8.

CHRISTMAS / XMAS
December 24th is Christmas Eve, when Christians throughout the world celebrate the birth of
Jesus Christ in a stable, in far-off Bethlehem. Long before this date streets and shop windows are
brightly decorated, people send Christmas cards an buy Christmas presents.
In England Christmas is a dearly cherished holiday, possibly the most important holiday of the
year, an occasion for family reunion and rejoicing.
At Christmas, busy London streets like Oxford Street offer a fairy-tale like, breathtaking show:
about two miles of Christmas gifts attractively displayed in shop windows, dazzling garlands of
electric lighting, bright red holly and cotton wool snow. Not far from the two main streets, in Trafalgar
Square, near Admiral Nelsons statue passers-by stop to admire a huge Christmas tree ablaze with
coloured lights and decorations. It is an annual gift from the Norwegian people and it seems that hey
try to make each years gift a foot higher than it predecessor.
Christmas Eve is a busy day for all the members of the family, a day of preparation. The
Christmas tree must be trimmed with tinsel, candles, crackers, colored lamps and balls. The house
must also be decorated with branches of holly and mistletoe remember that you may kiss anyone
standing under the mistletoe! After helping decorate the house and the tree, children go out with their
friends to sing carols in the neighborhood. The carol-singers receive money and sweets and then,
happy and contented, they go home. Before they go to bed, children hang up their stockings for Father
Christmas or Santa Claus as he is also called to fill with presents when he comes down the
chimney during the night. Some people go to church in the evening.
December 25th is Christmas Day. Although they dont have to go to school, children wake up
earlier than usual to see what Father Christmas has brought them. Adults also exchange presents, in
some families after breakfast, in others they open their gifts round the Christmas tree later in the day.
Some people also go to church in the morning.
After the excitement caused by the presents has calmed down a little, everybody looks forward to
the next big event: Christmas dinner. Some English families have the traditional Christmas dinner at
midday, other in the evening. It usually consists of roast turkey with potatoes and vegetables, mince
pies, fruit, nuts and, most important of all, Christmas pudding. The latter contains a lot of dried fruit, a
little flour, sugar, lemon peel, spices and eggs. It is served hot, usually alight with brandy and with a
rich sauce made of butter, brandy and sugar. It is traditional to put a few silver coins in the pudding.
Those who fin one of the coins in their pudding are supposed to have a lucky year.

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December 26th is Boxing Day. According to custom it is the day of presents given to people like
postmen, delivery boys, servants, to express thanks for service rendered throughout the year. Mainly it
is another day to celebrate and have fun with relatives and friends.
Although the days are short and cold, there is an atmosphere of togetherness, warmth and
cheerfulness in the air, so that everyone agrees to the words of the old rhyme: Christmas come but
once a year/ And when it comes it brings good cheer.
Here are some formulas to write on Christmas cards:
Informal
Merry Christmas and lots of joy in the New Year!
Formal
Hearty greetings for Christmas and good wishes for the coming year!
A joyous Christmas and peaceful New Year!

39. A CHRISTMAS MEMORY

Truman Capote was born in New Orleans in 1925 and raised in various parts of the south, he and
his family spending winters in New Orleans and summers in Alabama and New Georgia. Capotes
highly acclaimed books include A Tree of Night and Other Stories (1949), The Grass Harp (1951),
Breakfast at Tiffanys(1958), In Cold Blood (1965), Music for Chameleons (1980) and
Answered Prayers (1986). He died in August 1984.
Buddy, are you awake? It is my friend, calling from her room, which is next to mine; and an
instant later she is sitting on my bed holding a candle. Well, I cant sleep a hoot, she declares. My
minds jumping like a jackrabbit. Buddy, do you think Mrs. Roosevelt will serve our cake at dinner?
We huddle in the bed, and she squeezes my hand I-love-you. Seems like you hand used to be so much
smaller. I guess I hate to see you grow up. When youre grown up, will we still be friends? I say
always. But I feel so bad, Buddy. I wanted so bad to give you a bike. I tried to sell my cameo Papa
gave me. Buddy she hesitates, as though embarrassed I made you another kite. Then I confess I
made her one too; and we laugh. The candle burns too short to hold. Out it goes, exposing the starlight,
the stars spinning at the window like a visible carolling that slowly, slowly, daybreak silences.
Possibly we doze; but the beginnings of dawn splash us like cold water: were up, wide-eyed and
wandering while we wait for others to waken. Quite deliberately my friend drops the kettle on the
kitchen floor. I tap-dance in front of closed doors. One by one the household emerges, looking as
though theyd like to kill us both; but its Christmas, so the cant. First, a gorgeous breakfast: just

