The First Christmas Tree: A Story of the Forest
()
About this ebook
Henry Van Dyke
Henry Van Dyke (1928–2011) was born in Allegan, Michigan, and grew up in Montgomery, Alabama, where his parents were professors at Alabama State College. He served in the Army in occupied Germany, playing flute in the 427th Marching Band. There he abandoned his early ambition to become a concert pianist and began to write. In 1958, after attending the University of Michigan on the G.I. Bill and living in Ann Arbor, he moved to New York, where he spent the rest of his life. Henry taught creative writing part-time at Kent State University from 1969 until his retirement in 1993, and was the author of four novels, including Blood of Strawberries, a sequel to Ladies of the Rachmaninoff Eyes.
Read more from Henry Van Dyke
The Christmas Library: 250+ Essential Christmas Novels, Poems, Carols, Short Stories...by 100+ Authors Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Story Of The Other Wise Man Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Greatest Christmas Stories of All Time: Timeless Classics That Celebrate the Season Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Valley of Vision: A Book of Romance and Some Half-Told Tales Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLadies of the Rachmaninoff Eyes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Classic Christmas Stories: A Collection of Timeless Holiday Tales Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Greatest Christmas Stories: 120+ Authors, 250+ Magical Christmas Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHenry Van Dyke - The Mansion: “The woods would be quiet if no bird sang but the one that sang best.” Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Greatest Christmas Stories of All Time - Premium Collection: 90+ Classics in One Volume (Illustrated): The Gift of the Magi, The Holy Night, The Mistletoe Bough, A Christmas Carol, The Heavenly Christmas Tree, A Letter from Santa Claus, The Fir Tree, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King… Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings50 Classic Christmas Stories Vol. 4 (Golden Deer Classics) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Valley of Vision Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Mansion (Illustrated) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ultimate Christmas Library: 100+ Authors, 200 Novels, Novellas, Stories, Poems and Carols Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings50 Beautiful Classic Christmas Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Unruly Sprite: Magical Creatures, A Weiser Books Collection Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Boy Scouts Book of Campfire Stori Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThy Sea is Great, Our Boats are Small and Other Hymns of To-Day Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Whole Family: a Novel by Twelve Authors Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Related to The First Christmas Tree
Related ebooks
The First Christmas Tree: A Story of the Forest Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe First Christmas Tree Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The First Christmas Tree and the Story of the Other Wise Man Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Henry Van Dyke's Christmas Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTHE FIRST CHRISTMAS TREE - A German Children's Tale of the Forest Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Story of the Other Wise Man Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fall of the Grand Sarrasin Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Mysterious Stranger: A Tale of Young Satan Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Mysterious Stranger Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Rood and the Torc: The Song of Kristinge, Son of Finn Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Mysterious Stranger, and Other Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWinning His Spurs Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Short Stories Of Edith Wharton - Volume V: The Hermit and the Wild Woman & Other Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Red Eve Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Mysterious Stranger and Other Stories: A Short Story Collection Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Hermit and the Wild Woman Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Hermit and the Wild Woman and Other Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Nothing & Kindred Subjects Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBy Far Euphrates: A Tale Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Betrothed Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5French Mediaeval Romances from the Lays of Marie de France Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRed Eve (Barnes & Noble Digital Library) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5England, My England - And Other Stories Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Aslauga's Knight Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPapers from Overlook-House Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Hermet And The Wild Woman Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Burgomaster's Wife — Complete Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Mysterious Stranger (Warbler Classics Annotated Edition) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Betrothed (Barnes & Noble Digital Library) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reference For You
1001 First Lines Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bored Games: 100+ In-Person and Online Games to Keep Everyone Entertained Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Emotion Thesaurus (Second Edition): A Writer's Guide to Character Expression Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/51,001 Facts that Will Scare the S#*t Out of You: The Ultimate Bathroom Reader Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Spy the Lie: Former CIA Officers Teach You How to Detect Deception Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Learn Sign Language in a Hurry: Grasp the Basics of American Sign Language Quickly and Easily Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Robert's Rules For Dummies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Legal Words You Should Know: Over 1,000 Essential Terms to Understand Contracts, Wills, and the Legal System Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Everything Sign Language Book: American Sign Language Made Easy... All new photos! Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Show, Don't Tell: How to Write Vivid Descriptions, Handle Backstory, and Describe Your Characters’ Emotions Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mythology 101: From Gods and Goddesses to Monsters and Mortals, Your Guide to Ancient Mythology Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5THE EMOTIONAL WOUND THESAURUS: A Writer's Guide to Psychological Trauma Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Buddhism 101: From Karma to the Four Noble Truths, Your Guide to Understanding the Principles of Buddhism Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of Card Games: The Complete Rules to the Classics, Family Favorites, and Forgotten Games Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAnatomy 101: From Muscles and Bones to Organs and Systems, Your Guide to How the Human Body Works Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Everything Executor and Trustee Book: A Step-by-Step Guide to Estate and Trust Administration Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Related categories
Reviews for The First Christmas Tree
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
The First Christmas Tree - Henry Van Dyke
Henry Van Dyke
The First Christmas Tree
A Story of the Forest
Published by Good Press, 2019
goodpress@okpublishing.info
EAN 4057664629128
Table of Contents
I THE CALL OF THE WOODSMAN I
II THE TRAIL THROUGH THE FOREST II
III THE SHADOW OF THE THUNDER-OAK III
IV THE FELLING OF THE TREE IV
I
THE CALL OF THE WOODSMAN
I
Table of Contents
THE day before Christmas, in the year of our Lord 722.
Broad snow-meadows glistening white along the banks of the river Moselle; pallid hill-sides blooming with mystic roses where the glow of the setting sun still lingered upon them; an arch of clearest, faintest azure bending overhead; in the center of the aerial landscape of the massive walls of the cloister of Pfalzel, gray to the east, purple to the west; silence over all—a gentle, eager, conscious stillness, diffused through the air like perfume, as if earth and sky were hushing themselves to hear the voice of the river faintly murmuring down the valley.
In the cloister, too, there was silence at the sunset hour. All day long there had been a strange and joyful stir among the nuns. A breeze of curiosity and excitement had swept along the corridors and through every quiet cell.
The elder sisters—the provost, the deaconess, the stewardess, the portress with her huge bunch of keys jingling at her girdle—had been hurrying to and fro, busied with household cares. In the huge kitchen there was a bustle of hospitable preparation. The little bandy-legged dogs that kept the spits turning before the fires had been trotting steadily for many an hour, until their tongues hung out for want of breath. The big black pots swinging from the cranes had bubbled and gurgled and shaken and sent out puffs of appetizing steam.
St. Martha was in her element. It was a field-day for her virtues.
The younger sisters, the pupils of the convent, had forsaken their Latin books and their embroidery-frames, their manuscripts and their miniatures, and fluttered through the halls in little flocks like merry snow-birds, all in black and