of fun out of fighting. But +the sporting side of the affair ceased to appeal to them when they were +compelled to recognize the seriousness of their predicament. They were +absolutely cut off from supplies at a season when food was running +short. They had to sneak out at night at the risk of capture to get +anything to eat at all. They had a sick woman on their hands who cried +not for food, but for delicacies. Instead of gathering strength, she +grew steadily weaker. And then there was the matter of sleep; it was as +scarce as food. They hardly snatched a wink of it. When they weren't on +guard or fighting, they were soothing her fretfulness, foraging for her +or thinking up some new method of keeping her warm. It was damp in the +cave; sunlight rarely tiptoed farther than the entrance. It didn't take +them long to discover that the hyena's coat had been as dearly purchased +as the forbidden fruit that had lost them the garden. Peace, which they +might have concluded in the early days, was now entirely out of the +question. Even an offer to return the hyena's coat wouldn't have made +any impression. They had carried hostilities too far; there wasn't an +animal whom they had not wounded and who wasn't mad with them clean +through from the point of his nose to the tip of his tail. Often and +often, standing in the entrance to his cave, the Man would gaze +longingly across the bronzy roof of the forest to the distant shining of +the padlocked gates of Eden. He was farther than ever from the garden +now with its tranquil blessedness. If only he hadn't learnt to steal! +Stealing had been the cause of his downfall—first the forbidden fruit +and then the hyena's coat. If he had been less enterprising and more +obedient, he would still have been the friend of God. After a wakeful +night he crept to the entrance to discover that the worst thing of all +had happened. +</p> +<p> +"A worse thing!" you exclaim. "I thought you were going to tell us a +cheerful Christmas story." +</p> +<p> +And so I am: but all the unfortunate part comes first—that's the way +the robins tell it. If you'll be patient and read on, you'll find this +is the very cheerfullest story that was ever told in earth or heaven. +You may not have noticed that we've not yet come to the first laugh. The +Woman has smiled and the hyena has scoffed; but no one has laughed. It's +when we come to the first laugh that the happiness commences. +</p> +<a name="h2H_4_0006" id="h2H_4_0006"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + +<h2> + V +</h2> +<p> +The worst thing of all that the Man discovered when he crept to the +cave-entrance after a wakeful night, was this: with a terrible stealthy +silence snow was drifting down so that even the distant shining of the +gates of Eden was blotted out. It was frightening; snow had never fallen +in the world before. If it had, the Man had not seen it. Within the +walls of the garden summer had been perpetual. He stood there staring +out forlornly at the misty sea of shifting whiteness. It chilled him to +the bone. It seemed to him that the pillars of the sky had collapsed and +the dust of the moon and stars was falling. Soon everything would be +buried and the world itself would be no more. He looked at the calendar +which he had scratched upon the wall. It was the twenty-fourth day of +December. He wondered whether God knew what was happening and whether +He had planned it. Then he gave up wondering, for behind him, from the +blackness of the cave, the Woman called. +</p> +<p> +"Oh, Man," she cried, "I cannot bear this any longer!" +</p> +<p> +He groped his way to her and raised her in his arms so that her head lay +on his breast. Even in the darkness he could see the glow of her hair, +like the shadow of flame growing fainter and fainter. +</p> +<p> +"My Woman," he whispered, "what can I do for you?" And again he +whispered, "What can I do for you?" +</p> +<p> +She pressed her face close to his before she answered, petting him the +way she had been used to do in Eden. "Do for me? Nothing. You've tried +with your remedies—you've tried so hard. Poor you! If we could only +find God——" +</p> +<p> +"If we could," the Man said, "but——" +</p> +<p> +And then they both grew silent, for how could they find God when He had +climbed back to Heaven, destroying the sky-blue stairs behind Him? +</p> +<p> +"Perhaps, He still walks in Eden." It was the Woman who had spoken. "If +you were to go and watch through the bars of Eden till He comes and were +to call to Him—if you were to tell Him that I cannot bear it any longer +and that we're sorry, so sorry—that we did it in our ignorance——" +Without ending what she was saying, she fell to sobbing. +</p> +<p> +He didn't dare to tell her that the moon and stars were falling and that +the gates of Eden were blotted out. From where she lay in the blackness +of the cave she could see nothing; she was too weak even to crawl to the +entrance. As he did his best to comfort her, "If we could only again +find God——" she kept whispering. +</p> +<p> +So at last, having ordered the dog to guard her, the Man departed on his +hopeless errand. It was brave of him. He believed that in trying to find +God, he would get so lost that he would never be able to retrace his +footsteps. Before he went he kissed the Woman tenderly, begging +forgiveness for all the misery he had caused her. +</p> +<p> +"But I caused it, too," she confessed. "It wasn't your rib that was to +blame. It wasn't you at all. I wanted the fruit and