Items related to How John Norton the Trapper Kept His Christmas
Synopsis
"A little story of how lonely John Norton and his fellow woodsman, Wild Bill, celebrated Christmas in the north woods by bringing cheer and comfort to a deserted family of four." -Publishers Weekly
"'How John Norton The Trapper Kept His Christmas' was in preaching a sermon in dialect to his dogs, in entertaining his next-door neighbor Wild Bill, who, for a wonder, happens to be as sober 'as a Moravian preacher at a funeral,' in making up a wonderful Christmas hamper and shooting a fine deer, and, with Wild Bill's help, conveying both venison and hamper over the snow to a destitute widow at a distance. A very well filled Christmas, one will say; and we only hope that all trappers do likewise." -The Critic
A cabin. A cabin in the woods. In the cabin a great fireplace piled high with logs, fiercely ablaze. On either side of the broad hearth-stone a hound sat on his haunches, looking gravely, as only a hound in a meditative mood can, into the glowing fire. In the centre of the cabin, whose every nook and corner was bright with the ruddy firelight, stood a wooden table, strongly built and solid. At the table sat John Norton, poring over a book,—a book large of size, with wooden covers bound in leather, brown with age, and smooth as with the handling of many generations. The whitened head of the old man was bowed over the broad page, on which one hand rested, with the forefinger marking the sentence. A cabin in the woods filled with firelight, a table, a book, an old man studying the book. This was the scene on Christmas Eve. Outside, the earth was white with snow, and in the blue sky above the snow was the white moon.
"It says here," said the Trapper, speaking to himself, "it says here, 'Give to him that lacketh, and from him that hath not, withhold not thine hand.' It be a good sayin' fur sartin; and the world would be a good deal better off, as I conceit, ef the folks follered the sayin' a leetle more closely." And here the old man paused a moment, and, with his hand still resting on the page, and his forefinger still pointing at the sentence, seemed pondering what he had been reading. At last he broke the silence again, saying,—
"Yis, the world would be a good deal better off, ef the folks in it follered the sayin';" and then he added, "There's another spot in the book I'd orter look at to-night; it's a good ways furder on, but I guess I can find it. Henry says that the furder on you git in the book, the better it grows, and I conceit the boy may be right; for there be a good deal of murderin' and fightin' in the fore part of the book, that don't make pleasant readin', and what the Lord wanted to put it in fur is a good deal more than a man without book-larnin' can understand. Murderin' be murderin', whether it be in the Bible or out of the Bible; and puttin' it in the Bible, and sayin' it was done by the Lord's commandment, don't make it any better. And a good deal of the fightin' they did in the old time was sartinly without reason and ag'in jedgment, specially where they killed the women-folks and the leetle uns." And while the old man had thus been communicating with himself, touching the character of much of the Old Testament, he had been turning the leaves until he had reached the opening chapters of the New, and had come to the description of the Saviour's birth, and the angelic announcement of it on the earth. Here he paused, and began to read. He read as an old man unaccustomed to letters must read,—slowly and with a show of labor, but with perfect contentment as to his progress, and a brightening face.
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About the Author
"William Henry Harrison Murray ('Adirondack' Murray) was born in a plain New England farm house at Guilford, Conn., on April 26, 1840....Including the various collections of his sermons, lectures and addresses, he has left nearly twenty books which in some respects are unsurpassed by the literary productions of any American author. His writings have passed into a permanent place in the affections of the people, have become nationalized, and some of his compositions, as...'How John Norton the Trapper Kept His Christmas'...are undoubtedly classics. His 'John Norton' is the sole rival in American literature of Cooper's 'Leather Stocking,' while his 'Holiday Tales' have been ranked in this country with Dickens' 'Christmas Carol.'" -Journal of the Outdoor Life
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- PublisherCreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
- Publication date2016
- ISBN 10 1539599507
- ISBN 13 9781539599500
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages62
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