“There are holidays that have their own smell. At Easter, Trinity and Christmas there is something special in the air. Even non-believers love these holidays. My brother, for example, interprets that there is no God, and on Easter he is the first to run to matins” (A.P. Chekhov, story “On the Way”).
Orthodox Christmas is just around the corner! The celebration of this bright day (and even several - Christmastide) is associated with many interesting traditions. In Rus', it was customary to devote this period to serving one’s neighbor and deeds of mercy. Everyone knows the tradition of caroling - singing chants in honor of the born Christ. Winter holidays inspired many writers to create magical Christmas works.
There is even special genre Christmas story. The plots in it are very close to each other: often the heroes of Christmas works find themselves in a state of spiritual or material crisis, the resolution of which requires a miracle. Christmas stories are imbued with light and hope, and only a few of them have a sad ending. Especially often, Christmas stories are dedicated to the triumph of mercy, compassion and love.
Especially for you, dear readers, we have prepared a selection of the best Christmas stories, both Russian and foreign writers. Read and enjoy, let festive mood will last longer!
"The Gift of the Magi", O. Henry
A well-known story about sacrificial love, which will give everything for the happiness of its neighbor. A story about trembling feelings that cannot but surprise and delight. In the finale, the author ironically remarks: “And here I told you nothing remarkable history about two stupid kids from an eight-dollar apartment who, in the most unwise way, sacrificed theirs for each other greatest treasures" But the author does not make excuses, he only confirms that the gifts of his heroes were more important than the gifts of the Magi: “But let it be said for the edification of the sages of our days that of all the givers these two were the wisest. Of all those who offer and receive gifts, only those like them are truly wise. Everywhere and everywhere. They are the Magi." As Joseph Brodsky said, “at Christmas everyone is a little wise man.”
“Nikolka”, Evgeniy Poselyanin
The plot of this Christmas story is very simple. At Christmas, the stepmother acted very meanly to her stepson; he should have died. At the Christmas service, a woman experiences belated repentance. But on a bright holiday night a miracle happens...
By the way, Evgeny Poselyanin has wonderful memories of his childhood experience of Christmas - “Yule Days”. You read and you are immersed in the pre-revolutionary atmosphere noble estates, childhood and joy.
"A Christmas Carol", Charles Dickens
Dickens's work is the story of a person's true spiritual rebirth. Main character, Scrooge, was a miser, became a merciful benefactor, and turned from a lone wolf into a sociable and friendly person. And this change was helped by the spirits who flew to him and showed him his possible future. Watching different situations from his past and future, the hero felt remorse for his wrong life.
“The Boy at Christ’s Christmas Tree”, F. M. Dostoevsky
A touching story with a sad (and joyful at the same time) ending. I doubt whether it is worth reading to children, especially sensitive ones. But for adults, perhaps it’s worth it. For what? I would answer with the words of Chekhov: “It is necessary that behind the door of everyone there is a happy happy person someone would stand with a hammer and constantly remind him by knocking that there are unfortunate people, that, no matter how happy he is, life will sooner or later show him its claws, trouble will happen - illness, poverty, losses, and no one will see him or will hear, as now he does not see or hear others.”
Dostoevsky included it in the “Diary of a Writer” and he himself was surprised how this story came out of his pen. And the author’s writer’s intuition tells him that this could very well happen in reality. Like tragic story The main sad storyteller of all times, H. H. Andersen, also has it - “The Little Match Girl”.
"Gifts of the Christ Child" by George MacDonald
The story of a young family going through difficult times in their relationships, difficulties with a nanny, and alienation from their daughter. The last one is the sensitive, lonely girl Sophie (or Fosi). It was through her that joy and light returned to the house. The story emphasizes: the main gifts of Christ are not gifts under the tree, but love, peace and mutual understanding.
“Christmas Letter”, Ivan Ilyin
I would call this short work, composed of two letters from a mother and son, a real hymn of love. She is the one unconditional love, runs like a red thread through the entire work and is its main theme. It is this state that resists loneliness and defeats it.
“Whoever loves, his heart blooms and smells fragrant; and he gives his love just like a flower gives its scent. But then he is not alone, because his heart is with the one he loves: he thinks about him, cares about him, rejoices in his joy and suffers from his suffering. He doesn't have time to feel lonely or think about whether he is lonely or not. In love a person forgets himself; he lives with others, he lives in others. And this is happiness.”
Christmas is a holiday of overcoming loneliness and alienation, it is the day of the manifestation of Love...
