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Speaker 1: The Christmas Fairy of Strasbourg by J. Stirling Coyne, a

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German folk tale. Once long ago there lived near the

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ancient city of Strasbourg on the River Rhine, a young

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and handsome count whose name was Otto. As the years

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flew by, he remained unwed and never so much cast

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a glance at the fair maidens of the country round.

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For this reason people began to call him stone Heart.

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A chance that Count Otto, on one Christmas Eve, ordered

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that a great hunt should take place in the forests

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surrounding his castle. He and his guests and his many

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retainers rode forth, and the chase became more and more exciting.

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It led through thickets and over pathless tracts of forest,

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until at length Count Otto found himself separated from his companions.

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He rode on by himself until he came to a

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spring of clear, bubbling water, known to the people around

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as the fairy Well. Here Count Otto dismounted. He bent

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over the spring and began to lay his hands in

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the sparkling tide. But to his wonder he found that

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though the weather was cold and frosty, the water was

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warm and delightfully caressing. He felt a glow of joy

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passed through his veins, and as he plunged his hands deeper,

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he fancied that his right hand was grasped by another,

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soft and small, which gently slipped from his finger, the

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gold ring he always wore, and lo when he drew

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out his hand, the gold ring was gone. Full of

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wonder at this mysterious event, the count mounted his horse

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and returned to his castle, resolving in his mind that

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the very next day he would have the very well

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emptied by his servants. He retired to his room, and,

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throwing himself just as he was upon his couch, tried

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to sleep, but the strangeness of the adventure kept him

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restless and wakeful. Suddenly he heard the horse baying of

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the watchhounds in the courtyard, and then the creaking of

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the drawbridge, as though it were being lowered. Then came

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to his ear the patter of many small feet on

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the stone staircase, and next he heard indistinctly the sound

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of light footsteps in the chamber adjoining his own. Count

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Otto sprung from his couch, and as he did so,

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there sounded a strain of delicious music, and the door

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of his chamber was flung open. Hurrying into the next room,

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he found himself in the midst of numberless fairy beings

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clad in gay and sparkling robes. They paid no heed

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to him, but begun to dance and laugh and sing

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to the sound of mysterious music. In the center of

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the apartment stood a splendid Christmas tree, the first ever

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seen in that country. Instead of toys and candles, there

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hung on its lighted boughs, diamond stars, pearl necklaces, bracelets

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of gold ornamented with colored jewels, argarets of rubies and sapphires,

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silken belts embroidered with oriental pearls, and daggers, mounted in gold,

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and studded with the rarest gems. The whole tree swayed, sparkled,

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and glittered in the radiance of its many lights. Count

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Otto stood speechless, gazing at all this wonder when suddenly

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the fairies stopped dancing and fell back to make room

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for a lady of dazzling beauty, who came slowly toward him.

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She wore on her raven black dresses, a golden diadem

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set with jewels. Her hair flowed down upon a robe

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of rosy satin and creamy velvet. She stretched out two

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small white hands to the Count and addressed him in sweet,

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alluring tones. Dear Count Otto, said she, I come to

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return your Christmas visit. I am Ernestine, the Queen of

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the Fairies. I bring you something you lost in the

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fairy well. And as she spoke, she drew from her

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bosom a golden casket set with diamonds, and placed it

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in his hands. He opened it eagerly and found within

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his lost gold ring. Carried away by the wonder of

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it all, and overcome by an irresistible impulse, the Count

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pressed the fairy Ernestine to his heart, while she, holding

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him by the hand, drew him into the magic mazes

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of the dance. The mysterious music floated through the room,

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and the rest of that fairy company circled and whirled

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around the fairy queen and Count Otto, and then gradually

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dissolved into a mist of many colors, leaving the Count

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and his beautiful guest alone. Then the young man, forgetting

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all his former coldness towards the maidens of the country

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under Bout, fell on his knees before the fairy and

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besought her to become his bride. At last, She consented

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on the condition that he should never speak the word

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death in her presence. The next day, the wedding of

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Count Otto and ernest Steine, Queen of the Fairies, was

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celebrated with great pomp and magnificence, and the two continued

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to live happily for many years. Now. It happened on

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a time that the Count and his fairy wife were

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to hunt in the forest around the castle. The horses

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were saddled and bridled, and standing at the door. The

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company waited, and the Count paced the hall in great impatience,

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But still Fairy Ernestine tarried long in her chamber. At

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length she appeared at the door of the hall, and

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the Count addressed her in anger. You have kept us

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waiting so long, He cried, that you would make a

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good messenger to send for death. Scarcely had he spoken

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the forbidden and fatal word, when the fairy, uttering a

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wild cry, vanished from his sight. In vain, Count Otto,

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overwhelmed with grief and remorse, searched the castle and the

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fairy well. No trace could he find of his beautiful

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lost wife, but the imprint of her delicate hand set

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in the stone arc above the castle gate years passed by,

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and the fairy Ernestine did not return. The count continued

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to breathe. Every Christmas Eve, he set up a lighted

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tree in the room where he had first met the fairy,

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hoping in vain that she would return to him. Time

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passed and the Count died. The castle fell into ruins,

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but to this day may be seen above the massive gate,

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deeply sunken in the stone ark the impress of a

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small and delicate hand, And such say the good folk

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of Strasbourg, was the origin of the Christmas Tree. End

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of the Christmas Fairy of Strasbourg by jas Sterling Coyne