I Love Christmas
The Animals Talk At Christmas There is an old legend which states that on the night Jesus was born the animals in the stable were able to talk. The legend continues that they could only talk at midnight, after which time they go back to making animal noises again.
When I was about fourteen I thought about this legend, and in my young mind I wondered if it was true. We had a Labrador retriever named Algernon, and a white horse named, appropriately, Horace. He slept in the barn in a specially-built stall.
That Christmas Eve I was determined to find out if the animals actually did talk. The rest of the house was asleep. Quietly I got up from bed and, still clad in my pajamas, put on a heavy coat and rubber boots and carefully opened the back door that led to our barn via a snow-sprinkled path. First I stopped to check on Algernon. He was asleep on the living room rug, so I figured that even if he was able to talk he was having dog dreams and too sleepy to care. So out I went into the cold night.
In the barn Horace was sleeping standing up, as horses will do. Then he awoke and made a little snort at my approach. The big white horse and I were good friends, and he enjoyed company.
"Hey, Horace," I greeted. "How about some oats as a Christmas treat?"
I shoveled some tasty oats from the big burlap bag with the big metal scoop, and carefully sprinkled it into his feeding trough. Horses are very fond of oats, which to them is like candy.
It was just going on midnight.
Suddenly I heard a deep voice say, "I'm getting mighty tired of oats. Do you have any sugar?"
I stared at my horse in astonishment, then managed to stammer, "Horace! You--you can really talk!"
"Of course I can talk!" Horace whinnied with a slight annoyance in his voice.
"But," I continued, "why haven't you ever talked before?"
"Well," sighed Horace, "up to now I've had no complaints."
I hope this little story brightens up your Holiday!
When I was about fourteen I thought about this legend, and in my young mind I wondered if it was true. We had a Labrador retriever named Algernon, and a white horse named, appropriately, Horace. He slept in the barn in a specially-built stall.
That Christmas Eve I was determined to find out if the animals actually did talk. The rest of the house was asleep. Quietly I got up from bed and, still clad in my pajamas, put on a heavy coat and rubber boots and carefully opened the back door that led to our barn via a snow-sprinkled path. First I stopped to check on Algernon. He was asleep on the living room rug, so I figured that even if he was able to talk he was having dog dreams and too sleepy to care. So out I went into the cold night.
In the barn Horace was sleeping standing up, as horses will do. Then he awoke and made a little snort at my approach. The big white horse and I were good friends, and he enjoyed company.
"Hey, Horace," I greeted. "How about some oats as a Christmas treat?"
I shoveled some tasty oats from the big burlap bag with the big metal scoop, and carefully sprinkled it into his feeding trough. Horses are very fond of oats, which to them is like candy.
It was just going on midnight.
Suddenly I heard a deep voice say, "I'm getting mighty tired of oats. Do you have any sugar?"
I stared at my horse in astonishment, then managed to stammer, "Horace! You--you can really talk!"
"Of course I can talk!" Horace whinnied with a slight annoyance in his voice.
"But," I continued, "why haven't you ever talked before?"
"Well," sighed Horace, "up to now I've had no complaints."
I hope this little story brightens up your Holiday!