we ate it together." +</p> +<p> +It was the first time she had acknowledged it; until then she had +insisted that the fault was his solely. So in the moment of farewell she +restored to him one little ray of the great, lost sun of flaming +happiness. +</p> +<a name="h2H_4_0007" id="h2H_4_0007"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + +<h2> + VI +</h2> +<p> +The air was so thick with falling snow that he was well-nigh stifled. +His eyes were blinded as though they were padded with cottonwool. The +flakes brushed against his cheeks like live things. At his sixth step +from the entrance he had lost his direction. His feet commenced to +slide; against his will he went avalanching and cavorting down the path. +</p> +<p> +At the bottom he lay panting for a time; then, because he was cold he +picked himself up and went blundering on, not in the least knowing where +he was going. Bushes clutched at his feet. Trees slashed across his +face. He was inclined to weep, but checked himself, remembering that on +one of those sunny afternoon walks God had told him that to cry wasn't +manly. "And I must find God. I must find God," he kept repeating to +himself. The only way he knew of finding God was by pressing forward. +God had once confessed to him, "The reason I am God is because I show +courage." +</p> +<p> +"Then I'll show courage, too," he thought. +</p> +<p> +Presently he found himself in the heart of the forest and began to +breathe more freely. Avenues of giant trees stretched before him, which +criss-crossed one another and faded into the gloom of twilit, colonnaded +tunnels. He could almost feel the gnarled trunks bracing themselves +and the crooked branches linking arms to bear up the weight of the +down-poured roof of whiteness. As his eyes grew accustomed to the +dimness, he saw the animals strewn flat among fallen leaves, their noses +pressed between their paws, shivering with terror. Overhead birds and +monkeys sat in rows, squeezed side by side for companionship, weeping +silently. Of a sudden he regained his majesty, being filled with +contempt for their cowardice. "For I am Man," he reminded himself, "so +like to God that I could easily be mistaken for Him—and these are the +creatures who dared to talk of punishing me." +</p> +<p> +Throwing out his chest, he strode valiantly past them, utterly ignoring +their presence. +</p> +<p> +From behind him a voice called whimperingly. It was the lion's, the King +of Beasts, squeaky and falsetto with panic. "Master, thou art wise. What +has happened? Tell us." +</p> +<p> +Had he known how, the Man would have laughed. But the laugh comes later +in the story. Without turning his head, still going away from them he +answered. "It is a punishment for what thou and thy people have done to +me and my Woman, oh, lion." +</p> +<p> +He had made the answer up on the spur of the moment; he knew no more +than they did what had happened. But he loved inventing and was never +so content as when he was pretending that he was God. +</p> +<p> +Immediately they forgot the wrong answers he had given them and how he +had deceived them in the past. The leaves rustled as they lifted up +their heads from between their paws. Their voices trembled as one when +they besought him, "Master, stay with us. We are in terror. Make it +leave off." +</p> +<p> +Turning slowly, he blinked at them through the dimness. Folding his +arms, he regarded them thoughtfully with his legs wide apart. He did it +as he supposed God might have done it. He spoke at last. "It's only just +begun. Why should I make it leave off?" +</p> +<p> +"Because thou art strong and we are repentant." +</p> +<p> +Their manner was so humble and adoring that he felt sorry for them. +They had begged his pardon in the same words that he had intended to +beg God's. And then he was just—the only just creature that God had +created. In his heart he knew that he had merited their revenge—there +was scarcely one of them at whom he had not hurled his rocks. He came +back walking in stately fashion till he stood fearlessly in the centre +of them. Looking up through the burdened branches at the calamity which +he did not understand, he commanded, "Leave off." +</p> +<p> +To his immense surprise, on the instant the snow ceased falling. It +settled gently like a tired bird into its nest. The serenity of the +stillness was unbroken. +</p> +<p> +"I am hungry," he said. +</p> +<p> +The animals hurried to their stores of food and waited on him. +</p> +<p> +"I have not slept." +</p> +<p> +The squirrels scraped fallen leaves into a bed, and the bear and the +wolf stood guard. +</p> +<p> +When he awoke it was a brilliant winter's morning. The sun was +charioteering in highest heaven. The forest was white as though +cotton-wool had blown through it. As far as eye could search, everything +glittered, sheathed in a film of glass. Snow bulged from branches like +pillows filled to bursting. Icicles hung down like fantastic swords. +Down the colonnaded avenues trees cast their shadows in heavy bars; the +spaces between them were golden splashes. +</p> +<a name="image-0004"><!--IMG--></a> +<div class="figure"> +<a href="images/ill-p40.jpg"><img src="images/ill-p40.jpg" style="width:100%;" +alt="The Man yawned. 