Christmas porridge by sven nordqvist read online. Sven Nordqvist - Christmas Porridge: A Tale

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It was Christmas Eve. White snow lay motionless in the yard. It was getting dark, warm light streaming from the windows of the living room and kitchen. The Christmas table was being laid in the house. The whole family will be here soon.
The father of the family of gnomes and his middle daughter, Polka, hid in the hayloft. Through holes cut in the wall by a woodpecker, they watched the worker Oscar gather firewood.
- Look how he is careful, he is afraid to get his festive costume dirty. Yes, you rarely see him in a suit, - said the father.
“Look, the owner is returning from the station with a full sleigh of relatives,” Polka remarked. - So, soon all the children will come to the stable to feed the horses with Christmas dinner, city guests love this business.
“Yes, and then, I suppose, they will want to bring Christmas porridge to the dwarf,” his father grinned into his beard.
“You have one porridge on your mind,” said Polka. - And what is so special about her? Mom cooks this herself.
“Maybe so,” my father replied. - But the point is not in the porridge itself. People present it to the dwarf as a sign of respect. This means that they are grateful to him for everything he has done for them, and do not want to quarrel with him. An evil gnome brings misfortune and misfortune to people. And if I'm not respected, I can get angry. You see, baby, when you amaze yourself with overwork the whole year ...
The polka chuckled.
- You said "amaze", but you have to say "exhausting."
My father tried to assume importance, but nothing came of it.
“You have no shame, no conscience,” he sighed. - Stop making fun of the old man. Today we have no time for all sorts of nonsense.
The dwarf grabbed his daughter by the arms, and they danced around.
- Today is Christmas, we will go downstairs and have a Christmas dinner too ...
- Aha! Polka exclaimed. - And then let's go look at the Christmas gnome!
- Aha-ah! Her father mimicked. - And then let's go and Christmas porridge!
The dwarfs lived in the hayloft, behind a door that no one else noticed.
If you look outside, you will not understand that someone lives behind this wall. And you enter the door and you will see a spacious room, where there is plenty of room for seven dwarfs.
The mother of the family set the table, and Pulka stirred the boiling brew in a large pot over the fire. He's already big, soon eleven years old. This task was considered honorable in the family of dwarfs, because Christmas dinner was the most solemn meal of the year.
Gnomes don't eat meat, so they don't have a Christmas ham. But they cook a stew of various herbs, berries and mushrooms that they managed to collect in a year - from the first bud of a mother and stepmother to the last frozen russula. They bake bread from the grains of four grains, and their beer is extraordinary: the younger the drinker, the weaker and sweeter it is, the older, the stronger and bitter. Therefore, little Pilka, who is barely four years old, drinks beer no less than her old grandfather, who is already four hundred and twenty-seven years old.
Father and Polka told the others what people were doing, but mother listened to them half-heartedly. She was thinking of one thing she had to do this evening. It was a very serious matter.

This is how gnomes are arranged: they always know the most important things, even if they do not see it with their own eyes. Or even if it hasn't happened yet. Therefore, you can often hear something like this from them: “In the living room, a coal jumped out onto the floor. Rather, run to extinguish! " or “Baby Anna is about to fall out of bed. Run away, substitute a chair! "
But now the mother was thinking about something else: she knew that this time the owner of the house would forget to put out a plate of Christmas porridge for the dwarves. V last years people completely stopped following it. Know yourself running around with your Christmas gnome. And now they don't care about real gnomes. Even the children have forgotten. Probably they decided that the Christmas gnome was enough, why transfer the porridge to others. They do not understand that the gnome is the gnome.
Once, a long time ago, there was a case - they forgot to bring porridge to the dwarves. And the dwarf father was so angry that misfortunes happened in the house all year. Well, how he got through, he really is such a good-natured person!
So, this means that this year they will again forget about Christmas porridge - the mother-dwarf knew about it in advance. You have to do something, and then it’s unbearable to watch people suffer for the whole year.
- Well, my boy, when will you go for porridge? - the grandfather asked the dwarf-father.
“I don’t want any porridge,” said Pilka.
“It's a bit early,” my father replied. - First, we'll taste the Christmas soup and ...
- Maybe I can help you get it across? A? He-he-he-he, - the grandfather laughed.
The father hesitated. He couldn't think of anything but porridge anyway. So why not?
“I'll go and see,” he said. - Who knows...
The dwarf mother seized the moment and called Pulka and Polka aside so that the dwarf father would not hear their conversation.
- I need your help. Just not a word to my father! People will forget to bring him porridge. We need to get it ourselves, so much so that my father does not guess anything. In addition, we must remind people that we exist. Just do not forget, it must be done so that no one sees us!
The gnome, which appeared to people in the eyes, loses its magical power, you know. This is how we will proceed ...
She quickly began to explain something to Pulka and Polka, who nodded intelligently.
- What are you whispering about there? - asked the grandfather.
Before they could answer, their father returned.
- Y-yes, there is no porridge. But still ahead, don't worry grandpa.
- Of course, what to think now. Let's have a Christmas dinner. Please go to the table!
Everyone sat down at the table and began to eat Christmas soup with bread and beer. They ate for a long time and with pleasure, taking turns telling each other the most memorable stories that happened to them during the year. All the gnomes were excellent storytellers, and the stories were enough for a long supper. My grandfather was especially trying. True, he remembered a story that happened one hundred and fifty years ago, but what, in the end, is the difference.
And then the gnome mother says:
-You know what?
- What?
- No.
- What are you talking about?

