Project Gutenberg's Christmas Tales and Christmas Verse, by Eugene Field

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Title: Christmas Tales and Christmas Verse

Author: Eugene Field

Illustrator: Florence Storer

Release Date: January 29, 2006 [EBook #17630]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRISTMAS TALES AND ***

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[Illustration: Frontispiece]

CHRISTMAS
TALES AND
CHRISTMAS
VERSE

BY

EUGENE FIELD

ILLUSTRATIONS BY FLORENCE STORER

NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
MCMXII

Copyright, 1912, by
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS

Published October, 1912

_Why do the bells of Christmas ring?
Why do little children sing?

Once a lovely shining star,
Seen by shepherds from afar,
Gently moved until its light
Made a manger's cradle bright.

There a darling baby lay,
Pillowed soft upon the hay;
And its mother sung and smiled:
"This is Christ, the holy Child!"

Therefore bells for Christmas ring,
Therefore little children sing._

CONTENTS

_Dedication_

_Christmas Hymn_

The Symbol and the Saint

_Christmas Eve_

Joel's Talk with Santa Claus

_The Three Kings of Cologne_

The Coming of the Prince

_Chrystmasse of Olde_

The Mouse and the Moonbeam

_Christmas Morning_

Mistress Merciless

_Bethlehem-Town_

The First Christmas Tree

_Star of the East_

FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS

IN COLORS

The angels came through the forest to where the little tree
stood, and gathering around it, they touched it with
their hands _Frontispiece_

For he was so generous that he gave