"God in the Cave", Gilbert Chesterton
We are accustomed to perceive Chesterton primarily as the author of detective stories about Father Brown. But he wrote in different genres: he penned several hundred poems, 200 short stories, 4000 essays, a number of plays, the novels “The Man Who Was Thursday”, “The Ball and the Cross”, “The Migratory Tavern” and much more. Chesterton was also an excellent publicist and deep thinker. In particular, his essay “God in the Cave” is an attempt to comprehend the events of two thousand years ago. I recommend it to people with a philosophical mindset.
“Silver Blizzard”, Vasily Nikiforov-Volgin
Nikiforov-Volgin in his work surprisingly subtly shows the world of children's faith. His stories are permeated with a festive atmosphere. So, in the story “ Silver Blizzard“With awe and love, he shows the boy with his zeal for piety, on the one hand, and with mischief and pranks, on the other. Consider one apt phrase from the story: “These days I don’t want anything earthly, especially school!”
Holy Night, Selma Lagerlöf
Selma Lagerlöf's story continues the theme of childhood.
Grandmother tells her granddaughter interesting legend about Christmas. It is not canonical in the strict sense, but it reflects the spontaneity of the people's faith. This amazing story about mercy and how “a pure heart opens the eyes with which a person can enjoy seeing the beauty of heaven.”
“Christ visiting a man”, “Unchangeable ruble”, “At Christmas they offended”, Nikolai Leskov
These three stories struck me to the core, so it was difficult to choose the best one. I discovered Leskov from some unexpected side. These works by the author have common features. This is both a fascinating plot and general ideas of mercy, forgiveness and doing good deeds. Examples of heroes from these works surprise, evoke admiration and a desire to imitate.
"Reader! be kind: intervene in our history too, remember what today’s Newborn taught you: to punish or to have mercy? To the One who gave you the "verbs" eternal life"...Think! This is very worth your thought, and the choice is not difficult for you... Do not be afraid to seem funny and stupid if you act according to the rule of the One who said to you: “Forgive the offender and gain yourself a brother in him” (N. S. Leskov, “Under Christmas was offended."
Many novels have chapters dedicated to Christmas, for example, “The Unquenchable Lamp” by B. Shiryaev, “Conduit and Schwambrania” by L. Kassil, “In the First Circle” by A. Solzhenitsyn, “The Summer of the Lord” by I. S. Shmelev.
The Christmas story, for all its apparent naivety, fabulousness and unusualness, has always been loved by adults. Maybe because Christmas stories are primarily about goodness, about faith in miracles and the possibility of human spiritual rebirth?
Christmas is truly a holiday of children's faith in miracles... Many Christmas stories dedicated to describing this pure joy of childhood. I will quote wonderful words from one of them: “The great holiday of Christmas, surrounded by spiritual poetry, is especially understandable and close to a child... The Divine Child was born, and to Him be praise, glory and honor of the world. Everyone rejoiced and rejoiced. And in memory of the Holy Child, on these days of bright memories, all children should have fun and rejoice. This is their day, a holiday of innocent, pure childhood...” (Klavdiya Lukashevich, “Christmas Holiday”).
P.S. When preparing this collection, I read a lot of Christmas stories, but, of course, not all of them in the world. I chose according to my taste those that seemed the most fascinating and artistically expressive. Preference was given to little-known works, which is why, for example, the list does not include N. Gogol’s “The Night Before Christmas” or Hoffmann’s “The Nutcracker.”
What are your favorite Christmas works, dear matrons?
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Yuletide STORIES
V. I. Panaev
ADVENTURE IN A MASQUERADE
(True incident)
No matter how much you cry for the dead, he will never rise again,
And every widow
She will cry for a month, a lot of two,
And then the crying will stop.
This is what is said about women in one of the best fables by Mr. Izmailov; but this irony, it seems, would be more justly attributed to our sex. There are many women (and very few men) for whom the loss of a dear person is unforgettable throughout their lives, makes them extremely unhappy and often leads them to the grave. A man, by his very way of life, by his civic duties, a variety of occupations, a penchant for enterprises of all kinds, has a thousand means for dissipation, while a woman, limited in the activities and goals of her life - more domestic than public - gifted by nature with strong sensitivity, a lively and ardent imagination, drinks to the dregs the bitter the cup of misadventures that befall her. If sometimes the opposite happens, if a woman, for example, indifferently endures eternal separation from a person who, apparently, was precious to her, then decency alone, this vigilant guardian of the rules of community life and often a reliable companion of morality itself, forces her to at least at least seem distressed, and this necessity (from which men are almost completely freed) is so great that no widow, easily forgetting the loss of her husband, clearly indulging in the noisy pleasures of the world, will escape strict condemnation. Even those for whom her company and her kindness bring so many pleasant moments will not say much good about her; and God forbid, if she is young and beautiful, then her envious rivals will not spare her at all.
