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Since the envoys had brought news of the arrival of the Emperor, Bolesław’s kingdom had been overwhelmed by an all-encompassing state of commotion. Aside from the settlers living deep within the deepest forests, there was probably no one who did not, in some way or other, (...)
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8
The phones are always going wrong, so my parents aren’t upset when there’s no dialling tone. They’re at the fortieth birthday party of a female friend from their class at high school. They say they’re going downstairs to the phone booth for a (...)
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Mieczysław MalińskiMaybe It Happened This Way...
An Important Talk
“And now on tiptoe,” said Saint Nicholas to his companion, the angel. “Be ever so quiet, so as not to wake anyone up. First comes the children’s room, with the little girl and boy, and then the next door is the parent’s bedroom.
And so they tiptoed into the first room. The children were asleep. The holy visitors pulled presents from their sack and laid them down, first by the head of the little girl, then by the head of the little boy. Saint Nicholas kissed the first child, then he kissed the second, and made the sign of the cross on their foreheads. And they tiptoed out of the room.
“And now to the parents in the next room.”
In the parents’ room they did much the same as they had in the children’s room. When they had left the room, the little angel let out an “Ahhhhh,” as if he had just finished some very hard work, and he said:
“Saint Nicholas...”
“Yes?”
“Why is it we have to go ever so quietly? Wouldn’t it be better to come and see them during the day, and not go about at night, and on tiptoe so they don’t wake up? That way we could chat, give them their presents, and leave.”
But Saint Nicholas did not answer. The little angel waited, waited and waited, but when he still got no answer, he took up the same subject again, only this time from a different angle:
“Wouldn’t it be better if we came in the daytime? We would get a good night’s sleep. Each of us would pull up a chair; we would chat with the parents and with the children. Wouldn’t it be better by day?”
“This way is better,” was Saint Nicholas’s simple answer.
“Because you are embarrassed? Because you’re really so shy?” The little angel demanded clarification.
“Because it must be done out of love,” Saint Nicholas told him.
The little angel was silent, clearly surprised by this answer. He didn’t understand, although he wanted to understand, and he thought so hard that his head hurt. But he didn’t manage to make sense of it. So after a little while he asked:
“And what does ‘Out of love’ mean?”
“Out of love means without self-interest,” the saint answered him.
The little angel was astonished and automatically repeated:
“Out of love means without self-interest.”
“That is true,” said Saint Nicholas “It means without self-interest.”
“And what does ‘without self-interest’ mean?” the little angel persisted.
“You see, if that child had seen me, she would have had to be grateful to me. But when it all takes place ever so quietly, in the night, then no one knows that it is me. We may meet each other tomorrow on the street, for perhaps they even know me, or perhaps I know their parents; and then the children and their parents would have to be grateful to me, and I would be their benefactor. But this way, they are free. Saint Nicholas came down from heaven and brought them a present sent from God. I am not a benefactor. The little child is free, and I am free. We will meet tomorrow and I will not be a benefactor. This “benefactor” is a burden to bear, it is unnecessary; I prefer to live a normal life. I don’t want to be a benefactor. Now do you understand?”
The little angel nodded his head:
“I promise you, Saint Nicholas, that I will understand; but just a little bit later – because right now I can’t quite put it all together.
So Saint Nicholas began once again to speak of the same subject, but in slightly different words:
“I’ve already told you a number of times; but if you like, I can repeat it. You see how it is: if we do it at night, then the recipients of the gifts are free. If it were in the daytime, they would look at me respectfully, or in amazement – perhaps even with shame, that it is they who are receiving presents from me and not the other way around. But this way, they are free.
“And secondly?” It was clear that the little angel knew this conversation by heart, since he said, “and secondly”.
“And secondly, I myself am free. Tomorrow I will go to them, or some other time perhaps, and they will welcome me normally, they will look at me as they would others. I will be free – I will not be the one who had given them gifts. Love should not make slaves of people. Neither those who receive it, nor those who give it. Now do you understand?” Saint Nicholas asked the little angel.
“Yes, I think so.”
But he promised himself that he would try very hard to understand it later; because for the time being he was still a little bit confused about it all.
Translated by Karen Christine Underhill
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There are more than 31,000 publishers registered in Poland. However, the market is highly concentrated. The 300 largest publishing firms still hold almost 98 per cent of it. More »
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