'I am still tired. Fetch the horse, that he may carry me +back to my dwelling.'" /></a><br /> +The Man yawned. "I am still tired. Fetch the horse, that he may carry me +back to my dwelling." +</div> + +<p> +The Man yawned. "I am still tired. Fetch the horse that he may carry me +back to my dwelling." +</p> +<p> +He ordered the horse to be fetched because he had forgotten where his +cave was. It was clever of him. He did it to keep the animals from +knowing his ignorance. +</p> +<p> +The horse came galloping up obediently. Clutching him by the mane, the +Man bestrode him. Off they started at a sharp trot, with the animals +shouting and bounding beside them. As they travelled, the Man could +hardly keep from smiling at picturing what a fine fellow he was. He made +no attempt to restrain himself from giving orders. All the time he kept +urging the animals to shout louder. He wanted the Woman to hear them, so +that she might crawl to the entrance of the cave and be a witness of his +triumphant home-coming. It wasn't good enough merely to picture himself +as a fine fellow. He was anxious to hear her say to him, "Oh, Man, what +a fine fellow you are!" He'd forgotten completely the purpose of his +errand—that he'd set out through the world's first snowstorm in search +of God. +</p> +<p> +So at last they burst forth from the forest and reached the foot of the +slippery ascent. Because it was so slippery, the Man dismounted; the +horse could carry him no further. Having commanded the animals to go on +shouting for at least half-an-hour, he left them and commenced to climb +the steep and narrow path. He had to go gingerly on his hands and knees. +There were places where he slipped back two steps for every one he +advanced. By snatching at rocks and bushes, he dragged himself slowly to +the turning which brought him in sight of the entrance. There, seated in +the entrance to the cave, he saw ... +</p> +<p> +You must remember that by now it was the twenty-fifth of December. +To remember that is most extraordinarily important. What he saw is so +exciting that it deserves another chapter. +</p> +<a name="h2H_4_0008" id="h2H_4_0008"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + +<h2> + VII +</h2> +<p> +He saw the Woman—but not the Woman as he had left her. She was no +longer sick. She was completely restored. As in the old days her hair +clothed her like a flame. Her face parted it into waves as though she +were a swimmer. He could see the pink dimples in her knees where she sat +and the marble whiteness of her feet, which flashed like jewels. She was +again the darling who had delighted his heart when she had darted like a +sunbeam across the shaven lawns of Eden; but now she was ten times more +radiant. +</p> +<p> +What was it that had changed her? Her tenderness made a golden mist +about her which inspired him with awe. He had had precisely this sense +of sunny quietness when he had walked through those long, still +afternoons with God. +</p> +<p> +She was unaware of him. Her eyes were deep pools of sapphire. She was +smiling gently and brooding above something which nestled in her arms. +He called to her softly; she paid him no attention. Far below the ridge, +in obedience to his commands, the animals were still shouting. Was it +because of them that she was smiling? Had the robin flown ahead of him +to tell her what had happened? The robin was perched on her shoulder, +fluttering his little wings and singing her his finest song. He called +to the robin; like the Woman, the robin was too occupied to hear him. +No, it wasn't because of him that she was smiling—he felt sure. Then +why was it? +</p> +<p> +He gazed back on the dazzling landscape that spread away below him, +hoping to find something there that would tell him. How transformed it +was from the gloomy jungle that had been wont to threaten him! It was +like a nest of down. From its farthest edge where Eden lay, a beam of +glory spanned it with an orange path. It was this beam that made the +golden mist about the Woman. To his amazement he saw that Eden's gates +were open. Even while he watched they began to close, slowly and slowly, +with the beam ever shortening, till at last they were utterly locked and +barred. +</p> +<p> +The memory of lost happiness overwhelmed him. He turned again to the +Woman. There she sat in the golden mantle of her hair, enthroned on the +snow's pure whiteness. Creeping to her humbly, he fell to covering her +feet with kisses, so great was his need of her. +</p> +<p> +"My Woman," he wept, "they are cold—so cold. Never again will I leave +thee, not even to find God." +</p> +<p> +She bent towards him, lifting his chin in her hand. "I shall feel the +cold no more. Put thy hand in my breast. Dost thou feel it? I have that +next my heart which, though I grow old, shall keep me forever warm." +</p> +<p> +As he slipped his hand in her breast, she parted her hair and showed +him. Kneeling beside her, he gazed down wonderingly at a thing that he +had never seen before. He could find no name for it. It was like himself +and it was like her also, only it was tiny and no thicker than his +fore-arm. It had wee feet and hands, a rose-bud of a mouth and it was +smooth and soft. Its head, which was the size of an apple, was covered +with silky floss. Lowering his face, he sniffed it all over. It smelt +sweet like the flowers that used to bloom in Eden. +</p> +<p> +"What is it?" +</p> +<p> +She shook her head. "It was here when I wakened." Her eyes became bright +and immense as stars. "It's our's," she whispered tenderly. +</p> +<a name="h2H_4_0009" id="h2H_4_0009"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + +<h2> + VIII +</h2> +<p> +It was awkward to have something for which you could find no name, +especially