"Ten degrees below zero, the thermometer registered..

And our mother said: Go to your beds and sleep well, for tomorrow is 'Christmas.'

And we asked: Will we have a tree, even one without gifts?..

And our mother answered: Perhaps.

Christmas morning came.. dark and gloomy.. no star peered through the window.. I opened my eyes once, then closed them again.. and curled up close to my sister.. What was there worth getting up for?..

And I heard my mother setting the dishes on the table.. then I heard her say to my father: George, we are ready.

A moment later she called to us: "Get up, little ones." And we got up..

The room was radiant with the flame of a red lamp.. and in the middle of it stood the most beautiful Christmas tree I had ever seen. The silver and gold stars, the bells and the rest, were all made from the wrappers of my father's cigarette boxes and the tea tins from the kitchen.. shining, wonderful things cut out in lovely patterns.

At the top of the tree's trunk hung little baskets of pink paper..

And we stretched our small necks.. and stood on the tips of our toes. There was a little something wrapped up in each basket.. one dried fig for each of us.

And at the foot of the tree lay six big rolls of red and green crepe paper.. and in each roll a large rag doll.. My doll wore a rose-pink silk dress.. and it was so beautiful that it made me forget the color of the other two dolls' dresses..

As for the boys, their dolls were dressed in shirts and trousers.. The dolls' faces were all embroidered in colors.. and their hair all spun and hanging down.

My mother had made the six dolls at night, after we had gone to sleep.."