The Christmas Gift

George walks with long, quick steps along the sidewalk, not feeling the bitter cold that stings the tip of his nose and his ears: his face is beaming, and the joy that fills his chest almost lifts him off the pavement. He touches in his pocket the sixty liras he has gathered. Sixty liras! A great fortune — with it he could buy half of Beirut! George had been collecting his coins in a money-box for more than a year, and today he broke the box and found forty-five liras in it. And he had come across some of his schoolbooks from last year and sold them without anyone knowing, and got fifteen liras for them; so the total of the money he had come by was sixty liras. He is going down to the market now to pick out toys for himself, for Christmas is near, and last year he was given none of these toys because his father was out of work and things were tight — and he is still without work to this day. And George's heart tightens at the memory of how things are at home: for a year and a half his father has gone out of the house every morning to look for work, and come back with a frowning face, so that Mama knows the answer without asking him, and begins to grumble and curse their luck as she sets the table for the meal, flinging the things down upon it, while Papa smokes one cigarette after another, silent, his brow dark. Then Mama says heatedly:

— Look at your friend Asaad al-Homsi, who was your companion at school and was down and out — "flat on the ground, referee!" — unable to find work, until he went off to Brazil with his wife, and now the two of them are among the men of millions, though he is not educated like you! So why don't we go too? There is the land of work; there we shall live. Brazil is a gold mine!

And Papa answers her:

— We shall see; perhaps I will find work tomorrow.

He falls silent a moment, then goes on:

— And besides, the fare for our passage on the steamer — where would I get it?

And the next morning Papa goes out again to look for work, and the whole thing is repeated as on the day before!

George slowed his pace while these painful thoughts ran through him, his head bowed... But he will not let sadness take hold of him now; he wants to rejoice today and forget what is at home, because he is going to buy the most beautiful toys in Beirut with the sixty liras... What will he buy? A big red automobile? Or an electric train with the stations that light up when it arrives? And George looks at the gleaming shop windows: here is a tree bearing electric candles of every color, with a shining star sparkling at its top and sending its glittering rays down to the foot of the tree; and there is a Santa Claus thrusting out his white beard as he points to a heap of toys of every shape, decorated with shining threads; and there a white bear, and a beautiful red automobile, and a green bicycle, and footballs... The boy enters a big shop... Ah, there is a crowd of people watching an electric train running all by itself. How beautiful it is, with its little windows where the passengers' heads look out! George spent the whole afternoon gazing long at every window and every toy before choosing — for "looking costs nothing" — and how delicious this stroll through the streets of Beirut in the days of Christmas! And George will come tomorrow or the day after to buy what he decides upon.

The boy went back home, his thoughts and his imagination full of beautiful, wondrous things! He entered the house and found his little brother crying his tiresome cry because he wanted a sweet. Mama threatened him:

— Be quiet, or I'll spank you.

And the child's screaming rose louder than before. Then Papa came home and, as usual, began quarreling with Mama, and George remembered the well-known proverb Mama sometimes repeats: "Want breeds bickering." And his great joy after his tour of the town's streets melted away, and sorrow gnawed at his heart... Why doesn't Papa find work, so that he could earn money and bring sweets for his little brother, and Mama's temper would soften... and... and all the troubles would vanish? But alas, there is no work for his father; wherever he goes they tell him: "We are not in need of employees." And he has spent a year and a half in this state! Why doesn't Papa find work? Why has he no place among those who work? But... if Papa can find no work here, why doesn't he go with his family to Brazil, the gold mine, as Mama says?

And George sank into a sea of thought: Brazil, the land of gold — why don't they go there? His father says he does not have the fare for the passage on the steamer... But he — little George — can make this wish come true if he wants. Isn't there sixty liras in his pocket right now? The pocket is bulging with it. Surely it is enough for them to go to Brazil...

They would travel third class, which is cheaper than the other classes. And George was certain it would be enough — sixty liras! But how can he give up buying the electric train he loved, with the word "Express" on it, that stops at the stations which light up by themselves with a green lamp whenever the train stops? The boy's heart tightened and sorrow wrung it at this thought — he had been saving this money in the box a whole year to buy this toy! Ah, how hard a sacrifice!

But he must not be selfish and think only of himself; he must forget the electric train entirely, and tomorrow he will buy the tickets for the steamer without telling anyone, and then present them to his family for the holiday, and their joy at the surprise will be great... But where does one buy the tickets? He knows nothing about how this business is done!

George went on thinking a long while until he found a simple way: tomorrow he will go to Mr. Asaad al-Homsi, who came back from Brazil lately, who was at school with Papa and was his companion before he went off to the land of gold, and of whom Mama and Papa speak nearly every day. He knows his house, because he went with his parents when they called to greet him after his return; on that visit Mr. Asaad spoke to him kindly, seated him at his side, and gave him chocolate in plenty. No doubt he will help him now to buy the tickets before the holiday.

The next day George did exactly as he had decided. Mr. Asaad was astonished when he saw the boy, and received him kindly — he had taken a liking to him when he saw him the first time. And when George told him he wanted to buy the steamship tickets before the holiday — with sixty liras... Mr. Asaad laughed, then began putting question after question to him, and George answered him with the simplicity of his pure heart; and Mr. Asaad understood the painful truth, and reassured the boy that he would send him the tickets to his house before the holiday, and asked him to say nothing about it to anyone.

Christmas Eve came, and Mama that night was more on edge than usual as she was setting the house to rights and putting on the table the supper of boiled potatoes and onions, while Papa tried not to hear what she was saying as he read

the paper and smoked — when suddenly there was a knock at the door, and George's little brother ran to it, though he could not reach the latch to open it, shouting:

— Mama, open the door, Mama...

George opened the door, and his mother came near to see who had come at such an hour, and Papa came near too; and in came a man carrying a big box:

— Is this the house of Mr. Amin Naaman?

— Yes.

— This box is for you. And he set the box on the table. Papa and Mama wondered — had the man got the wrong house? And they asked him:

— Who sent it to us?

— Mr. Asaad al-Homsi.

And George wondered: were steamship tickets so enormous as to need a box of that size? Then the man handed Papa a letter and went away. Papa opened the letter and read aloud: "A gift from Father Christmas." After that he read a long letter from Mr. Asaad al-Homsi, explaining how George had come to him, and what he had asked of him, and how he had questioned the boy and understood from his artless answers everything about their painful condition; then he advises his old friend not to think of emigrating at all, since those whom luck helps and who grow rich as he did are a tiny minority, while of the rest some are of middling condition, and most are destitute poor who live "the life of pigs," as the saying about them goes, and cannot find enough to keep body and soul together! Then Mr. Asaad says that he has found for him, after some effort, work in his cousin's office, to oversee the accounts — he remembered how clever he was at figures when they were together at school — and he will begin work in a week's time.

At this Mama burst into tears from the excess of her joy, and took George in her arms and pressed him to her breast, kissing him.

And then they noticed the little boy trying to open the big box the man had brought... and in it they found a magnificent "Express" train and many bags of sweets; and George's heart overflowed with joy at the sight, and he began jumping up and down and clapping his hands for sheer joy... Ah, how happy he was on that Christmas Eve!!!...