when it was something that you had begun to love already. +</p> +<p> +"We'll have to ask someone," the Man said. "If I knew where He was, +I might ask——" +</p> +<p> +The Woman's face blanched. "Not God," she begged. "Because of the fruit +we ate, He might take it from us." +</p> +<p> +Just then they were disturbed by a rustling of snow. Looking up, they +saw the rabbit, watching them with timid eyes and recovering his breath +after the long climb. +</p> +<p> +"What d'you want?" the Man asked sharply. +</p> +<p> +The rabbit flicked his white scut and sat up on his hind-legs, his +whiskers quivering with excitement. +</p> +<p> +"I want to see it," he panted. "The dog's been boasting. I hurried +because I wanted to be the first to see it. I'm so little; I couldn't do +it any harm." +</p> +<p> +"Let him see it," said the Woman. "He's gentle. He might be able to tell +us what to call it." +</p> +<p> +So the Man told the rabbit that he could have just one peep. But when +the rabbit tried to get his peep by standing against the Woman's knees, +he wasn't tall enough, so the Man had to lift him till he lay all furry +against the little creature that was in the Woman's arms. +</p> +<p> +"I can't suggest anything," said the rabbit. "We ought to consult the +other animals. They all want to be friends; they're so curious. But +there's one thing I do know: we're both small and my coat would just fit +it." +</p> +<p> +Before they could stop him, he had pulled off his coat and was tucking +it snugly about the little stranger. He was right; it did fit exactly. +So the first garment of the earth's first baby was a rabbitskin, which +accounts for the rhyme which mothers sing about "Gone to fetch a +rabbitskin, to wrap the baby bunting in." +</p> +<p> +When the rabbit had presented his gift, he hopped down from the Woman's +lap very much thinner. +</p> +<p> +"And now can I bring the other animals?" he asked. +</p> +<p> +The Man hesitated. He was remembering the last visits of the lion and +the elephant and the rhinoceros. "They might find a name for it," the +rabbit pleaded. +</p> +<p> +Then the Man nodded and the rabbit scuttled off. +</p> +<p> +They hadn't long to wait before they heard a deep breathing and +grunting. Struggling up the frozen path to the cave came all the animals +that God had created. They advanced in single file, the great and the +small mixed up together; the giraffe followed by the hedgehog and the +mastodon preceded by the frog. They came hand-in-hand, forming a chain +to pull one another up, treading on each other's heels, jostling and +slipping back on one another. Those behind kept whispering to those in +front to hurry; those in front were too winded to retort. Their ascent +was made more difficult by their generosity, for all save one of them +carried presents. The one who came empty-handed was the stork. He led +the procession looking stately and pompous, as though he were taking the +credit for having occasioned the disturbance. The Man learnt later that +that was precisely what he was doing—taking all the credit. He had been +telling the animals that it was he who had left the strange little +creature at the Woman's side the night before. Because of this he +pretended that it wasn't necessary for him to bring a present. There +were many who believed him. There still are. +</p> +<p> +When they had all climbed safely to the top they gathered in a +semi-circle about the Woman, having piled their gifts before her. In +silence they waited; then she parted her hair and showed them the wonder +that nestled in her arms. +</p> +<p> +The Man, standing at her side, addressed them. "Oh, brothers, I am wise, +for I have walked with God; yet have I never seen anything like it. +There was nothing like it in Eden. I have sent for you that I may ask +you what to call it." +</p> +<p> +No one answered. He questioned each in turn, but none of them could +advise him. +</p> +<p> +"We have to find a name for it," he said crossly; "so let's sit down and +think hard." +</p> +<p> +So they sat down in the snow, scratching their heads, and thought hard. +From time to time the Man enquired whether any of them had had an +inspiration. They never had, which was discouraging when you consider +what a lot of them were thinking. In this way at least an hour must have +passed. +</p> +<p> +Things were getting both cold and embarrassing, when the little +creature, who was being thought about so hard, showed signs of waking +and began to stir in the Woman's arms. I ought to have told you that +ever since the Man's home-coming it had been sleeping. First it kicked +out with its bandy legs. Then it fisted its pudgy hands and yawned. +Then it puckered its wee red face in a manner most alarming and, to the +amazement of them all.... The Woman was so amazed that she nearly let +it drop. And yet what it did was perfectly natural; it opened its eyes, +like two blue patches of heaven, and blinked at them. Last of all it +emitted a thin, wailing sound that made everybody abominably unhappy. +The crocodile became so emotional that his tears froze in two long +icicles. After a pause the sound was repeated. All the animals rose on +their hind-legs and covered their ears with their paws. +</p> +<p> +The Woman stared at them apologetically. She was distressed and puzzled. +"Please don't cover your ears," she begged. "And don't think that I'm +hurting it. There's something that it's trying to tell us. It's said the +same thing before. It began saying it the moment I first