Babushka: A Christmas Tale

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Babushka invited them in and prepared a meal for them. As they ate they told her that they were following a star which would lead them to a special baby. They asked her to accompany them but she protested that she didn’t have time – after all she had a house to keep clean, and who would dust and sweep if she went off travelling?

Long ago in a small village in Russia, far from the nearest city, lived Babushka. She was very house-proud, and she worked all day long scrubbing and sweeping and cleaning to keep her house nice. However, when the fire flamed up again, his breast was scorched. And so it is, until this day, to remind everybody of its good deed. In a dream, an angel sings to Babushka of a baby boy born in a manger. Horrified to think of this baby shivering in a dirty stable, she sets off with a basket full of presents and cleaning materials. On her journey she meets people in need, and by the time she reaches Bethlehem she has learnt a valuable lesson, as well as filling an empty place in her heart.

It was the night the dear Christ-Child came to Bethlehem. In a country far away from Him, an old, old woman named Babushka sat in her snug little house by her warm fire. The wind was drifting the snow outside and howling down the chimney, but it only made Babushka’s fire burn more brightly.

But suddenly she heard a loud rap at her door. She opened it and her candle shone on three old men standing outside in the snow. Their beards were as white as the snow, and so long that they reached the ground. Their eyes shone kindly in the light of Babushka’s candle, and their arms were full of precious things—boxes of jewels, and sweet-smelling oils, and ointments. Babushka shook herself. There was no time for dreaming, all this washing-up and putting away had to be done. We have travelled far, Babushka,” they said, “and we stop to tell you of the Baby Prince born this night in Bethlehem. He comes to rule the world and teach all men to be loving and true. We carry Him gifts. Come with us, Babushka.” Very good and very entertaining! The children enjoyed all the songs and we enjoyed producing the show.

When winter came, and winter in Russia is long and dreary, these little comforts would also fade away. Even the birds, that she would leave crumbs for, would desert her for warmer climes, leaving the old woman sad and lonely, wishing and praying for company. It was on one such winter night, when she was trying to sleep, that she heard a noise steadily growing louder - voices and grunts - and she knew there are no humans or animals for miles around, what with the entire earth being blanketed in snow. Before long, she heard a loud pounding at her door and she rushed to open it, thinking that it must be a cold and famished traveler only to find three large horses with three noblemen dressed in, she thought, some of the finest and richest clothes that she had ever seen. But before she leaves she takes a toy from her basket and lays it beside the pillow for a Christmas gift. “For His sake,” she says softly, and then hurries on through the years and forever in search of the little Christ-Child.