This is exactly what happened with Evgenia. She had a worthy husband, loved him, as everyone said, to the point of madness, and was inconsolable when cruel consumption stole him from her arms; but after six months,
Seeing in the mirror that mourning suits her,
I again gained an attachment to life, which I began to hate. “I’m still young,” she said, thinking about the future, “I’m not bad-looking; quite rich; I have only one son - why untimely destroy myself with sadness about an irreparable loss, voluntarily give up the well-being to which I have so much right? And will the memory of my husband be offended by the fact that I want to be happy? Was it not he himself, dying, who asked me to take care of myself for the child?”
Such reasoning was soon supported by the advice of some friends. Evgenia sometimes objected, but always listened to them with secret inner pleasure: she was pleased to find people who, in this case, thought the same as her.
At the end of the mourning - it was spring, and in St. Petersburg at that - she moved to the dacha and was glad that leaving the city, freeing her from visits for a while, would pleasantly continue her experience and help her fully preserve the laws of decency. But the picturesque location of the dacha, its proximity to a public park, and the beautiful weather throughout the summer attracted many acquaintances to Evgenia, deliberately and in passing. At first they tried to entertain Evgenia with various innocent pastimes: they played circle games, rope games; Then, on her name day, they decided to dance. At first we only walked in the grove surrounding the manor; then they persuaded Evgenia to go to Krestovsky; a month later - to the famous magnificent holiday in Peterhof, and finally, upon returning to the city, they began to invite her to the theater, to balls, to dinners - in a word, the young widow indulged in complete distraction. I will not praise Evgenia, but, however, could she not notice that her beauty - the first source of vanity in women - drew everyone's attention to her? The triumph of women sometimes costs them a lot. While Evgenia, captivating all the men with her courtesy and beauty, enlivening the evening gatherings with her presence, did not see, in a child of pleasure, anything reprehensible in her behavior, insidious envy followed her at every step. Evgenia soon began to be called wasteful, flighty, a coquette, and how long would it take to tarnish the name of a young, beautiful widow? - they even said that she had suspicious connections. The first conclusion was indeed correct: the successes of her caresses had turned her head - she lived entirely for the world, did not think about housekeeping at all, rarely looked into her son’s cradle and justified herself by the fact that he was still too small for her care.
Evgenia's husband had a friend, a strict man, but fair rules. He especially didn't like new image her life; and the bad rumors about him, insulting the honor of the deceased, upset him extremely. He hinted at the disadvantages of such distraction; she responded with a cold smile; he advised a change, she blushed and interrupted the conversation with annoyance; he repeated the same thing a second, a third, a fourth time - she became angry and asked to be spared her boring lectures. There was nothing to be done, the benevolent friend saw himself forced to leave the house that he was accustomed to reverence so much. Business soon called him from St. Petersburg, and Evgenia, having learned that he had gone for a long time, was very happy about this news: his presence seemed to tie her hands; Now she could freely indulge her tendency to be distracted.
Perhaps a year has passed since Velsky left. Evgenia, continuing to have fun and, from time to time, lose her good name, once, on Christmastide, gathered in a public masquerade, where, with the help of a magnificent outfit in oriental taste, she hoped to reap new laurels at the expense of her rivals. In fact, the Turkish costume suited her extremely well. The women themselves could not help but admit that Evgenia was charming in this outfit, and the men almost gasped out loud in admiration. The triumphant beauty was in the best, most cheerful mood, danced, spoke a lot of witty things, started talking to everyone interesting mask But most of all, her attention was attracted by a stately Turk in a rich attire. His bow and the similarity in costume gave Evgenia reason to think that it was someone she knew. Wanting to make sure, she approached him with questions. Turka answered, although abruptly and coldly, but so intelligently, so expressively that Evgenia became completely occupied with him. They insensitively left the hall and found themselves in a distant room of the house, where the echo of music barely reached and where there was no one except two Germans dozing over glasses of punch.
So you think that today I am inappropriately cheerful, inappropriately dressed with such splendor? - said Evgenia, stopping at the mirror and looking at the mask with a smile.
Evgeniya. Friday. Ah, I understand: fast day! isn't it? Ha ha ha!
Mask. It was once your spouse's birthday.