found it. It's +gone on saying it, on and on.... There, there my little one, my +belovedest." +</p> +<p> +As if to corroborate her assertion that it had gone on and on, it +commenced to cry afresh. Out of politeness to the Woman, though the +sound hurt them, the tenderhearted animals uncovered their ears and +listened intently. This is what they heard, repeated over and over, +"Baa-aa-by! Baa-aa-by! Baa-aa-by!" +</p> +<p> +They were all shaking with sobbing when the elephant, in his coarsest +manner, lifted, up his trunk and snorted through it contemptuously. +</p> +<p> +"Stop snorting," the Man ordered impatiently. "There's no reason why you +should snort." +</p> +<p> +"Isn't there?" The elephant shuffled to his feet to depart. Before he +went, just to show his independence, again he snorted. Across his +shoulder he remarked. "And you think yourself so wise! You want to know +what to call it. Every time it speaks it tells you." It cried once more. +"There you are!" The elephant trumpeted triumphantly as he seated +himself at the top of the slide, having pulled his tail from under him +preparatory to tobogganning down the path. "Don't you hear what it says? +'Baa-aa-by! Baa-aa-by!' It couldn't be put more plainly. It's asking you +to call it baby." +</p> +<p> +As the elephant pushed off and vanished in a whirl of flying snow, the +Woman turned to the Man with a smile of gladness. "The clumsy fellow's +right. Weren't we the stupids? Fancy not understanding our own baby!" +</p> +<a name="h2H_4_0010" id="h2H_4_0010"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + +<h2> + IX +</h2> +<p> +As you may imagine, all the beasts and birds went back to the jungle +very discontented. They didn't see why they shouldn't have babies. They +were wild to have babies. They talked of nothing else. No sooner had +they got down the hill from visiting the cave than they turned round and +started to climb back again. They kept urging the Woman to be frank with +them and to confess how her baby had happened. Of course she couldn't +confess, seeing that she didn't know herself. All that she knew was that +she hadn't felt well since she had eaten the forbidden fruit in Eden +and, now that the baby had been born, she felt completely restored. Such +information wasn't of much use to the animals, for the forbidden fruit +grew inside of Eden and the gates of Eden were locked. At last the Man +had to interfere to prevent her from being bothered. He stuck up a +notice at the entrance to the cave, <i>December 25th. Mother And Child +Both Doing Well. Don't knock.</i> When the animals came to call, he +prevented them from entering by explaining gravely that having a baby +was a very touch-and-go business and left one decidedly exhausted. To +have listened to him you might have supposed that he'd spent all his +life in rocking cradles, whereas he was such a novice that, had it not +been for the elephant, he wouldn't even have known that babies were +called babies. Like all fathers he deceived himself that there was +nothing he didn't know about baby-lore. What was very much more +surprising, by whispering and looking secretive he managed to impress +the animals with his new-found learning and paternal importance. +</p> +<p> +But what had happened to the robin while all these excitements were +going on? The last time we mentioned him he was sitting perched on the +Woman's shoulder, singing her his very finest song. +</p> +<p> +The robin, though you may not have heard it, has always been a most +religious bird. He had made up his mind, the moment the Man had come +back, that the first thing to be done was to go and tell God. The chief +difficulty about accomplishing this errand was due to God Himself; as +you will remember, in returning to Heaven God had destroyed the sky-blue +stairs behind Him. But the robin had wings; moreover he was an optimist. +He hoped that by fluttering up and up he would be able to reach Heaven +in safety. The reason that he had never tried before was because he had +been afraid that God would not want him. He felt sure of his welcome now +that he was the bearer of such glad tidings. +</p> +<p> +He found the journey much harder than he had expected. There were parts +of it that were so bitter that his wings would scarcely flutter. After +he had lost sight of earth, he had to wind his way between the burning +stars; they were so close together in places that his feathers were +scorched. But he pressed on valiantly till he made out the quiet shining +of the gates of Heaven and entered through the unguarded walls of jasper +into a garden, which was in no way different from the one that God had +planted upon earth. +</p> +<p> +Beneath scented trees the angels were scattered about disconsolately. +There were black rims under their eyes; it was easy to see they had been +worrying. Their beautiful white gowns had come unstarched; it was many +days since they had tidied themselves. There wasn't a sound of any +sort—least of all of music. Some of them still carried their harps; but +most of them had stacked them in open spaces the way soldiers stack +their rifles. When the robin sank spent to the grass in front of them, +they paid him scant attention. When he weakly chirped his question, +"Where's God?" they jerked their thumbs, indicating the direction, too +listless to waste breath on words. +</p> +<p> +"What's the matter?" asked the robin. +</p> +<p> +"We're unhappy." After they had said it, they had difficulty to choke +back their