LOGLINE
When a woodcutter’s daughter gives the Christ Child her bed on Christmas Eve, she will never forget him.
PITCH
A little child visits a woodcutter’s home in France on Christmas Eve. After being welcomed by the family to warm himself at their hearth, Marie, the woodcutter’s daughter, offers the child her bed for the night. After a restless night’s sleep, Marie and her brother Valentine find the little child—who reveals himself as the Christ Child—singing with angels. The child then plants a fir branch that bursts forth into the first Christmas tree, and he disappears. The woodcutter’s children promise to remember the visitation of the Christ Child, even if no one else ever believes them.
SYNOPSIS
A little child freezing in the cold on Christmas Eve knocks on the ice-and-snow-covered kitchen window of the home of a poor woodcutter in Fourcès, a small town in France. Marie, the woodcutter’s 10-year-old daughter thinks that the boy has lost his way. Valentine, 12, the woodcutter’s only son, invites the child to sit by the fire. The wife of the woodcutter warms the last of their vegetable supper stew for the boy. The boy thanks the family and nibbles on day-old bread from their table. The mother pours the child the last of their milk from the icebox.
Then, Marie insists that the little child sleep in her bed for Christmas Eve night. Instead, she will sleep on the kitchen bench made by her father. As the family settles into their beds, Marie has difficulty falling to sleep. She watches the snow out the window as a star shoots into the distant night sky. She finally drifts to sleep, only to be awakened by music. Marie asks if anyone hears the singing and the harps and wonders if she is having a dream. Valentine slips into the kitchen to peer through the window, and the children realize they have been visited by angels who are dressed in silver robes with golden harps and lutes. While the cherubim and seraphim sing, a group of child-like angels gather beside them also appearing in silver robes. Then, Marie and Valentine turn to see the little child standing next to them in a golden robe and crown. He opens the front door of the poor woodcutter’s home in the breaking dawn and dances and sings with the angels. Amidst the excitement, the woodcutter and his wife hurry to the front porch with his rifle.
After realizing they are in the presence of the Christ Child and angels, the woodcutter and his wife fall to their knees in reverence. The angels and the Christ Child continue to sing and dance on the early Christmas morning in the French countryside. Marie, Valentine, and their parents join in the celebration and make merry music. Then, the Christ Child breaks a main branch of a nearby fir tree from its trunk. He plants the bough of this fir tree deep into the ground and says it will be the first Christmas tree. The fir branch bursts forth into the sky and grows into a full fir tree, decorated with golden apples, silver nuts, and wooden toys. The Christ Child disappears into the early morning air. Marie and Valentine take the gifts from the tree and deliver them to the other homes in the town. They keep their favorite gifts for themselves. Marie tells her brother that they must never forget the Christ Child, even if no one believes them. Marie says that she knows that the Christ Child is real because she gave him her bed for the night, and the bench was very hard. To this day, children everywhere decorate Christmas trees in honor of the little child and remember the faithfulness of the woodcutter and his family.
Copyright 2022 Jennifer Waters
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