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everything you can imagine from flapjacks and fried squirrel to hominy grits and honey-in-the-comb.
Which puts everyone in a good humour except my friend and me. Frankly, were so impatient to get at
the presents we cant eat a mouthful.
Well, Im disappointed. Who wouldnt be? With socks, a Sunday-school shirt, some
handkerchiefs, a hand-me-down sweater, and a years subscription to a religious magazine for
children, The Little Shepherd. It makes me boil. It really does.
My friend has a better haul. A sack of Satsumas, thats her best present. She is proudest, however,
of a white wool shawl knitted by her married sister. But she says her favourite gift is the kite I built
her. And it is very beautiful; though not as beautiful as the one she made me, which is blue and
scattered with gold and green Good Conduct stars; moreover, my name is painted on it, Buddy.
Buddy, the wind is blowing.
The wind is blowing, and nothing will do till weve run to a pasture below the house where
Queenie has scooted to bury her bone (and where, a winter hence, Queenie will be buried, too). There,
plunging through the healthy waist-high grass, we unreel our kite, feel them twitching at the string like
sky fish as they swim into the wind. Satisfied, sun-warmed, we sprawl in the grass and peel Satsumas
and watch out kites cavort. Soon I forget the socks and hand-me-down sweater. Im as happy as if
wed already won the fifty-thousand-dollar Grand Prize in that coffee-naming contest.
Truman Capote Breakfast at Tiffanys
(abridged from the story A Christmas Memory)

40. ST. VALENTINES DAY

St. Valentines Day, the 14th of February, is lovers day. People give presents to the persons they
love and send Valentine cards to them. This is a very romantic custom. The cards have a tender
massage, a short love poem, or simply Will you be my Valentine? printed on them. Usually a
Valentine card is not signed. So, if you are shy and do not have the courage to tell a person that you
love him or her, you can send a card and let it disclose your feelings. Hopefully, the other person will
know who has sent it, and will do something to show you that the feeling is mutual. On the other hand,
he or she may not share your love and give you the cold shoulder to make you understand it. Although
it hurts, at least you do not go on nourishing vain hopes and you can try to find someone who will be
thrilled to receive your Valentine cards.
Apparently, no one knows for certain where the custom of celebrating St. Valentines Day comes
from, or when it actually started. It is believed that it was brought to Britain by the Romans. Anyway,

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it was certainly celebrated in early 17th century England, as Shakespeares Ophelia, dazed with grief
and madness sings about it:
Tomorrow is Saint Valentines day
All in the morning bedtime,
And I, a maid at your window,
To be your Valentine.
Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act IV, Scene 5
The custom was probably taken to America by the English settler, as St. Valentines Day is very
popular there as well.
The custom of sending Valentine cards is also mentioned by the Beatles in one of their famous
songs:
When I grow older, losing my hair
Many years from now,
Will you still be sending me a Valentine,
Birthday presents, bottle of wine?
When Im 64
Why not send a Valentine card to the person you love this year? Here are some examples of the
kinds of poems usually printed on Valentine cards:
Honest to goodness

Roses are red,

Just betcha its true

Violets are blue,

No Valentine ever

I am so happy

Was nicer than you! or

Because I love you.