Evgeniya (embarrassed). Oh! exactly like that... I completely forgot... But why do you know this? Why did you decide to upset me with such a reminder?
Mask. Several years ago I happened to spend this day with you with great pleasure. Then, of course, you could dress up and have fun, but now this day, it seems, would be more decent to devote to the sad memory of your spouse.
Evgeniya (blushing). You are telling the truth; but your tone is becoming too impudent, and I would not hesitate to call you Velsky if he were now in St. Petersburg. Tell me who are you?
Mask. Don't be curious: you will repent. Better try to value more the kind advice of friends and the memory of your spouse.
Evgeniya. But you, sir, never cease to bother me. What kind of instructions and by what right? (Sarcasticly.) Are you a messenger from the other world?
Mask (changing voice). Maybe so. Your lifestyle, the bad talk to which you expose yourself, disturbs the ashes of your spouse. It turns out that his spirit, hovering invisibly over you, is already preparing for revenge. There were examples of this in more than just fairy tales. Do you understand me?
Mask. Finally you recognize me, unfortunate one! I was called by you from the grave, I came to punish you! Look!
The stranger lifted the mask, and Evgenia fell unconscious to the floor.
The half-asleep Germans, alarmed by her fall, jumped up from their chairs, screamed and barely noticed how the Turk flashed through the door.
At their noise and scream, many people from the next room ran in; soon Evgenia’s acquaintances gathered there; Luckily, a doctor happened to be between them, with a lancet in his pocket. Evgenia was bled. She gradually came to her senses and explained the adventure in incoherent words. She said that her husband appeared to her in the guise of a Turk, that she heard his voice, saw a death’s head under the mask. Everyone was struck with horror, silently looked at each other, looked back at the doors. Some even claimed that the Turk they came across in the hall suddenly disappeared after running away a few steps; but the doorman and the whole hallway confirmed that he had gone down the stairs, and the police official saw that he had gotten into a double carriage at the entrance.
If in e-book If you notice any inaccuracies, unreadable fonts or other serious errors - please write to us at
Series "Christmas Gift"
Approved for distribution by the Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church IS 13-315-2235
Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821–1881)
Boy at Christ's Christmas tree
Boy with a pen
Children are strange people, they dream and imagine. Before the Christmas tree and just before Christmas, I kept meeting on the street, on a certain corner, one boy, no more than seven years old. In the terrible frost, he was dressed almost like summer clothes, but his neck was tied with some kind of old clothes, which means that someone had equipped him when they sent him. He walked “with a pen”; This is a technical term and means to beg for alms. The term was invented by these boys themselves. There are many like him, they spin on your road and howl something they have learned by heart; but this one did not howl and spoke somehow innocently and unusually and looked trustingly into my eyes - therefore, he was just starting his profession. In response to my questions, he said that he had a sister who was unemployed and ill; maybe it’s true, but only later did I find out that there are a lot of these boys: they are sent out “with a pen” even in the most terrible frost, and if they don’t get anything, then they will probably be beaten. Having collected kopecks, the boy returns with red, numb hands to some basement, where some gang of negligent workers are drinking, the same ones who, “having gone on strike at the factory on Sunday on Saturday, return to work no earlier than on Wednesday evening.” . There, in the cellars, their hungry and beaten wives, their hungry babies immediately squeal. Vodka, and dirt, and debauchery, and most importantly, vodka. With the collected pennies, the boy is immediately sent to the tavern, and he brings more wine. For fun, sometimes they pour a scythe into his mouth and laugh when, with his breathing stopped, he falls almost unconscious on the floor,
...and I put bad vodka in my mouth
Ruthlessly poured...
When he grows up, he is quickly sold off to a factory somewhere, but everything he earns, he is again obliged to bring to the careless workers, and they again drink away. But even before the factory, these children become complete criminals. They wander around the city and know places in different basements where they can crawl into and where they can spend the night unnoticed. One of them spent several nights in a row with one janitor in some kind of basket, and he never noticed him. Of course, they become thieves. Theft turns into a passion even among eight-year-old children, sometimes even without any consciousness of the criminality of the action. In the end they endure everything - hunger, cold, beatings - for only one thing, for freedom, and run away from their careless people to wander away from themselves. This wild creature sometimes does not understand anything, neither where he lives, nor what nation he is, whether there is a God, whether there is a sovereign; even such people convey things about them that are incredible to hear, and yet they are all facts.
Boy at Christ's Christmas tree
But I am a novelist, and, it seems, I composed one “story” myself. Why do I write: “it seems”, because I myself probably know what I wrote, but I keep imagining that this happened somewhere and sometime, this is exactly what happened just before Christmas, in some huge city and in a terrible freezing.
