Book 3 26. CHRISTMAS Little House On The Prairie By Laura Ingalls Wilder

[Music]

christmas

for a long time it seemed that christmas

would never come

on christmas uncle andrew and aunt delia

uncle wesley and aunt lindy and all the

cousins were coming to dinner

it would be the best dinner of the whole

year and a good boy might get something

in a stocking

bad boys found nothing but switches in

their stockings on christmas morning

almanzo tried to be good for so long

that he could hardly stand the strain

but at last it was the day before

christmas

and alice and royal and eliza jane were

home again

the girls were cleaning the whole house

and mother was baking

royal helped father with the threshing

but almanzo had to help in the house

he remembered the switch and tried to be

willing and cheerful

he had to scour the steel knives and

forks

and polish the silver he had to wear an

apron around his neck

he took the scouring brick and scraped a

pile of red dust off it

and then with a wet cloth he rubbed the

dust

up and down on the knives and forks

the kitchen was full of delicious smells

newly baked bread was cooling frosted

cakes and cookies

and mince pies and pumpkin pies filled

the pantry shelves

cranberries bubbled on the stove mother

was making dressing for the goose

outdoors the sun was shining on the snow

the icicles twinkled all along the eaves

far away sleigh bells faintly jingled

and from the barns came the joyful

thud thud third thud

of the flails but when all the steel

knives and forks were done

almanzo soberly polished the silver

then he had to run to the attic for sage

he had to run down cellar for apples and

upstairs again for onions

he filled the wood box he hurried in the

cold to fetch water from the pump

he thought maybe he was through then

anyway for a minute

but no he had to polish the dining room

side of the stove

do the parlor side yourself eliza jane

mother said

almanzo might spill the blacking

almanzo’s insides quaked

he knew what would happen if mother knew

about that black splotch hidden on the

parlor wall

he didn’t want to get a switch in his

christmas stocking but he would far

rather find a switch there than have

father take him to the woodshed

that night everyone was tired and the

house was so clean and neat that nobody

dared touch

anything after supper mother put the

stuffed

fat goose and the little pig into the

heater’s oven

to roast slowly all night father set

the dampers and wound the clock

almanzo and royal hung clean socks on

the back of a chair

and alice and eliza jane hung stockings

on the back of another chair then they

all took candles

and went to bed it was still dark when

almanzo woke up

he felt excited and then he remembered

that this was christmas morning

he jerked back the covers and jumped

onto something alive that squirmed

it was royal he had forgotten that royal

was there

but he scrambled over him yelling

christmas

christmas merry christmas

he pulled his trousers over his night

shirt royal jumped out of bed and

lighted the candle

almanzo grabbed the candle and royal

shouted i

leave that bee where’s my pants but

almanzo was already running downstairs

alice and eliza jane were flying from

their room but almanzo beat them

he saw his sock hanging all lumpy he sat

down the candle and grabbed a sock

the first thing he pulled out was a cap

a button cap the plaid cloth was machine

woven

so was the lining even the sewing was

machine

sewing and the earmuffs were buttoned

over the top

almanzo yelled he had not even hoped for

such a cap

he looked at it inside and out he felt

the cloth

and the sleek lining he put the cap on

his head

it was a little large because he was

growing

so he could wear it a long time eliza

jane and alice were digging into their

stockings and squealing

and royal had a silk muffler

almanzo thrust his hand into a sock

again

and pulled out a nickel’s worth of

whorehound candy

he bit off the end of one stick the

outside

melted like maple sugar but the inside

was

hard and could be sucked for hours then

he pulled out a new pair of mittens

mother had knit their wrists and backs

in a fancy stitch

he pulled out an orange and he pulled

out

a little package of dried figs and he

thought that was all

he thought no boy ever had a better

christmas

but in the toe of the sock there was

still something more

it was small and thin and

hard almanzo couldn’t imagine what it

was

he pulled it out and it was a jackknife

it had four blades almanzo

yelled and yelled he snapped all the

blades open

sharp and shining and he yelled alice

look look royal

lucky look at my jackknife look at my

calf

father’s voice came out of the dark

bedroom and said

look at the clock they all looked at one

another then royal held up the candle

and they looked at the tall clock

its hands pointed to half past three

even eliza jane did not know what to do

they had waked up father and mother an

