Christmas Candles: Plays for Boys and Girls

by Elsie Hobart Carter

The poor old Babushka wondered very much, and said: "Who is the little child, my lord, that you should take such a long, hard journey to find him?"

And the first King said: "He is a great King—the King of all the earth. When we find Him we will lay our crowns at His feet, with these gifts we have brought—gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. We are called Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthazar."

Babushka listened and looked. She saw the gold crowns, and she saw that each one of the Kings bore in his hand a gift—one held a richly embroidered bag which looked heavy, and it was, for it was filled with gold. Another carried a beautiful crystal jar full of something clear and golden. Babushka knew this must be myrrh, and suddenly she knew, too, that the fragrance of spices filling the poor little house must come from the incense in the stone vase she saw in the hands of the third King.

She listened and looked, and then she said: "Kings have no need of gifts, my lord. Why do you carry these gifts to the little child?"

And the first King said: "Because this King of all the Earth is the King of Love, or He would not have come down into the world as a little child. And because we love Him more than everything else, we are bringing Him the very best that we have."

And the second King said: "Come, Babushka, go with us on our journey to find the Christ-Child. He has come into the world to love and help just such poor old creatures as you."

And the third King said: "There is room in His heart for you, and we will gladly help you on the journey to Him."

And all the Kings begged her to go with them. But Babushka was afraid and unwilling. She saw how cold and dreary it was outside, and she knew that she was warm and dry in her little hut, even if she was so poor. She didn't know anything better than just to have enough to eat, and a fire to keep her warm. She looked up into the dark, threatening sky, and couldn't see any marvelous star through the thick clouds. And, besides, she wanted to finish sweeping up her house. She must surely do that first of all. But the Kings could not wait, so they mounted their camels again, and soon Babushka heard the music of the silver bells growing fainter and fainter in the distance. All the next day, and the day after, and the day after that, and every day all the year, and through all the years, Babushka thought of her strange visitors. And still more she thought of the little Child. And the more she thought, the more she grew to love Him, until at last she began to wish she had gone with the Three Kings. She grew more and more unhappy about it, until one day she made up her mind that she would set out alone to try to find the Child. She forgot how many, many years had gone by since the visit of the Kings, and she didn't know that the Child had gone back to His Throne in Heaven again. She locked her little cottage and set out, going from village to village and from house to house, everywhere seeking for the Christ-Child. When she found a little child who was kind and loving and true, she said to herself: "This little one looks as the Child I am seeking must have looked," and it made her very happy. But still she didn't find the Child the Kings had found.

And, Princess, though it all happened such hundreds and hundreds of years ago, the Babushka is still hurrying over the world in winter time, looking in every nursery and every cottage for the little Christ-Child. She comes in softly with just a rustle of her skirts, and bends over the beds where little children lie asleep. She always puts some small gift on the pillow, and steals silently out again. It is only the children that are good and quiet who ever see her, and she makes friends with them and gives them Christmas presents. But she loves the babies best of all, I know, because she still hopes to find among them the Baby who was laid in a manger on the first Christmas.

Matrena [after an instant's pause, pointing to window]. Someone is at the window!