The boy obeyed.  His eyes were heavy with sleep.  But he heard the last words of Winfried as he spoke of the angelic messengers, flying over the hills of Judea and singing as they flew.  The child wondered and dreamed and listened.  Suddenly his face grew bright.  He put his lips close to Irma’s cheek again.

“Oh, mother!” he whispered very low, “do not speak.  Do you hear them?  Those angels have come back again.  They are singing now behind the tree.”

And some say that it was true; but others say that it was only Gregor and his companions at the lower end of the hall, chanting their Christmas hymn: 

  “’All glory be to God on high. 
   And to the earth be peace! 
   Good-will, henceforth, from heaven to men
   Begin, and never cease.’”

A FRENCH TAR-BABY

BY JOEL CHANDLER HARRIS

The fable was one of the first tributaries to the stream of story-telling.  Primitive man with a kind of fine democracy claimed kinship with the animals about him.  So Hiawatha learned the language and the secrets of birds and beasts,

  “Talked with them whene’er he met them,
   Called them Hiawatha’s Brothers.”

Out of this intimacy and understanding grew the fable, wherein animals thought, acted, and talked in the terms of human life.  This kind of story is illustrated by the “Fables” of Aesop, the animal stories of Ernest Thompson-Seton, the “Jungle Books” of Rudyard Kipling and the “Uncle Remus” stories of Joel Chandler Harris.  The fable is a tale rather than a true short-story.

A FRENCH TAR-BABY

[Footnote:  From “Evening Tales,” by Joel Chandler Harris.  Copyright, 1893, by Charles Scribner’s Sons.]

In the time when there were hobgoblins and fairies, Brother Goat and Brother Rabbit lived in the same neighborhood, not far from each other.

Proud of his long beard and sharp horns, Brother Goat looked on Brother Rabbit with disdain.  He would hardly speak to Brother Rabbit when he met him, and his greatest pleasure was to make his little neighbor the victim of his tricks and practical jokes.  For instance, he would say: 

“Brother Rabbit, here is Mr. Fox,” and this would cause Brother Rabbit to run away as hard as he could.  Again he would say: 

“Brother Rabbit, here is Mr. Wolf,” and poor Brother Rabbit would shake and tremble with fear.  Sometimes he would cry out: 

“Brother Rabbit, here is Mr. Tiger,” and then Brother Rabbit would shudder and think that his last hour had come.

Tired of this miserable existence, Brother Rabbit tried to think of some means by which he could change his powerful and terrible neighbor into a friend.  After a time he thought he had discovered a way to make Brother Goat his friend, and so he invited him to dinner.

Brother Goat was quick to accept the invitation.  The dinner was a fine affair, and there was an abundance of good eating.  A great many different dishes were served.  Brother Goat licked his mouth and shook his long beard with satisfaction.  He had never before been present at such a feast.