sang the wind, but the harper would not heed.
“Snows may fall and winds may blow, but I must go on,” he said, “for I have a wife and a child and a little brown dog; and I have promised them to be at home by Christmas Day to eat my share of the Christmas pudding and sing the Christmas songs by my own fireside.”
Then the wind blew an icy blast. The snow froze on the ground and the water froze in the rivers. The harper’s breath froze in the air, and icicles as long as the king’s sword hung from the rocks by the king’s highway. The harper shivered and the harper shook, but he would not turn back; and by and by he came to the forest that lay between him and his home.
The trees of the forest were creaking and bending in the wind, and every one of them seemed to say:
“Darkness gathers, night is near;
Harper, stop! Don’t venture here.”
But the harper would not stop. “Snows may fall, winds may blow, and night may come, but I have promised to be at home by Christmas Day to eat my share of the Christmas pudding and sing the Christmas songs by my own fireside. I must go on.”
And on he went till the last glimmer of daylight faded, and there was darkness everywhere. But the harper was not afraid of the dark.
“If I cannot see I can sing,” said he, and he sang in the forest joyously:
“Sing glory, glory, glory!
And bless God’s holy name;
For’t was on Christmas morning
The little Jesus came.
“He wore no robes. No crown of gold
Was on His head that morn;
But herald angels sang for joy
To tell a King was born.”