Chanukah Story
David Albert
One of you asked me to share my Chanukah story again. We've told and
retold it in my household since the kids were small, and we've also
turned it into a puppet theatre production. So we'll tell it again
tomorrow night. Here goes:
ANOTHER CHANUKAH STORY
Once upon a time and space -- for a time without a space is like a nose
without a face -- at the far northern edge of the town, which was at the
far northern edge of the county, which was at the far northern end of
the country, at the far northern edge of the continent, at the far
northern end of the northernmost world, there lived a very poor family
consisting of a mother, a father, eight children (4 boys and 4 girls),
and an old cow. In the cold, northern winters they didn't have much to
eat, or enough fuel for the fire to keep warm, and they couldn't afford
electricity. Still, they were happy enough, and kept themselves happy
by singing together every evening.
One cold and windy day in darkest December, the youngest daughter met an
old, shrivelled woman at the northern end of the town square. The old
woman was wearing a tattered dark brown cloak that covered her whole
body and which she drew up over her head. The old woman complained that
she had no place to stay and nothing to eat. "Come home with me," said
the girl, "we don't have much, but I'm sure we'll share what we have.
And so they went home together. The family welcomed the old woman, even
though there wasn't much in the pantry to eat. (In fact, they were so
poor, they didn't even have a pantry.) They had a bunch of potatoes
which had lots of black spots in them, so they cut out the black spots
and made potato pancakes. They had a bag of wormy apples, so they cut
out the worms and made applesauce. The old cow gave nothing but sour
milk, so with their potato pancakes and applesauce they had sour cream.
It gets dark early in deep December and the house had no electricity, so
the father went to the candle box, but found only one small candle
left. The father lit the last candle, and the family gathered around
the table to sing songs for the old woman, and also for themselves.
They music was beautiful, and somehow the light of the candle seemed
brighter as the family sang. Soon, one by one, first the children, and
then the mother and father drifted off to sleep in the old family bed,
where they huddled together with the old cow to keep warm. The old
woman slept in the old armchair by the table.
The next day when they got up, they were all surprised to see that the
candle was still lit. In the evening, they gathered together again to
eat their dinner of potato pancakes and applesauce and sour cream, and
to sing songs around the table. And as the singing seemed to get more
and more beautiful, the old woman seemed less shrivelled. And people
began to gather outside to hear the singing, their noses pressed against
the one small window.
And so it went. Every evening, the family ate their poor dinner of
potato pancakes and applesauce and sour cream, and sang around the
table, their faces and the one small candle still shining brightly. And
the crowds around the window grew larger and larger.
On the eighth day, there was a knock on the door. It was Mayor Mayer
(the mayor of the town) who, having heard and liked the singing so much,
offered the family a job singing at city hall. But at that, the old
woman stood up and took off her tattered cloak. Underneath she was
wearing a robe made of gold. She reached into her pocket and took out a
small crown of rich red rubies and placed it on the little girl's head,
and out of her cloak she brought a bale of fresh green grass for the old
cow.
"I was hungry and tired and you took me in," she said, "and it gave you
such joy to do it. I have a castle where any tired travellers, rich or
poor, can stop and have a meal and spend the night. And since you have
been able to make the poorest fare seem like a feast, I want you to come
to my castle and take charge of the food, and the singing, and the
hospitality. And bring the cow!"
And they did. And to this day we celebrate the family which made a
feast out of the poorest fare of potato pancakes and applesauce, and the
cow who could only give sour milk, and the one small candle which stayed
lit for eight days by the light of their singing.
-- David H. Albert
Copyright 1991, 1997.
---------
I want to thank everyone who has responded so far to my Thanksgiving
Appeal to help people build their own cyclone-proof housing in coastal
South India. The response has been great, and I have received about
$1500 so far towards a goal (by January 20th) of $5400. Every little
bit helps!
To repeat what I wrote previously, make checks payable to The Gandhian
Foundation, and send to:
David Albert
Skylark Sings
1717 18th Court NE
Olympia, WA 98506
Contributions are tax deductible. Please feel free to share my appeal
with others -- if you need another copy, just e-mail me. Thanks again!
David
--
John Taylor Gatto calls "And the Skylark Sings with Me: Adventures in
Homeschooling and Community-Based Education" "a treat you should not
miss!" To read a sample chapter, reviewers' comments, or the foreword,
and to order (cheaper than Amazon, and I'll sign it for you too!), visit
my website at http://www.skylarksings.com
retold it in my household since the kids were small, and we've also
turned it into a puppet theatre production. So we'll tell it again
tomorrow night. Here goes:
ANOTHER CHANUKAH STORY
Once upon a time and space -- for a time without a space is like a nose
without a face -- at the far northern edge of the town, which was at the
far northern edge of the county, which was at the far northern end of
the country, at the far northern edge of the continent, at the far
northern end of the northernmost world, there lived a very poor family
consisting of a mother, a father, eight children (4 boys and 4 girls),
and an old cow. In the cold, northern winters they didn't have much to
eat, or enough fuel for the fire to keep warm, and they couldn't afford
electricity. Still, they were happy enough, and kept themselves happy
by singing together every evening.
One cold and windy day in darkest December, the youngest daughter met an
old, shrivelled woman at the northern end of the town square. The old
woman was wearing a tattered dark brown cloak that covered her whole
body and which she drew up over her head. The old woman complained that
she had no place to stay and nothing to eat. "Come home with me," said
the girl, "we don't have much, but I'm sure we'll share what we have.