Under New Year I always want so much warmth and comfort, and also faith in a miracle! The fact that there are fabulous creatures that help us, make our life better.

This book is specifically about them: about little gnomes (or brownies?) Who quietly live next to people, protecting them from misfortunes: they make sure that the kids do not fall out of bed, the coals do not jump out of the fireplace (and if they do, the gnomes they will definitely be extinguished), and the sheep did not get stuck in the fence.

And for all this they ask for very little: just a plate of delicious porridge for Christmas. But ... people who are keen on celebrating Christmas, dancing and gifts completely forget about their little helpers. But in no case should you do this, because if the gnome gets angry, then whole year only misfortunes will happen in the house. Fortunately, the dwarf mom decides to help people and save them from the wrath of the dwarf father. Everything ends well, and, most importantly, now people are unlikely to forget about the gnomes who live with them.

This is an absolutely wonderful book, reminding us that even in the century high tech, miracles are still around. You just need to be able to see them, believe in them. Children, unlike adults, believe in miracles much stronger, and they do not need proof. And thanks to this book, they learn a little about the life of gnomes, how they manage to remain invisible to humans, and how sometimes it happens that an attentive and curious child still manages to see a gnome with his own eyes. And at the same time to discover that gnomes are very little different from humans. Well, maybe the size :)

This book is also about mutual assistance. What would happen if the dwarf mother did not dare to help people so bravely? Nothing good. But she does not ask for any reward, does not expect any gratitude. This is probably an illustration of a real mother. Mothers not only of her own family, but also of those around her, those whom she considers to be a family. Help discreetly, help even when not asked, and never remind you of your help. Isn't that what real moms do?

The book is very kind and very cozy. The illustrations so well reflect the festive bustle, joy and fun that reign in the house, that it seems that you already have a Christmas tree in your house, and the guests are about to ring the doorbell.

It seems to me that these are the books that create the New Year's atmosphere. And even as you get older, it will still be pleasant to take it out on the eve of the New Year, and remember that wonderful brownies live in your house too, who certainly deserve their plate of Christmas porridge!

Publisher: Belaya Vorona, 2015
Age: 4-9 years old

Every Swedish house has a family of gnomes. These kind creatures make sure that there is always order in the house, so that the people living there are healthy and cheerful. Little helpers are invisible, but very important in the life of every Swede. And on Christmas night, every self-respecting - and gnomes - Swede, as a token of gratitude, brings the gnome-father a plate of traditional Christmas porridge.

Woe to the house where they stopped believing in gnomes and giving them gifts for Christmas! Nothing will go well with such people all year round, because an offended gnome not only does not help in the household, but can also play a trick .. And there are people who do not present Christmas porridge, not on purpose, but out of forgetfulness. These people are kind and honor the gnomes and therefore deserve a good life. Who will help them remember the little people?

From this book by Sven Nordqvist, the reader will learn about Christmas traditions in Sweden, about the life of an ordinary Swedish family (people and gnomes too). And he will find a lot in common with Russian customs.

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