sobs. +</p> +<p> +"But why are you unhappy? Whoever heard of being unhappy in Heaven!" +</p> +<p> +"Because—because——." They glanced at one another forlornly, hoping +that someone else would be the first to answer. "Because of the +forbidden fruit. It's made God cross." +</p> +<p> +"Pshaw!" The robin swelled out his little breast with importance. "You'd +better visit earth and see our baby. If the Woman hadn't eaten the +forbidden fruit, there wouldn't be any baby." +</p> +<p> +The word "baby" was entirely new to them. They sat up beneath their +scented trees and began to ask questions. But the robin didn't want to +be delayed; he spread his wings and fluttered on. +</p> +<p> +At last he came to the smoothest of smooth lawns, in the midst of which +grew a mulberry-tree, beneath whose shadow God was seated with the +Virgin Mary. Despite the flakes of sunlight falling and the gold-blue +peace by which They were surrounded. Their attitudes were no less +despondent than the angels'. God sat with His elbows digging into His +knees. His face was buried in His delicate hands. His eyes, peering +through His fingers, were strained and red with always staring +broodingly straight before Him. Of the Virgin Mary, crouching at His +feet, the robin could only see the glint of her flaxen hair and the +paleness of her narrow shoulders. Her head was bowed in the lap of her +Maker as if she had been beseeching Him always. +</p> +<p> +The robin was overwhelmed with terror. All his chirpiness was gone. +"Dear God," he quavered, "I beg Thy forgiveness. I have come when I was +not bidden." +</p> +<p> +He paused, hoping that God would encourage him. When God took no notice, +he felt himself to be the most insignificant and impertinent of living +creatures. He spoke again, lest the silence should kill him on the spot. +</p> +<p> +"I have brought glad tidings—at least, we on earth think they are +glad. The Woman, whom Thou didst cast out for eating the fruit that was +forbidden, has been very sick. She has been sick since April till just +before day-break this morning, when she miraculously recovered. At her +side she found lying a little thing—such a little thing—so like +to Thyself, oh, God. It has bandy legs and arms no thicker than Thy +smallest finger. It has a baldy head, about the size of an apple, with +threads of gold spread over it like floss. It has a pink, wee face and +a rose-bud of a mouth. It's eyes are like patches of Thine own blue +Heaven. And it's soft and cuddly. The Women calls it her 'Belovedest.' +And it smells sweet like the flowers we used to breathe in Eden. We +didn't know what it was. Even the Man didn't know. He summoned the +animals to come and find a name for it. While they were sitting on their +hind-legs, behold, it awoke and told us that its rightful name was baby. +And now, oh, God, we birds and animals want to have babies. We're all +trying to find out how it happened. And I want to find out most +especially, because——" +</p> +<p> +"A baby, thou sayest! What is a baby? I, thy Creator, know nothing of +it. The last thing I fashioned was the Woman, who has brought this deep +shame upon Us." +</p> +<p> +God had spoken through His hands very softly, yet His voice was like a +great wind blowing. It took the robin some seconds to recover from the +shock. By the time he was ready to answer, the angels were rustling +through all the glades of Heaven and the Virgin was gazing at him with +wistful intensity. +</p> +<p> +"What is a baby!" he said audaciously repeating God's words. "It is a +little Man and a little God. Surely, Thou knowest?" +</p> +<p> +"I know nothing," God thundered, letting fall His hands from before His +face. "Be gone." +</p> +<p> +When the hurricane of sound had ended, the robin found himself hovering +in the gateway between the jasper walls, where the sheer drop which lies +between earth and Heaven commences. He turned to look back before he +took the leap and saw that behind him the angels were following. +Following most closely was the Virgin. +</p> +<p> +"Tell me again," she pleaded. "It's little and soft. It's cuddly and it +smells like the flowers that bloom in Eden." +</p> +<p> +Perched on her shoulder, with his beak against her ear, he twittered to +her his tale once more. While he was telling her, the angels crowded +round, smoothing his feathers with shy caresses. But he didn't dare to +stay too long, for distantly from beneath the mulberry tree, he still +felt the brooding eyes of God. Launching himself from the Virgin's +shoulder, he sank between the burning stars and through the bitter +coldness of clouds snow-laden, till late in the wintry afternoon he +reached the cave on the limestone ridge, whence a murmur of secret +singing was emerging. +</p> +<a name="h2H_4_0011" id="h2H_4_0011"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + +<h2> + X +</h2> +<p> +On the threshold he paused to listen. Yes, it was the Woman. It was the +first time she had been happy enough to sing since she had been cast out +of Eden. But her song was entirely different from anything that she had +sung before. It was more little and tender. It was a lullaby of +mother-nonsense, which she hummed when she couldn't find the proper +rhymes and made up as she went along. +</p> +<p> +As the robin fluttered through the gloom to her shoulder, she pressed +her finger to her lips to warn him. The baby eyes were the merest slits +of blueness. The little thumb was in the mouth and the baby lips were +sucking hard. The tiny knees were