I imagine there was a boy in the basement, but he was still very small, about six years old or even younger. This boy woke up in the morning in a damp and cold basement. He was dressed in some kind of robe and was shaking. His breath flew out in white steam, and he, sitting in the corner on a chest, out of boredom, deliberately let this steam out of his mouth and amused himself by watching it fly out. But he really wanted to eat. Several times in the morning he approached the bunk, where his sick mother lay on a thin bedding like a pancake and on some kind of bundle under her head instead of a pillow. How did she end up here? She must have arrived with her boy from a foreign city and suddenly fell ill. The owner of the corners was captured by the police two days ago; the tenants scattered, it was a holiday, and the only one left, the robe, had been lying dead drunk for the whole day, without even waiting for the holiday. In another corner of the room, some eighty-year-old old woman, who had once lived somewhere as a nanny, but was now dying alone, was moaning from rheumatism, groaning, grumbling and grumbling at the boy, so that he was already afraid to come close to her corner. He got something to drink somewhere in the entryway, but couldn’t find a crust anywhere and went up to wake up his mother for the tenth time. He finally felt terrified in the darkness: evening had already begun long ago, but the fire had not been lit. Feeling his mother’s face, he was amazed that she did not move at all and became as cold as a wall. “It’s very cold here,” he thought, stood for a while, unconsciously forgetting his hand on the dead woman’s shoulder, then he breathed on his fingers to warm them, and suddenly, rummaging for his cap on the bunk, slowly, gropingly, he walked out of the basement. He would have gone earlier, but he was still afraid up there on the stairs, big dog who howled all day at the neighbors' doors. But the dog was no longer there, and he suddenly went outside.
Lord, what a city! He had never seen anything like this before. Where he came from, it was so dark at night, there was only one lantern on the entire street. Low wooden houses are closed with shutters; on the street, as soon as it gets dark, there is no one, everyone shuts up in their homes, and only whole packs of dogs howl, hundreds and thousands of them, howl and bark all night. But there it was so warm and they gave him something to eat, but here - Lord, if only he could eat! and what knocking and thunder there is, what light and people, horses and carriages, and frost, frost! Frozen steam rises from the driven horses, from their hot breathing muzzles; Horseshoes ring on the stones through the loose snow, and everyone is pushing so hard, and, Lord, I really want to eat, even just a piece of something, and my fingers suddenly hurt so much. A peace officer walked by and turned away so as not to notice the boy.
Here is the street again - oh, how wide! Here they will probably be crushed like that; how they all scream, run and drive, and the light, the light! what is this? Wow, what a big glass, and behind the glass there is a room, and in the room there is wood up to the ceiling; this is a Christmas tree, and on the tree there are so many lights, so many golden pieces of paper and apples, and all around there are dolls and little horses; and children are running around the room, dressed up, clean, laughing and playing, and eating, and drinking something. This girl started dancing with the boy, what a pretty girl! Here comes the music, you can hear it through the glass. The boy looks, marvels, and even laughs, but his fingers and toes are already hurting, and his hands have become completely red, they no longer bend and it hurts to move. And suddenly the boy remembered that his fingers hurt so much, he began to cry and ran on, and now again he sees through another glass a room, again there are trees, but on the tables there are all kinds of pies - almond, red, yellow, and four people are sitting there rich ladies, and whoever comes, they give him pies, and the door opens every minute, many gentlemen come in from the street. The boy crept up, suddenly opened the door and entered. Wow, how they shouted and waved at him! One lady quickly came up and put a penny in his hand, and she herself opened the door to the street for him. How scared he was! and the penny immediately rolled out and rang down the steps: he could not bend his red fingers and hold it. The boy ran out and went as quickly as possible, but he didn’t know where. He wants to cry again, but he’s too afraid, and he runs and runs and blows on his hands. And melancholy takes over him, because he suddenly felt so lonely and terrible, and suddenly, Lord! So what is this again? People are standing in a crowd and marveling: on the window behind the glass there are three dolls, small, dressed in red and green dresses and very, very lifelike! Some old man sits and seems to be playing a large violin, two others stand right there and play small violins, and shake their heads to the beat, and look at each other, and their lips move, they talk, they really talk - only now You can't hear it because of the glass. And at first the boy thought that they were alive, but when he realized that they were dolls, he suddenly laughed. He had never seen such dolls and did not know that such existed! and he wants to cry, but the dolls are so funny. Suddenly it seemed to him that someone grabbed him by the robe from behind: a big, angry boy stood nearby and suddenly hit him on the head, tore off his cap, and kicked him from below. The boy rolled to the ground, then they screamed, he was stupefied, he jumped up and ran and ran, and suddenly he ran into he doesn’t know where, into a gateway, into someone else’s yard, and sat down behind some firewood: “They won’t find anyone here, and it’s dark.”
