"And I am ready to atone for this sin with the sacrifice of my life. But before I die I must deliver you a message from Father Hans." And the monk slipped his hand into his pocket, drew out Bishop Absalon's letter, and gave it to the Robber Father, telling him that from this day forth he was free and at large. He said to him:

"From this hour, you and your children are loosed from every bond, and you may keep the Christmases to come among your brothers, the sons of men, as Father Hans wished for you."

The Robber Father stood frozen in his place, silent, his color ashen. So his wife, the Robber Mother, said in his stead:

"Father Hans has kept his pledge, and the Robber Father will do his part."

And the robbers left their cave, and the monk moved into it, where he lived for a stretch of time alone, secluded in the wilderness of the forest, praying and doing penance for his evil deed.

From that time on, the forest has never again kept the hour

of the Savior's birth, and nothing remains today of its former glory but the flower Father Hans plucked. It has been named the "Christmas Rose," (1) and every year, before Christmas, its green stalks appear above the ground with their gleaming silver flowers, as though it could not forget that it once grew in the great garden of Christmas.

(From Shahrazad)

(1) By the Christmas rose is meant here the flower of the muda''af, or the winter lily. (The translator)