Mr. Nicholas

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A very long time ago, there lived a skinny old man with knobbly knees and a hunched over back.  His beard was long and white and thinning, a rather sad excuse for a beard, really, and he lived all alone.  His dear wife had already left this world, and though the old man missed her very much, he kept himself quite busy making bread and doing good for others.

He cared for the families in the village surrounding his humble cottage. Every morning, early, he would hobble out with a large pack thrown over onto his hunched back, and picked his way along with a short and twisted walking stick.  He made a stop at every home, knocking briefly and then dropping a fresh loaf of homemade bread, wrapped in cloth, at the door.  Then he continued on his way, or stopped to chat for a moment with whoever came to the door.

One winter morning, just before Christmas, he left the warmth of his cottage to make his deliveries. He knocked on a door to leave a loaf of especially yummy smelling bread, and the door opened wide.  A small child stood there with tears in her eyes. 

The old man said, “Now here child, what’s this? How is it that you are sad this close to Christmas Day?”

The little girl, who had curling red hair and liquid blue eyes looked up at him so sadly and replied, “I tried to make a dolly for my baby sister for Christmas, but look!”  She pulled from her pocket a bit of cloth that had been dyed blue and braided and pinned into the shape of a doll baby, but it was quite pitiful looking. 

The old man stifled his laugh, because he knew that you should never laugh at a child whose heart has been broken.  He put down his sack of bread, and picked up the rag doll. 

“Hmm, hmm, yes, yes, I see,” he said, then, looking at the child, “I think you’ve done something wonderful here, look at the pretty blue color and the braids!  This is a special gift, because it means you love your little sister very much.”

The child sniffed, “I do love her, and I want the doll to be perfect. It needs arms and legs, and a smiling face, but I don’t know how.”

The old man thought some, and said, “I have an idea.  If I can take this doll now, I promise to bring her back in the morning, and you’ll have plenty of time to wrap it up for Christmas day.”

“Okay, thank you,” said the little girl, wiping her eyes.

That night, the old man pulled out the flour and oil he used to make bread dough.  He tried a little of this and a little of that and thought, “Yes now, this will be perfect!”  Using a special dough that would harden stiff as it dried, he molded and shaped it carefully with his gnarly hands. 

Soon, the dough had hardened exactly as he wanted, and he pulled out his paints and added color.  Finally, he sat back and smiled.

The next morning, true to his word, he returned to the home of the little girl with curling red hair.  When she opened the door, he pulled out the rag doll from behind his back.

The girl gasped! The old man had made arms, legs, and head for the doll out of his special dough, and had sewn them to the blue dyed and braided rags.  He had painted them to look like the little girl, with blue eyes and red hair.

“What a beautiful doll!” cried the little girl, “Sister will never forget this Christmas! And neither will I!  Thank you, Thank you so much, Mr. Nicholas!”

The old man nodded, smiling wide.  He said, “You’re very welcome.  Now, go and wrap it, for tomorrow is Christmas!  Have a happy day!”

As he walked home, all bent over, the old man realized he’d never been happier.  He was beaming from helping the child.  When he climbed into bed, he stared out his window at a very large star, a Christmas star. 

He thought, “Perhaps it is a wishing star! Maybe even the same star that shone over the Christ child on his birth.  Maybe, just maybe, there’s some magic left in the star for me!”

So, he wished, and prayed very hard, that there was some way he could help more children.  It was his very dearest wish!  If only he had more strength in his hands and back, and if only he had a way to get to the other villages close by to help those children, too! He desired it with his whole heart and wished with all his might.

After several hours, he grew tired with wishing and fell asleep.  But, he awoke with a start.  Something was happening!  His skinny, hunched body began to fill out and to straighten.  He stretched his legs and back out and watched his muscles and tummy get bigger and his beard got bushier!  He got so fat the buttons popped off his shirt!  He stood up, straight and tall, and laughed at his new strong body! As he laughed, his belly shook like a bowl full of jelly.

Immediately, he set to work, using his special dough to make more dolls for the girls. For the boys, he molded it into animal shapes, like dragons and lions and bears.  He got carried away and made more than enough for all the children in the village, but he put them all into the giant pack he used for carrying bread.

He prepared to walk outside, but noticed his shirt, with no buttons.  “This won’t do,” he said, but he was now so fat that none of his clothes fit anymore.  He looked around and found the soft red blanket on his bed.  He wrapped himself in it like a fine red cloak, and closed it with a sash. He put on a stocking cap, to keep him warm, and he stepped out of his cottage.

To his surprise, the wishing star had granted him one more miracle.  A sled! This would be a perfect vehicle to get him to the surrounding villages!  Only, he didn’t have a horse to pull it.  Well, the wishing star had taken care of that, too.  From beside the cottage, a huge deer, a REINDEER! walked over to the sled, and nodded to the old man.  The old man laughed a hearty laugh, and threw his bag of toys into the sled, then hooked it to the reindeer. 

From that day on, he was blessed to do the thing he desired most in the world: help children! He worked all year long to make them special toys, and the wishing star helped him deliver them every Christmas Day.  The children in his village called him a saint.  Saint Nicholas.