On Christmas days, the whole world, childishly frozen in anticipation of a miracle, looks with hope and trepidation into the winter sky: when will that same Star appear? We are preparing Christmas gifts for our nearest and dearest, friends and acquaintances. Nikea also prepared a wonderful gift for its friends - a series of Christmas books.
Several years have passed since the release of the first book in the series, but every year its popularity is only growing. Who doesn't know these cute books with a Christmas pattern that have become an attribute of every Christmas? This is always a timeless classic.
Topelius, Kuprin, Andersen
Nicaea: Christmas gift
Odoevsky, Zagoskin, Shakhovskoy
Nicaea: Christmas gift
Leskov, Kuprin, Chekhov
Nicaea: Christmas gift
It would seem that what could be interesting? All works are united by one theme, but once you start reading, you immediately understand that each new story — new story, not like all the others. The exciting celebration of the holiday, many destinies and experiences, sometimes difficult life trials and an unchanging belief in goodness and justice - this is the basis of the works of Christmas collections.
We can safely say that this series set a new direction in book publishing and rediscovered an almost forgotten literary genre.
Tatyana Strygina, compiler of Christmas collections The idea belongs to Nikolai Breev, general director publishing house "Nikeya" - He is the inspirer of the wonderful campaign "Easter Message": on the eve of Easter, books are distributed... And in 2013, I wanted to make a special gift for readers - collections of classics for spiritual reading, for the soul. And then “Easter Stories of Russian Writers” and “Easter Poems of Russian Poets” came out. Readers immediately liked them so much that it was decided to release Christmas collections as well.”
Then the first Christmas collections were born - Christmas stories by Russian and foreign writers and Christmas poems. This is how the “Christmas Gift” series turned out, so familiar and beloved. From year to year the books were reprinted, delighting those who did not have time to read everything last Christmas or wanted to buy as a gift. And then Nikeya prepared another surprise for readers - Christmas collections for children.
We began to receive letters from readers asking us to publish more books on this topic, shops and churches expected new products from us, people wanted new things. We simply could not disappoint our reader, especially since there were still many unpublished stories. Thus, first a children’s series was born, and then Christmas stories,” recalls Tatyana Strygina.
Vintage magazines, libraries, funds, card indexes - all year round the editors of Nikeya work to give their readers a gift for Christmas - new collection Christmas series. All authors are classics, their names are well-known, but there are also not so famous authors who lived in the era of recognized geniuses and published with them in the same magazines. This is something that has been tested by time and has its own “quality guarantee”.
Reading, searching, reading and reading again,” Tatiana laughs. — When in a novel you read a story about how it is celebrated New Year and Christmas, often in the plot this does not seem to be the main point, so you don’t focus your attention on it, but when you immerse yourself in the topic and begin to purposefully search, these descriptions, one might say, fall into your hands. Well, in our Orthodox heart the story of Christmas immediately resonates, is immediately imprinted in our memory.”
Another special, almost forgotten genre in Russian literature is Christmas stories. They were published in magazines, and publishers specially commissioned stories from famous authors. Christmastide is the period between Christmas and Epiphany. Christmas stories traditionally feature a miracle, and the heroes joyfully do the difficult and wonderful work of love, overcoming obstacles, and often the machinations of “evil spirits.”
According to Tatyana Strygina, in Christmas literature there are stories about fortune-telling, about ghosts, and incredible afterlife stories...
These stories are very interesting, but it seemed that they did not fit the festive, spiritual theme of Christmas, did not fit with other stories, so I just had to put them aside. And then we finally decided to publish such an unusual collection - “Scary Christmas Stories.”
This collection includes Christmas “horror stories” from Russian writers, including little-known ones. The stories are united by the theme of Christmas time - mysterious winter days, when miracles seem possible, and the heroes, having suffered fear and calling on everything holy, dispel the obsession and become a little better, kinder and braver.
The theme of a scary story is very important from a psychological point of view. Children tell each other horror stories, and sometimes adults also like to watch horror films. Every person experiences fear, and it is better to experience it together with literary hero than to get into a similar situation yourself. It is believed that scary stories compensate for the natural feeling of fear, help overcome anxiety and feel more confident and calm,” emphasizes Tatyana.