Of course you may select your Valentine text from any literary piece which you find suitable.
Shakespeare is always a perfect choice:
Doubt thou the stars are fire;
Doubt that the sun doth move;
Doubt truth to be a liar;
But never doubt I love.
Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act II, Scene 2

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You may also use the lyrics of a song, old or new. What can express more than a single line
does: Nothing compares to you
Certainly, the selection of the writer or of the song will make it easier for the person to guess your
identity, but may be exactly what you want.
So, it is up to you!

41. LISTENING AND READING:

ST. VALENTINES CARD
St. Valentines Day is February the 14th, and for a very long time young English people have
been sending St. Valentines Cards to each other every year. The idea is to tell the other persons that
you love them, but you never put your name on the card.
One day, last February, Jillian went into the card shop, near her home, the shop which sells many
different cards. There were cards for birthdays, get well cards for people who were ill, cards saying
congratulations or people, just had a baby, or Ive passed an examination, and Valentine cards.
The assistant went across the shop to a cashier. Ive been selling Valentine cards all day, she
said . People ve been coming in and taking two or three. I dont know whom theyve been buying
them for, but the cards ve been going very quickly. But that young lady over there , she said wathing
Jillian onto the corner of her eye, hasnt been spending much money. She cant decide what she wants.
Shes been looking at the cards for half an hour. Shes been reading them two or three times. Shes
been picking them up and putting them down again. Most of the best ones have gone now
Most of the best cardsve gone no, Jillian thought. Ive been trying to find a good one for Martin
for half an hour, but I cant decide.
Then suddenly she felt that somebody was watching her. She turned round, but the assistant and
the cashier were talking together across the shop. She looked at the big window, and there, outside, in
the street, was Susan, Martins young sister. Damn, said Jillian to herself, how long has she been
standing there? While Ive been trying to find the right card for Martin, shes been watching me!
She looked down at the Valentine card in her hand. It said : Roses are red , violets are blue,
grass is green, and I love you. Bah!, said Jillian, throwing the card down again onto the counter,
and walking across the shop to the get well card. That minute, Susan came into the shop, went to the
Valentine cards, took one to the assistant, and paid for it.
Hello, she said, walking up to Jillian, what have you been buying? But without waiting for
an answer, she said in a little voice Ive just been buying a Valentine card for my favourite man.

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Youve been getting one, too, havent you? Horrible child, Jillian thought to herself, but she said :
No, Susan, Ive been looking for a card for a friend who is ill. Here it is. And she picked up the
nearest get well card , and took it to the assistant.
May I have this one, please, she said. And get me a Valentine card, too, please, but do it when
that little girl isnt looking.
Shes been reading them all carefully, the assistant told the cashier, and now shes asked me
to decide!
On February the 14th, Jillian went to Martins house. Somebodys been thinking about me, he
said laughing. Do you know, Ive got two cards this morning! And its St. Valentines Day!
Two cards?! Jillian said, beginning to feel jealous.Who is sending the second card? she
thought. Two cards, Martin? she said. May I see them?
Yeah, , Martin said, and Jillian took them. The first was a Valentine card saying : Roses are
red, violets are blue, grass is green, and I love you.
But I didnt sent this, she thought, and looked quickly at the second card. It was the get well card
she bought from the card shop. Ive been wanting one of those for a long time, Martin said
laughing, but who would you think sent it? Perhaps its my boss, he thinks I havent been working
very hard lately. Excuse me, I go and get some coffee.
While Martin was in the kitchen, Jillian quickly looked in her handbag. There, next to her
lipstick, was her Valentine card for Martin. And Ive sent him the wrong one! she thought.
Susan came into the room, and looked into Jillians handbag onto the corner of her eye.You
sent Martin the wrong card, didnt you? she said. Shall tell him the Valentine was for me? But
before Jillian could answer Susan saw the lipstick. Oh, what a nice lipstick! Ive been wanting one
like that for a long time. Jillian looked from Susan to the Valentine card, then from the card to her
lipstick. Suddenly she took it, and gave it to Susan. Here, she said, Ive been going to give it to
you, I bought a new one, and we shant tell Martin about the cards, shall we?
Penguin English Course

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