hour

and a half before time to get up

what time is it father asked almanzo

looked at royal

royal and almanzo looked at eliza jane

eliza jane swallowed and opened her

mouth

but alice said merry christmas father

merry christmas mother it’s it’s 30

minutes to four

father the clock said

tick tock tick

tuck tick then father chuckled

royal opened the dampers of the heater

and eliza jane stirred up the kitchen

fire and put the cattle on

the house was warm and cozy when father

and mother got up

and they had a whole hour to spare there

was time to enjoy the presents

alice had a gold locket and eliza jane

had a pair of garnet earrings

mother had knitted new lace collars and

black lace mitts for them both

royal had the silk muffler and a fine

leather wallet

but almanzo thought he had the best

presents of all

it was a wonderful christmas

then mother began to hurry and to hurry

everyone else

there were the chores to do the milk to

skim the new milk to strain and put away

breakfast to eat vegetables to be peeled

and the whole house must be put in order

and everybody dressed up

before the company came the sun rushed

up the sky

mother was everywhere talking all the

time

almanzo wash your ears goodness mercy

royal don’t stand around underfoot

eliza jane remember you’re pairing those

potatoes not slicing them and don’t

leave so many eyes they can see to jump

out of the pot

count the silvery alice and piece it out

with the steel knives and forks

the best bleach tablecloths are on the

bottom shelf oh mercy honest look at

that clock

sleigh bells came jingling up the road

and mother slammed the oven door and ran

to change her apron

and pin on her brooch alice ran

downstairs

and eliza jane ran upstairs both of them

told almanzo

to straighten his collar father was

calling mother to fold his cravat

then uncle wesley’s sleigh stopped with

a last

clash of bells almanzo ran out

whooping and father and mother came

behind him

as calm as if they had never hurried in

their lives

frank and fred and abner and mary

tumbled out of the sleigh

all bundled up and before aunt lindy

handed mother the baby

uncle andrew’s slave was coming the yard

was full of boys

and the house filled with hoop skirts

the uncle stamped snow off their boots

and unwound their mufflers

royal and cousin james drove the sleighs

into the buggy house

they unhitched the horses and put them

in the stalls

and rubbed down their snowy legs

almanzo was wearing his bottom cap and

he showed the cousins his jackknife

frank’s cap was old now he had a

jackknife but it only had three blades

then almanzo showed his cousin star and

bright

and the little bobsled and he let them

scratch lucy’s fat

white back with corn cobs he said they

could look at starlight

if they’d be quiet and not scare him the

beautiful colt

twitched his tail and came daintily

stepping toward them

then he tossed his head and shied away

from frank’s hand

thrust through the bars you leave him be

almanzo said i bet you don’t dest go in

there and get on his back

said frank i dast but i got better sense

almanzo told him i know better than to

spoil that fine cult

how did spoil him frank said yeah

you’re scared he’d hurt you you’re

scared of that little bitty cult

i am not scared said almanzo

but father won’t let me i guess i’d do

it if i wanted to

if i was you i guess your father

wouldn’t know

frank said almanzo didn’t answer

and frank got up on the bars of the

stall you got

down off there almanzo said and he took

hold of frank’s leg

don’t you scare that colt i’ll scare him

if i want to frank said

kicking almanzo hung on starlight was

running around and around the stall

and almanzo wanted to yell for royal but

he knew that would frighten starlight

even more

he set his teeth and gave a mighty tug

and frank came tumbling down all the

horses jumped

and starlight reared and smashed against

the manger

i’ll lick you for that frank said

scrambling up

you just try and lick me said almanzo

royal came hurrying from the south barn

he took almanzo and frank by the

shoulders and marched them outdoors

fred and abner and john came silently

after them and almanzo’s knees

wobbled he was afraid royal would tell

father

let me catch you boys fooling around

those cults again

royal said and i’ll tell father and

uncle wesley

you’ll get the hides thrashed off you

royal shook almanzo so hard that he

couldn’t tell how hard royal was shaking

frank

then he knocked her heads together

almanzo saw stars

let that teach you to fight on christmas

day

for shame royal said

i only didn’t want him to scare

starlight almanzo

said shut up said royal don’t be a

tattletale

now you behave yourselves or you’ll wish

ahead go wash your hands it’s dinner

time

they all went into the kitchen and

washed their hands

mother and the aunts and the girl

cousins were taking up the christmas

dinner

the dining table had been turned around