I would like to note that the exclusively Russian theme is harsh winter, long haul on a sleigh, which often becomes deadly, snowy roads, snowstorms, snowstorms, Epiphany frosts. The trials of the harsh northern winter provided vivid subjects for Russian literature.
The idea of the collection “New Year’s and others” winter stories“was born from Pushkin’s “Blizzard,” notes Tatyana. “This is such a poignant story that only a Russian person can feel.” In general, Pushkin’s “Blizzard” left a huge mark on our literature. Sollogub wrote his “Blizzard” precisely with an allusion to Pushkin; Leo Tolstoy was haunted by this story, and he also wrote his “Blizzard”. The collection began with these three “Blizzards” because it interesting topic in the history of literature... But in the final composition only the story of Vladimir Sollogub remained. The long Russian winter with Epiphany frosts, blizzards and blizzards, and the holidays - New Year, Christmas, Christmastide, which fall at this time, inspired writers. And we really wanted to show this feature of Russian literature.”
“There are holidays that have their own smell. At Easter, Trinity and Christmas there is something special in the air. Even non-believers love these holidays. My brother, for example, interprets that there is no God, and on Easter he is the first to run to matins” (A.P. Chekhov, story “On the Way”).
Orthodox Christmas is just around the corner! Many interesting traditions are associated with the celebration of this bright day (and even several Christmastides). In Rus', it was customary to devote this period to serving one’s neighbor and deeds of mercy. Everyone knows the tradition of caroling - singing songs in honor of the born Christ. The winter holidays have inspired many writers to create magical Christmas stories.
There is even a special genre of Christmas story. The plots in it are very close to each other: often the heroes of Christmas works find themselves in a state of spiritual or material crisis, the resolution of which requires a miracle. Christmas stories are imbued with light and hope, and only a few of them have a sad ending. Especially often, Christmas stories are dedicated to the triumph of mercy, compassion and love.
Especially for you, dear readers, we have prepared a selection of the best Christmas stories from both Russian and foreign writers. Read and enjoy, may the festive mood last longer!
"The Gift of the Magi", O. Henry
A well-known story about sacrificial love, which will give everything for the happiness of its neighbor. A story about trembling feelings that cannot but surprise and delight. In the finale, the author ironically remarks: “And here I told you an unremarkable story about two stupid children from an eight-dollar apartment who, in the most unwise way, sacrificed their greatest treasures for each other.” But the author does not make excuses, he only confirms that the gifts of his heroes were more important than the gifts of the Magi: “But let it be said for the edification of the sages of our days that of all the givers these two were the wisest. Of all those who offer and receive gifts, only those like them are truly wise. Everywhere and everywhere. They are the Magi." As Joseph Brodsky said, “at Christmas everyone is a little wise man.”
“Nikolka”, Evgeniy Poselyanin
The plot of this Christmas story is very simple. At Christmas, the stepmother acted very meanly to her stepson; he should have died. At the Christmas service, a woman experiences belated repentance. But on a bright holiday night a miracle happens...
By the way, Evgeny Poselyanin has wonderful memories of his childhood experience of Christmas - “Yule Days”. You read and are immersed in the pre-revolutionary atmosphere of noble estates, childhood and joy.
"A Christmas Carol", Charles Dickens
Dickens's work is the story of a person's true spiritual rebirth. The main character, Scrooge, was a miser, became a merciful benefactor, and turned from a lone wolf into a sociable and friendly person. And this change was helped by the spirits who flew to him and showed him his possible future. Observing different situations from his past and future, the hero felt remorse for his wrong life.
“The Boy at Christ’s Christmas Tree”, F. M. Dostoevsky
A touching story with a sad (and joyful at the same time) ending. I doubt whether it is worth reading to children, especially sensitive ones. But for adults, it’s probably worth it. For what? I would answer with the words of Chekhov: “It is necessary that behind the door of every contented, happy person there should be someone with a hammer and constantly remind him by knocking that there are unfortunate people, that, no matter how happy he is, life will sooner or later show him its claws , trouble will strike - illness, poverty, loss, and no one will see or hear him, just as now he does not see or hear others.”
Dostoevsky included it in the “Diary of a Writer” and he himself was surprised how this story came out of his pen. And the author’s writer’s intuition tells him that this could very well happen in reality. The main sad storyteller of all times, H. H. Andersen, has a similar tragic story - “The Little Match Girl”.
