ing-house corn ears are strewed;
Christmas comes hither,
Then may ye gather,
Food from the bread-giving straw, golden hued.

BJERREGAARD.

The sun shall warm and illumine the whole earth, therefore is the
earth glad of his coming.--THE KING'S PLAY.

Thanks be to God for the sun! So many friends, so many joys, desert us
during our pilgrimage through life; the sun remains true to us, and
lights and warms us from the cradle to the grave. This is it which
unites the Pagan and the Christian in one common worship, inasmuch as it
lifts the hearts of both to the God who has created the sun. The highest
festival of the year among the Northern Heathens and Christians occurs
also at the season in which the sun, as it were, is born anew to the
earth, and his strength is converted from waning to waxing. With the
greatest cordiality is this festival celebrated in the Scandinavian
countries. Not alone in the houses of the wealthy blaze up fires of joy,
and are heard the joyful cries of children; from the humblest cottages
also resounds joy; in the prisons it becomes bright, and the poor
partake of--plenty. In the country, doors, hearths, and tables, stand
open to every wanderer. In many parts of Norway the innkeeper demands no
payment from the traveller either for board or lodging. This is the time
in which the earth seems to feel the truth of the heavenly words--"It is
more blessed to give than to receive." And not only human beings, but
animals also, have their good things at Christmas. All the inhabitants
of the farm-yard, all domestic animals, are entertained in the best
manner; and the little birds of heaven rejoice too, for at every barn a
tall stake raises itself, on the top of which rich sheaves of oats
invite them to a magnificent meal; even the poorest day-labourer, if he
himself possesses no corn, asks and receives from the peasant a bundle
of corn, raises it aloft, and makes the birds rejoice beside his empty
barn.

Susanna had much to care for in the Christmas week, and was often up
late at night: in part, on account of her own business; in part, on
account of some Christmas gifts with which she wished to surprise
several persons around her. And this certainly was the cause of her
somewhat oversleeping herself on the morning of Christmas-eve. She was
awoke by a twittering of birds before her window, and her conscience
reproached her with having, amid the business of the foregoing day,
qui