In John Brummett’s absence, Dana Kelley offers one of his favorite columns, which originally appeared Dec. 26, 2003.
Of all the wonderful things about Christmas, one of the best is the rich heritage of literature that the holiday has given us. Many of the best authors have used it as a subject in prose or verse, and one easy way to slow down the season is to engage in the old-fashioned practice of reading some of them.
Every year, after spreading all my Christmas books around the house so that wherever I may linger one is ready at hand, I try to find something new to read. As an avid collector, I tend to accumulate volumes quicker than I can read them. I also have a few things that I reread every year, and in those instances I try to find new angles and perspectives, much as you discover new details in scenes in favorite movies that you see for the umpteenth time.
One of my Christmas “discoveries” was a short tale buried in a 758-page anthology. Written by Henry Van Dyke, it’s titled “The Story of the Other Wise Man.” It begins in Persia, at a gathering of the Magi in which one young priest named Artaban announces that through his study of the stars, he and his three companions-Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar-have computed the time for the arrival of the King of Israel.
In preparation for the event, Artaban sells his house and possessions and buys three precious jewels to offer as a tribute, along with his compatriots’ gold, frankincense and myrrh. The other Magi at the gathering were skeptical, and “glanced at each other with looks of wonder and pity, as those who have listened to incredible sayings, the story of a wild vision, or the proposal of an impossible enterprise.”
Despite their disdain, Artaban waits to see whether the prophesied star appears, and when it does, departs to meet the other three Magi for the journey to Israel. Thus begins the chronicle of human events which constantly interfere with Artaban’s pursuit to praise the Newborn King. One by one, his jewels are used to aid people in need. Each time he helps someone, Artaban despairs greatly that he “spent for man that which was meant for God.”
The story ties in many familiar markers of the time of the nativity, but from the perspective of the Other Wise Man. It has such freshness and poignancy that I couldn’t believe I’d never heard of it, and it’s far better than my synopsis. We already know the ending, so its beauty is in the telling.
The holiday season inspired many of the great poets as well, and as foremost literary artists of their day, it’s interesting to read their talent applied to the Christmas spirit. Tennyson, Wordsworth, Longfellow, Emerson, Coleridge, Frost and many others all lent their muse to the season. John Greenleaf Whittier’s “Snowbound” is considered to be his finest work; Christina Rossetti’s simple verse perfectly complements the stable-set nativity; Langston Hughes’ compelling perspective personifies the grace of the humble manger.
Master authors spanning literature-including but not limited to Sir Walter Scott, Hans Christian Andersen, Ben Jonson, Rudyard Kipling, Thomas Hardy, Robert Louis Stevenson, James Joyce, Washington Irving, Herman Melville, Henry James, James Thurber, Truman Capote-honored Christmas with tales from their inestimable imaginations.
All are worth reading and contemplating. Christmas and its message of peace and good will, after all, is for everyone. And even though Christmas comes but once a year, it does come every year, and at the same time each year.
The Christmas story, while timeless, thus remains unchanged. Any newness must come from our own education through experiences and understanding. Since we can’t very well travel back in time, books represent our only link to Christmases past.
The Gospel According to St. Luke (King James Version) is perhaps the most regal rendering of the Christmas story. If you must use a television to assist you, I recommend A Charlie Brown Christmas. It is at the end of this charming animated Peanuts film that Linus so eloquently recites the opening verses in Luke’s second chapter.
For a lump-throated reading, you simply can’t beat Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, which single-handedly revived the Christmas spirit. If you haven’t read it in some time, take a few minutes in an easy chair to reacquaint yourself. Dickens’ prose is so powerful, and this story was so personal to him, that it leaps off the pages quickly and easily, leaving a warmth no holiday multimedia presentation can achieve.
I read it every year, paying particular attention to lesser-known passages. One year what struck me were the places the Ghost of Christmas Present took Scrooge. If you’ve watched any of the many screen versions, you undoubtedly remember the visit to the Cratchits, where Scrooge’s name is toasted only for the sake of the season.But they also visited miners, keepers at an isolated lighthouse and men on a ship at sea. And it is in describing their spectral visit to Scrooge’s nephew’s party that Dickens created my favorite Christmas quote: “It is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a child himself.”
At the risk of sounding as if I should be on commission with Barnes and Noble, there’s really no better gift at Christmas for the person who has everything except A Christmas Carol. -
———◊-
———
Dana Kelley is a freelance writer from Jonesboro.
Editorial, Pages 15 on 12/24/2013