He was born blind, and had been taught the one thing which the blind generally learn, -music; for this art he was specially gifted. His mother died when he was little more than a child, and his father, who was the first cornetist of a military band, followed her to the grave a few years later. He had a brother in America from whom he had never heard; still, through indirect sources he knew him to be well off, married, and the father of two fine children. To the day of his death the old musician, indignant at his son's ingratitude, would not allow his name to be mentioned in his presence; but the blind boy's affection for his brother remained unchanged. He could not forget that this elder brother had been the support of his childhood, the defence of his weakness against the other boys, and that he had always spoken to him with kindness.

Christmas Stories from French and Spanish Writers is a book written by Antoinette Ogden. This book contains fictional short stories, fairy tales, folk tales, legends and mythology subjects. It contains Christmas stories from the 19th century.

Fifteen short stories by Antoinette Ogden from French and Spanish writers of many times. Christmas Eve that year was bleak and cold, and the village seemed benumbed. The houses were closed hermetically, and so were the stables, from which came the muffled sound of animals chewing the cud. From time to time the clacking of wooden shoes on the hardened ground resounded through the deserted streets, then a door was hastily opened and closed, and all relapsed into silence. It was evident from the thick smoke rising through the chimneys into the gray air that every family was huddled around its hearth while the housewife prepared the Christmas supper. Stooping forward, with their legs stretched out to the fire, their countenances beaming with pleasure at the prospect of the morrow's festival and the foretaste of the fat and juicy blood-sausages, the peasants laughed at the north wind that swept the roads, at the frost that powdered the trees of the forest, and the ice that seemed to vitrify the streams and the river. Following their example, my friend Tristan and I spent the livelong day in the old house of the Abbatiale at the corner of the hearth, smoking our pipes and reading poetry. At sundown we had grown tired of seclusion and determined to venture out."The forest must be a strange sight with this heavy frost," said I to Tristan. "Suppose we take a turn through the wood after supper; besides, I must see the sabotiers from Courroy about a little matter."So we pulled on our gaiters, stuffed our pipes, wrapped ourselves in our cloaks and mufflers, and penetrated into the wood.We walked along cheerfully over the rugged, hardened soil of the trenches furrowed with deep, frozen ruts. Through the copse on either side we saw mysterious white depths. After a damp night the north wind had transformed the mists and vapors that overhung the branches into a tangle of snowy lace. In the half light of the gloaming we could still distinguish the sparkling needles of the junipers, the frosted puffs of the clematis, the bluish crystallizations of the beech, and the silver filigree of the nut-trees. The silence was broken by the occasional creaking of the frozen limbs, and every now and then a breath of impalpable white dust dampened our cheeks as it melted there.

Herein are 15 Christmas stories translated from French and Spanish writers like Armando Palacio Valdés, André Theuriet, Antonio Maré, François Coppée, Alphonse Daudet and many more. Compiled and translated by Antoinette Ogden they represent a variety of genres. They are written in the style of the late nineteenth century holiday story, so think Dickens and H. C. Andersen. This work of fables and stories will help set an appropriate Christmassy mood for the holidays. The stories in this volume are: A Bird in the Snow A Christmas in the Forest The Louis-d'or A Christmas Supper in the Marais The Princess and the Ragamuffin A Tragedy The Three Low Masses The Poet's Christmas Eve I take Supper with my Wife The Yule Log The Mule and the Ox Solange, the Wolf-Girl Salvette and Bernadou Maese Pérez, the Organist The Torn Cloak Even though they were translated and originally published in the early 1890’s these stories have long been forgotten and are now seldom told or read in English homes which makes this a welcome addition to any modern collection of Christmas stories. 10% of the publisher’s profit from the sale of this book will be donated to UNICEF. ======= KEYWORDS/TAGS: Christmas, folklore, fairy tales, myths. Legends, childrens stories, children’s book, bedtime stories, fire side, winter, fable, parable, little, great, Christmas, Mass, people, eyes, heart, home, church, white, cold, children, snow, soul, Migajas, love, God, Pacorrito, Juan, far-away, Jacques, organ, Madrid, music, happy, dead, midnight, thousand, black, blind, lady, cloak, rose, fire, beautiful, Celinina, forest, Eve, to-night, Maese, altar, Solange, Pérez, boy, doubt, Bethlehem, wings, angel, Laurent, Gabrielle, heaven, shepherdess, mountain, princess, prince, turkeys, French, Spanish, , laughter, , bells, kiss, Marguerite, Santiago, ragamuffin, wooden, Lucien, Marion, country, Majesté, Majesty, King, Queen, , chapel, surprise, chimes, clock, , frozen, piano, mantel-piece, celebration, cathedral, Garrigou, Monsieur, laughter, Salvette, service, Christ, child, Lord, torches, wolves, Madame, choir, Holy, Yule, Pacorrito, chancellor, archbishop, Balaguère, Brévelay, Bernadou, Robinson, granite, temple, Jean, Trinquelague, Celinina, celestial, fireplace, Juanillo, stairway, chaplain, memories, portico, Seville, lovers, Virgin, breast

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Excerpt from Christmas Stories From French and Spanish Writers E was born blind, and had been taught the one thing which the blind generally Iearn, music for this art he was specially gift ed. His mother died when he was little more than a child, and his father, who was the first cornetist Of a military band, followed her to the grave a few years later. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

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