"Gifts of the Christ Child" by George MacDonald
The story of a young family going through difficult times in their relationships, difficulties with a nanny, and alienation from their daughter. The last one is the sensitive, lonely girl Sophie (or Fosi). It was through her that joy and light returned to the house. The story emphasizes: the main gifts of Christ are not gifts under the tree, but love, peace and mutual understanding.
“Christmas Letter”, Ivan Ilyin
I would call this short work, composed of two letters from a mother and son, a real hymn of love. It is she, unconditional love, that runs like a red thread through the entire work and is its main theme. It is this state that resists loneliness and defeats it.
“Whoever loves, his heart blooms and smells fragrant; and he gives his love just like a flower gives its scent. But then he is not alone, because his heart is with the one he loves: he thinks about him, cares about him, rejoices in his joy and suffers from his suffering. He doesn't have time to feel lonely or think about whether he is lonely or not. In love a person forgets himself; he lives with others, he lives in others. And this is happiness.”
Christmas is a holiday of overcoming loneliness and alienation, it is the day of the manifestation of Love...
"God in the Cave", Gilbert Chesterton
We are accustomed to perceive Chesterton primarily as the author of detective stories about Father Brown. But he wrote in different genres: he penned several hundred poems, 200 short stories, 4000 essays, a number of plays, the novels “The Man Who Was Thursday”, “The Ball and the Cross”, “The Migratory Tavern” and much more. Chesterton was also an excellent publicist and deep thinker. In particular, his essay “God in the Cave” is an attempt to comprehend the events of two thousand years ago. I recommend it to people with a philosophical mindset.
“Silver Blizzard”, Vasily Nikiforov-Volgin
Nikiforov-Volgin in his work surprisingly subtly shows the world of children's faith. His stories are permeated with a festive atmosphere. So, in the story “Silver Blizzard”, with trepidation and love, he shows the boy with his zeal for piety, on the one hand, and with mischief and pranks, on the other. Consider one apt phrase from the story: “These days I don’t want anything earthly, especially school!”
Holy Night, Selma Lagerlöf
Selma Lagerlöf's story continues the theme of childhood.
Grandmother tells her granddaughter an interesting legend about Christmas. It is not canonical in the strict sense, but it reflects the spontaneity of the people's faith. This is an amazing story about mercy and how “a pure heart opens the eyes with which a person can enjoy seeing the beauty of heaven.”
“Christ visiting a man”, “Unchangeable ruble”, “At Christmas they offended”, Nikolai Leskov
These three stories struck me to the core, so it was difficult to choose the best one. I discovered Leskov from some unexpected side. These works by the author have common features. This is both a fascinating plot and general ideas of mercy, forgiveness and doing good deeds. Examples of heroes from these works surprise, evoke admiration and a desire to imitate.
"Reader! be kind: intervene in our history too, remember what today’s Newborn taught you: to punish or have mercy? To the One who gave you the “verbs of eternal life”... Think! This is very worth your thought, and the choice is not difficult for you... Do not be afraid to seem funny and stupid if you act according to the rule of the One who said to you: “Forgive the offender and gain yourself a brother in him” (N. S. Leskov, “Under Christmas was offended."
Many novels have chapters dedicated to Christmas, for example, “The Unquenchable Lamp” by B. Shiryaev, “Conduit and Schwambrania” by L. Kassil, “In the First Circle” by A. Solzhenitsyn, “The Summer of the Lord” by I. S. Shmelev.
The Christmas story, for all its apparent naivety, fabulousness and unusualness, has always been loved by adults. Maybe because Christmas stories are primarily about goodness, about faith in miracles and the possibility of human spiritual rebirth?
Christmas is truly a holiday of children's faith in miracles... Many Christmas stories are devoted to describing this pure joy of childhood. I will quote wonderful words from one of them: “The great holiday of Christmas, surrounded by spiritual poetry, is especially understandable and close to a child... The Divine Child was born, and to Him be praise, glory and honor of the world. Everyone rejoiced and rejoiced. And in memory of the Holy Child, on these days of bright memories, all children should have fun and rejoice. This is their day, a holiday of innocent, pure childhood...” (Klavdiya Lukashevich, “Christmas Holiday”).
P.S. When preparing this collection, I read a lot of Christmas stories, but, of course, not all of them in the world. I chose according to my taste those that seemed the most fascinating and artistically expressive. Preference was given to little-known works, which is why, for example, the list does not include N. Gogol’s “The Night Before Christmas” or Hoffmann’s “The Nutcracker.”
What are your favorite Christmas works, dear matrons?