digging into the Woman's body and the +baldy head was cushioned on her bosom. The dog snoozed across her feet. +The Man crouched against her, shrouded in the mantle of her hair, +overcome with weariness. She was mothering them all, rocking herself +slowly and singing gently her silly little song. The crooning of it over +and over seemed to hush them with a sense of security. +</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p class="i2"> "You are my ownty, </p> +<p class="i2"> Dear little donty, </p> +<p class="i2"> Sweetest and wonty, </p> +<p class="i2"> Pudding and pie; </p> +<p class="i2"> Good little laddie, </p> +<p class="i2"> Just like your daddie. </p> +<p class="i2"> Fallen from Heaven, </p> +<p class="i2"> Come from the sky." </p> +</div> +</div> + +<p> +"But he didn't," whispered the robin. +</p> +<p> +The Woman paused in her singing. "Didn't what?" +</p> +<p> +"He didn't fall from Heaven. God's just been telling me; He never heard +about him." +</p> +<p> +The Woman smiled. "Never heard about him! It doesn't matter; his Mummy's +heard about him." She stooped to kiss the soft little bundle, for he had +commenced to stir. Then she resumed her singing. +</p> +<p> +Gradually the day failed. The late afternoon faded into evening. Gray +twilight stole swiftly down. For a while the white fields of snow +outside reflected a vague dimness; then night came with a noiseless +rush, closing up the entrance to the cave with a wall of blackness. +</p> +<p> +Perched on the Woman's shoulder the robin dozed. She still went on +singing. How long he had been dozing he had no means of telling. He +was wakened by a multitudinous rustling, as of a crowd assembling and +drawing nearer. At first he thought that it was some of the more +persistent of the animals, coming once more to urge the Woman to tell +them how babies happened. Then, of a sudden, he knew that he had been +mistaken. The gloom of the cave was lit up by a glowing brightness. +Peering across the threshold, with all the haloed hosts of Heaven +tiptoeing behind her, was the Virgin Mary. It was the crowd of haloes +that was causing so much brightness. +</p> +<p> +Stepping to the Woman's side, she gazed down longingly at the small +God-Man. +</p> +<p> +"I want one. Oh, I want one so badly," she murmured. +</p> +<p> +The angels, thronging behind her, folded their wings and repeated her +words, "So badly! So badly!" The sound was like a prayer, dying out in +the void which spreads between earth and Heaven. +</p> +<p> +"Let me hold him," she begged. +</p> +<p> +Because she was the Virgin, even though it might wake him, the Woman did +not dare to refuse her. But she asserted her authority, as all mothers +must, by pretending that she was the only person who knew how to hold +him properly. And perhaps she was the only one at that moment, for there +was no other mother besides herself in earth or Heaven. She showed the +Virgin how to support his little head because it was wobbly; and how to +keep one arm beneath his back because it was weak; and how he liked to +be cuddled against her breast because it was warm and cushiony. And +then, becoming generous, she taught her the silly little lullaby. +</p> +<p> +"I shall never go back to Heaven," the Virgin whispered. "I shall stay +here always and help you nurse him." +</p> +<p> +"Never go back to Heaven," the angels echoed; "stay here always." +</p> +<p> +The Woman's eyes became troubled. "But I want him to myself," she +faltered. "I don't want helping." Then she ceased to frown, for she had +discovered a stronger argument. "Besides, what about God? You wouldn't +leave Him all by Himself in Heaven. He'd be lonely." +</p> +<p> +The Virgin nodded her head vigorously. "I would, for I also am a woman. +There are no babies in Heaven. I couldn't be happy without a baby." +</p> +<p> +Behind her the angels nodded their haloes. "No babies in Heaven. +Couldn't be happy without a baby." +</p> +<p> +It must have been so much talking that disturbed him; the baby woke up. +As he opened his eyes and saw the Queen of Heaven bending over him, he +smiled. It was his first smile. On the instant the Woman, like all +mothers, became jealous and snatched him back into her own possession. +She liked to believe that no one, not even the Man, could make him as +comfortable as she could. Piling her golden hair upon her knees to make +a pillow for him, she laid him naked on his back and commenced playing +with his toes. If he had not given her his first smile, she would at +least make certain of his second. +</p> +<p> +She was so taken up with her playing that she did not notice who had +entered. She was the only one who had not noticed. The angels were +cowering against the walls of the cave. The Man had roused and crouched +covering his face with his hands. Only the Virgin stood upright, meek +and fearless, with a look of unconquerable challenge. The Woman was +quite oblivious; she went on with her mother-nonsense. And there stood +God regarding her through a cloud of puzzlement and anger. +</p> +<p> +The game that she played with the baby-feet she was inventing on the +spur of the moment. Starting with the tiniest toe, she wiggled it. +Then she wiggled the next tiniest, and the next tiniest, and the next +tiniest, till she had come to the biggest of the tiny toes. To each toe +as she wiggled it, she gave a name; when she had wiggled them all she +buried her face in the fat, kicking legs. +</p> +<p> +"And this is Peedy Peedy," she said as she wiggled the littlest