and pulled out till it was almost as

long as the dining room

and every inch of it was loaded with

good things to eat

almanzo bowed his head and shut his eyes

tight

while father said the blessing it was a

long blessing

because this was christmas day but at

last almanzo could open his eyes

he sat and silently looked at that table

he looked at the crisp crackling little

pig lying on the blue platter

with an apple in its mouth he looked at

the fat roast goose

the drumstick sticking up and the edges

of dressing curling out

the sound of father’s knife sharpening

on the whetstone made him even hungrier

he looked at the big bowl of cranberry

jelly

and at the fluffy mountain of mashed

potatoes with

melting butter trickling down it he

looked at the heap of mashed turnips

and the golden baked squash and the pale

fried parsnips he swallowed hard

and tried not to look anymore he

couldn’t help seeing the fried apples

and onions

and the candied carrots he couldn’t help

gazing at the triangles of pie

waiting by his plate the spicy pumpkin

pie

the melting cream pie the rich

dark mints oozing from between the mince

pie’s flaky crusts

he squeezed his hands together between

his knees

he had to sit silent and wait but he

felt

aching and hollow inside all grown-ups

at the head of the table must be served

first

they were passing their plates and

talking and heartlessly laughing

the tender pork fell away in slices

under father’s carving knife

the white breast of the goose went piece

by piece from the bare

breast bone spoons ate up the clear

cranberry jelly and gouged deep into the

mashed potatoes and

ladled away the brown gravies almanzo

had to wait

to the very last he was the youngest of

all

except abner and the babies and abner

was company

at last almanzo’s plate was filled

the first taste made a pleasant feeling

inside him

and it grew and grew well he ate

and ate an eight he ate till he could

eat no more

and he felt very good inside for a while

he slowly nibbled bits from his second

piece of fruitcake then he put the

fruity slice in his pocket

and went out to play royal and james

were choosing sides to play snowfort

royal chose frank and james chose

almanzo

when everyone was chosen they all went

to work rolling snowballs through the

deep drifts by the barn

they rolled till the balls were almost

as tall as almanzo

then they rolled them into a wall they

packed snow between them

and made a good fort then each side made

its own little snowballs

they breathed on the snow and squeezed

it solid

they made dozens of hard snowballs when

they were ready for the fight

royal threw a stick into the air and

caught it when it came down

james took hold of the stick above

royal’s hand then royal took hold of it

above james’s hand and so on to the end

of the stick

james’s hand was last so james’s side

had the fort

how the snowballs flew almanzo ducked

and dodged and yelled and threw

snowballs as fast as he could till they

were all gone

royal came charging over the wall with

all the enemy after him

and almanzo rose up and grabbed frank

headlong they went into the deep snow

outside the wall

and they rolled over and over hitting

each other as hard as they could

almanzo’s face was covered with snow and

his mouth was full of it

but he hung on to frank and kept hitting

him

frank got him down but almanzo squirmed

out from under

frank’s head hit his nose and it began

to bleed

almanzo didn’t care he was on top of

frank hitting him as hard as he could in

the deep snow he kept saying

how enough holler enough frank grunted

and squirmed

he rolled half over and almanzo got on

top of him

he couldn’t stay on top of frank and hit

him so he bore down with all his weight

and he pushed frank’s face deeper and

deeper into the snow

and frank gasped enough

almanzo got up on his knees and he saw a

mother in the doorway of the house

she called boys boys stop playing now

it’s time to come in and warm

they were warm they were hot and panting

but mother and the aunts thought the

cousins must get warm before they rode

home in the cold

they all went tramping in covered with

snow

and mother held up her hands and

exclaimed

mercy on us the grown-ups were in the

parlor

but the boys had to stay in the dining

room so they wouldn’t melt on the parlor

carpet

they couldn’t sit down because the

chairs were covered with blankets and

lap robes

warming by the heater but they ate

apples and drank cider standing around

and almanzo and abner went into the

pantry and ate bits off the platters

then uncles and aunts and the girl

cousins put on their wraps

and they brought the sleeping babies

from the bedroom rolled up in shawls

the sleighs came jingling from the barn

and father and mother helped tuck in the

blankets and lap robes

over the hoop skirts everybody called

goodbye goodbye

the music of the sleigh bells came back

for a little while

then it was gone christmas was over