And so they went home together. The family welcomed the old woman, even
though there wasn't much in the pantry to eat. (In fact, they were so
poor, they didn't even have a pantry.) They had a bunch of potatoes
which had lots of black spots in them, so they cut out the black spots
and made potato pancakes. They had a bag of wormy apples, so they cut
out the worms and made applesauce. The old cow gave nothing but sour
milk, so with their potato pancakes and applesauce they had sour cream.
It gets dark early in deep December and the house had no electricity, so
the father went to the candle box, but found only one small candle
left. The father lit the last candle, and the family gathered around
the table to sing songs for the old woman, and also for themselves.
They music was beautiful, and somehow the light of the candle seemed
brighter as the family sang. Soon, one by one, first the children, and
then the mother and father drifted off to sleep in the old family bed,
where they huddled together with the old cow to keep warm. The old
woman slept in the old armchair by the table.
The next day when they got up, they were all surprised to see that the
candle was still lit. In the evening, they gathered together again to
eat their dinner of potato pancakes and applesauce and sour cream, and
to sing songs around the table. And as the singing seemed to get more
and more beautiful, the old woman seemed less shrivelled. And people
began to gather outside to hear the singing, their noses pressed against
the one small window.
And so it went. Every evening, the family ate their poor dinner of
potato pancakes and applesauce and sour cream, and sang around the
table, their faces and the one small candle still shining brightly. And
the crowds around the window grew larger and larger.
On the eighth day, there was a knock on the door. It was Mayor Mayer
(the mayor of the town) who, having heard and liked the singing so much,
offered the family a job singing at city hall. But at that, the old
woman stood up and took off her tattered cloak. Underneath she was
wearing a robe made of gold. She reached into her pocket and took out a
small crown of rich red rubies and placed it on the little girl's head,
and out of her cloak she brought a bale of fresh green grass for the old
cow.
"I was hungry and tired and you took me in," she said, "and it gave you
such joy to do it. I have a castle where any tired travellers, rich or
poor, can stop and have a meal and spend the night. And since you have
been able to make the poorest fare seem like a feast, I want you to come
to my castle and take charge of the food, and the singing, and the
hospitality. And bring the cow!"
And they did. And to this day we celebrate the family which made a
feast out of the poorest fare of potato pancakes and applesauce, and the
cow who could only give sour milk, and the one small candle which stayed
lit for eight days by the light of their singing.
-- David H. Albert
Copyright 1991, 1997.
---------
I want to thank everyone who has responded so far to my Thanksgiving
Appeal to help people build their own cyclone-proof housing in coastal
South India. The response has been great, and I have received about
$1500 so far towards a goal (by January 20th) of $5400. Every little
bit helps!
To repeat what I wrote previously, make checks payable to The Gandhian
Foundation, and send to:
David Albert
Skylark Sings
1717 18th Court NE
Olympia, WA 98506
Contributions are tax deductible. Please feel free to share my appeal
with others -- if you need another copy, just e-mail me. Thanks again!
David
--
John Taylor Gatto calls "And the Skylark Sings with Me: Adventures in
Homeschooling and Community-Based Education" "a treat you should not
miss!" To read a sample chapter, reviewers' comments, or the foreword,
and to order (cheaper than Amazon, and I'll sign it for you too!), visit
my website at http://www.skylarksings.com
[email protected]
Thanks for sharing that, David! It inspired me to tell a bedtime story
to Lisa about a Teddy Bear who lived so far north that he was north of
the north pole. (And of course, she was in the story)
Mary Ellen
Seek joy in what you give, not in what you get.
___________________________________________________________________
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to Lisa about a Teddy Bear who lived so far north that he was north of
the north pole. (And of course, she was in the story)
Mary Ellen
Seek joy in what you give, not in what you get.
___________________________________________________________________
Why pay more to get Web access?
Try Juno for FREE -- then it's just $9.95/month if you act NOW!
Get your free software today: http://dl.www.juno.com/dynoget/tagj.
David Albert
You're welcome!
David
megates@... wrote:
John Taylor Gatto calls "And the Skylark Sings with Me: Adventures in
Homeschooling and Community-Based Education" "a treat you should not
miss!" To read a sample chapter, reviewers' comments, or the foreword,
and to order (cheaper than Amazon, and I'll sign it for you too!), visit
my website at http://www.skylarksings.com
David
megates@... wrote:
> From: megates@...--
>
> Thanks for sharing that, David! It inspired me to tell a bedtime
> story
> to Lisa about a Teddy Bear who lived so far north that he was north of
>
> the north pole. (And of course, she was in the story)
> Mary Ellen
> Seek joy in what you give, not in what you get.
>
> ___________________________________________________________________
> Why pay more to get Web access?
> Try Juno for FREE -- then it's just $9.95/month if you act NOW!
> Get your free software today: http://dl.www.juno.com/dynoget/tagj.
>
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John Taylor Gatto calls "And the Skylark Sings with Me: Adventures in
Homeschooling and Community-Based Education" "a treat you should not
miss!" To read a sample chapter, reviewers' comments, or the foreword,
and to order (cheaper than Amazon, and I'll sign it for you too!), visit
my website at http://www.skylarksings.com