Speaker 1: The Christmas Fairy of Strasbourg by J. Stirling Coyne, a
German folk tale. Once long ago there lived near the
ancient city of Strasbourg on the River Rhine, a young
and handsome count whose name was Otto. As the years
flew by, he remained unwed and never so much cast
a glance at the fair maidens of the country round.
For this reason people began to call him stone Heart.
A chance that Count Otto, on one Christmas Eve, ordered
that a great hunt should take place in the forests
surrounding his castle. He and his guests and his many
retainers rode forth, and the chase became more and more exciting.
It led through thickets and over pathless tracts of forest,
until at length Count Otto found himself separated from his companions.
He rode on by himself until he came to a
spring of clear, bubbling water, known to the people around
as the fairy Well. Here Count Otto dismounted. He bent
over the spring and began to lay his hands in
the sparkling tide. But to his wonder he found that
though the weather was cold and frosty, the water was
warm and delightfully caressing. He felt a glow of joy
passed through his veins, and as he plunged his hands deeper,
he fancied that his right hand was grasped by another,
soft and small, which gently slipped from his finger, the
gold ring he always wore, and lo when he drew
out his hand, the gold ring was gone. Full of
wonder at this mysterious event, the count mounted his horse
and returned to his castle, resolving in his mind that
the very next day he would have the very well
emptied by his servants. He retired to his room, and,
throwing himself just as he was upon his couch, tried
to sleep, but the strangeness of the adventure kept him
restless and wakeful. Suddenly he heard the horse baying of
the watchhounds in the courtyard, and then the creaking of
the drawbridge, as though it were being lowered. Then came
to his ear the patter of many small feet on
the stone staircase, and next he heard indistinctly the sound
of light footsteps in the chamber adjoining his own. Count
Otto sprung from his couch, and as he did so,
there sounded a strain of delicious music, and the door
of his chamber was flung open. Hurrying into the next room,
he found himself in the midst of numberless fairy beings
clad in gay and sparkling robes. They paid no heed
to him, but begun to dance and laugh and sing
to the sound of mysterious music. In the center of
the apartment stood a splendid Christmas tree, the first ever
seen in that country. Instead of toys and candles, there
hung on its lighted boughs, diamond stars, pearl necklaces, bracelets
of gold ornamented with colored jewels, argarets of rubies and sapphires,
silken belts embroidered with oriental pearls, and daggers, mounted in gold,
and studded with the rarest gems. The whole tree swayed, sparkled,
and glittered in the radiance of its many lights. Count
Otto stood speechless, gazing at all this wonder when suddenly
the fairies stopped dancing and fell back to make room
for a lady of dazzling beauty, who came slowly toward him.
She wore on her raven black dresses, a golden diadem
set with jewels. Her hair flowed down upon a robe
of rosy satin and creamy velvet. She stretched out two
small white hands to the Count and addressed him in sweet,
alluring tones. Dear Count Otto, said she, I come to
return your Christmas visit. I am Ernestine, the Queen of
the Fairies. I bring you something you lost in the
fairy well. And as she spoke, she drew from her
bosom a golden casket set with diamonds, and placed it
in his hands. He opened it eagerly and found within
his lost gold ring. Carried away by the wonder of
it all, and overcome by an irresistible impulse, the Count
pressed the fairy Ernestine to his heart, while she, holding
him by the hand, drew him into the magic mazes
of the dance. The mysterious music floated through the room,
and the rest of that fairy company circled and whirled
around the fairy queen and Count Otto, and then gradually
dissolved into a mist of many colors, leaving the Count
and his beautiful guest alone. Then the young man, forgetting
all his former coldness towards the maidens of the country
under Bout, fell on his knees before the fairy and
besought her to become his bride. At last, She consented
on the condition that he should never speak the word
death in her presence. The next day, the wedding of
Count Otto and ernest Steine, Queen of the Fairies, was
celebrated with great pomp and magnificence, and the two continued
to live happily for many years. Now. It happened on
a time that the Count and his fairy wife were
to hunt in the forest around the castle. The horses
were saddled and bridled, and standing at the door. The
company waited, and the Count paced the hall in great impatience,
But still Fairy Ernestine tarried long in her chamber. At
length she appeared at the door of the hall, and
the Count addressed her in anger. You have kept us
waiting so long, He cried, that you would make a
good messenger to send for death. Scarcely had he spoken
the forbidden and fatal word, when the fairy, uttering a
wild cry, vanished from his sight. In vain, Count Otto,
overwhelmed with grief and remorse, searched the castle and the
fairy well. No trace could he find of his beautiful
lost wife, but the imprint of her delicate hand set
in the stone arc above the castle gate years passed by,
and the fairy Ernestine did not return. The count continued
to breathe. Every Christmas Eve, he set up a lighted
tree in the room where he had first met the fairy,
hoping in vain that she would return to him. Time
passed and the Count died. The castle fell into ruins,
but to this day may be seen above the massive gate,
deeply sunken in the stone ark the impress of a
small and delicate hand, And such say the good folk
of Strasbourg, was the origin of the Christmas Tree. End
of the Christmas Fairy of Strasbourg by jas Sterling Coyne