ADVENT CALENDAR December 9th - a story

Good morning dear Gather Friends!

Today is the second Sunday in Advent. On the Advent Wreath, two candles will burn this whole week.

The Advent Sundays are a time for families to gather together. Where there are young children in a family, there could be singing of the traditional Advent songs in the afternoon, perhaps with a taste of the cookies that are being baked in preparation of Christmas. When we were small, my mother often read a story. These stories were not like those she read all year. These were stories to think about. Let me share a story with you today about a family and the Carp*. I am retelling it as I heard it ? it is another one of those I have not seen in print myself.

*Note: In many regions of the old Austro-Hungarian Empire the traditional Christmas Eve meal is a carp.

There was once a father who lived with his two boys in a little house at the edge of the village. His wife had died some years before, and now the little family had fallen upon hard times. The father did every possible kind of work he was offered, and both sons helped as much as they could. During Advent, they tried to earn a little more because they were bound and determined to make Christmas a special day, the way it had been when their mother was still alive. There was no thought of presents. What they hoped for was enough wood to heat their little house well on Christmas Eve, and something good to eat.

The younger brother took on the task of gathering wood. He chopped wood for the neighbors, and asked for a few sticks every time he chopped. The little woodpile at home was growing!

The older brother decided he wanted to earn enough money to buy a carp. This would be his surprise for all of them on Christmas Eve. With a carp to eat and a nice warm house it would be almost like old times, when their mother was still alive. He kept a sharp eye out for people who bought a Christmas tree, and always offered to carry it home for them. This brought a few coins each time. If he helped someone carry his parcels and packages home, this brought a little money too. And so, by diligent hard work, he managed to earn enough to by a carp a few days before Christmas. The shopkeeper who sold him the carp said he should take it home alive. That way it would be as fresh as possible when it came time to eat it. So the boy ran home and got a bucket. The carp was duly installed in the bucket with a little water, and he carried it home.

Now, he could not make a secret of a living carp. There was no way he could hide it! Both his father and his brother saw right away what he had brought home. His father said the carp could not stay in the bucket. It was already looking a bit sad as it was, just from the trip home. The bucket was so small! So they decided to put the carp in the bathtub. They poured it into the tub and added more water, till it could swim around a bit. It was looking happier already!

For the next few days the carp swam around in the bathtub. They would stop and admire it, and talk about how good it would be, fried in a little fat and served with the potatoes they had every day. Finally it was Christmas Eve. All morning the boys cleaned up the house. They scrubbed the floor and washed the two small windows that looked out on the street. Everything should be perfect by the time their father came home.

In the afternoon, they put up the little Christmas tree their father had brought home. It was a gift from the man he had been working for the last few days. A drawer yielded a few candle stumps to fasten to the biggest boughs, and in a box they found the ornaments their mother had used so long ago. How nice everything looked! The father praised his sons and told them how proud he was of them for all their hard work. Then they all went and looked in the tub.

There was the carp, swimming around happily. Silently they stood together, watching it. The silence grew long. Finally the father cleared his throat. ?Well boys,? he said, ?I guess it?s time to? ?

?No Papa, don?t do it!? interrupted the boys. ?He looks so nice, swimming around, and he is so happy to be alive!?

They looked at each other. Finally the older son said, ?Today is Christmas Eve. We could give this carp as a present to the Christ child. We could put it back in the river!?

That is exactly what they did. Back into the bucket went the carp, and they took turns carrying it to the river.

Then they set it free.

Time now for the Advent Calendar. Here is the 9.