toe. +"And this next babiest is Polly Loody. And this in the middle is Lady +Fissle. And this tall fellow is Lally Vassal. And last we come of the +big, big toe, who's king of them all. His name is Great Ormondon." Then +she dived her lips into the little squirming legs and kissed them as if +she were going to make a meal of them. +</p> +<p> +She had to do it four times before the baby smiled at her. At first he +only looked serious and astonished. The fifth time his smile broadened +and he gurgled. But the sixth, as she came to "The Great Ormondon," he +burst into a crowing laugh. Never before had a laugh been heard in earth +or Heaven. It was so surprising that the angels ceased from cowering and +the Man uncovered his face to see better. +</p> +<p> +Then God spoke. His voice was kind and tender like the cooing of +doves—so kind and tender that the Woman, discovering His presence, +wasn't a bit frightened. Sweeping the hair back from her eyes, she +nodded to Him in the old friendly fashion in which she had been used to +greet Him in Eden. +</p> +<p> +"Can you make him do it again?" God asked. +</p> +<p> +He came nearer and leant above her shoulder. So she made the baby laugh +again. +</p> +<p> +"Could I make him?" +</p> +<p> +"Try," said the Woman. +</p> +<p> +So God wiggled the little toes, starting with the tiniest, and the Woman +whispered the five magic names to Him secretly so that He might say them +all correctly. "Peedy Peedy. Polly Loody. Lady Fissle. Lally Vassal. And +the Great Ormondon." +</p> +<p> +When God boomed out the last large sounding name, the baby doubled his +little fists, crowing and laughing unmistakably. Then God laughed, too, +and the Virgin, and all the Hosts of Heaven, and the Man and the Woman, +till at last the dog and the robin couldn't restrain themselves any +longer and joined in His laughter. When once they'd started laughing it +was difficult to stop. Besides, they didn't want to stop. They were +doing it for the first time and they liked the feeling of it. God +laughed till the tears streamed down His face. By the time He held up +His hand for silence, there was scarcely an angel who wasn't wearing his +halo crooked. +</p> +<p> +"That's done us all good," said God. "I must have a baby for my very own +exactly like him. I almost think that everybody ought to have babies." +Then catching sight of the dog and the robin, He added, "I mean the +animals, too." +</p> +<p> +He turned to the Man. "What day is this? I've not been counting since I +ceased to walk in Eden." +</p> +<p> +The Man answered humbly. "Dear God, it is the twenty-fifth of December." +</p> +<p> +"I must remember that," said God thoughtfully. And then to the Virgin, +"Come. It grows late. There is no one to light the lamps of Heaven. You +shall have your desire; for you, too, are a woman." +</p> +<p> +And the robins say that God did remember, for it was on the twenty-fifth +of December, centuries later, that his own son was born into the world. +They say that the limestone ridge within sight of Eden was the spot +where Bethlehem grew up after Eden vanished. They even say that the cave +to which Mary came on another winter's night, when the doors of the inn +had been closed against her, was the very same. There, where the world's +first baby had been born, she wrapped God's son in swaddling clothes and +laid him in a manger, for the cave had now become a stable. Perhaps the +heavenly host who sang "Peace and Goodwill" to the shepherds was the +same, though the robins do not assert that. +</p> +<p> +Of one thing they are certain: that every time a baby is born God +laughs again and His laughter travels down the ages. And that is why on +Christmas Day everyone is especially kind to children, because it was a +little child who gave the first laugh and taught grown people, even God +Himself, how easy it is to love when one is merry. +</p> +<h4> +THE END +</h4> + +<hr class="full" /> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + +<h2> + CHRISTMAS OUTSIDE OF EDEN +</h2> +<h3> +<span style="font-size: 60%;"> +<i>By</i> +</span> +<br /> +CONINGSBY DAWSON +</h3> + +<p style="text-indent: 0; text-align: center;"> + <i>Author of</i> "The Little House," <br /> + "The Seventh Christmas," <br /> + "Carry On," etc. +</p> + +<h4> +<span style="font-size: 60%;"> +WITH <i>ILLUSTRATIONS</i> BY +</span> +<br /> +EUGENE FRANCIS SAVAGE +</h4> + +<p> +A delightful Christmas fantasy told with inimitable charm and delicate +humor. It is "the story the robins tell as they huddle beneath the holly +on the Eve of Christmas"—the sensation created by the birth of the +first baby, among the animals on earth, the angels in heaven, and even +in the mind of the surprised Almighty Himself. The conception of the +Deity is a primitive one, as required by the nature of the tale, and the +story should be read as a "myth-story." +</p> + +<p style="text-indent: 0; text-align: center; font-size: 75%;"> +DODD, MEAD & COMPANY +<br /> +<i>Publishers</i> NEW YORK +</p> + + +<div style="height: 6em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Christmas Outside of Eden, by Coningsby Dawson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRISTMAS OUTSIDE OF EDEN *** + +***** This file should be named 15552-h.htm or 15552-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/5/5/5/15552/ + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, David Garcia and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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