The Best Christmas Present In The World

The author found an old roll-top desk for sale in the junk shop. It was made of oak wood and worn out but looked repairable so he bought it.

The author found a letter in the secret compartment of the bottom drawer. It was in a small tin box safely kept. I think the previous owner of the desk had put it in there.

Jim Macpherson, a captain in the British army, had written the letter to his wife Connie from the world front on the day after Christmas in 1914.

The letter described the wonderful Christmas day in 1914 when the British & German army on the border had made merry together, keeping aside the war for the spirit of festivity.

Hans Wolf was a cello player in the orchestra and Jim was an English teacher in his hometown of Dorset, England before they joined their respective army for a fight in the World War.

Hans had never been to Dorset but he knew everything about it from reading books. He had learned all about England from school and from reading books in English. His favourite writer was Thomas Hardy from whose novels he must have learned a lot about England.

No, I don’t think Jim Macpherson came home from the war because the author discovered his old wife alone and she had mistaken him to be her returned husband.

The author had gone to Bridport to return Mrs. Jim Macpherson he husband’s last letter.

Mrs. Macpherson was now hundred and one years old and being put up in a nursing home after the accidental fire at her home.

Connie Macpherson thought the visitor was her husband who had returned from the war.

When Mrs. Macpherson said to the author ‘You had me you’d come home by Christmas’ and asked him to sit closer to her mistaking her for her husband, the author had said nothing to correct her which shows he did not try to hide his identity.

I think Connie had kept Jim’s letter with her forever. It was safely kept in the secret drawer of the roll-top table which must have been at her house until the unfortunate fire. This can be assumed on the basis of her reactions when she found the letter.

I think the desk had been sold after the fire accident at the Macpherson. It was old, worn out and had looked a bit damaged in the fire.

Hans and Jim were short services commissioned soldiers who had joined their national armies only because there had been a war. Hans was a cello player and Jim was a teacher, they were not seasoned commanders in the armies to see war as the only rational way of conflict resolution. They had suffered a great loss and hated the war, and felt sports as a better way of reaching a solution. I agree with their ideas of an alternative to expensive wars.

The soldiers in either armies were no different from one another. Their countries and their leaders might have hated each other but did not have personal differences with the soldiers on the opposite side. They came together to celebrate Christmas on the no man’s land and played a football match with sportsmen spirit. It shows human bonding and lack of hate.

The British and German soldiers were on the opposite side of the war but they were all humans at the end of the day. They put down weapons for a day and came together to celebrate Christmas as friends. They shared stories and food, played games together and sang carols in their trenches at night. Soldiers on both sides despised the war and were anxious to go back home.

Connie mistook the author to be her husband. She had long waited for her Jim to come back from the war on Christmas and finally had him by her side. Even if it were a mistake, the old lady was happy after years of waiting, the joy she must have felt was definitely the best Christmas present in the world.

The title of the story is most suitable for the climax. For old Mrs. Macpherson, no present could have been better than having her husband back from the war and with her at home on Christmas day. She had long waited for him, anxious for his safety and feeling alone in the long journey that her life has been. Since the story is centred around the theme of Christmas and Wars, an alternate title could be ‘Christmas Home Coming’.

A man got on the train and sat down. The compartment was empty except for one lady. She took her gloves off. A few hours later the police arrested the man. They held him for 24 hours and then freed him.

My little sister is very naughty. When she came (come) back from school yesterday, she had torn (tear) her dress. We asked (ask) her how it had happened (happen). She said (say) she had quarreled (have, quarrel) with a boy. She had beaten (have, beat) him in a race and he had tried (have, try) to push her. She had told (have, tell) the teacher and so he had chased (have, chase) her and she had fallen (have, fall) down and had torn (have, tear) her dress.

(a) My friends set out to see the caves in the next town, but I stayed at home because I had seen them already.

(b) When they arrived at the station, their train had left. They came back home, but by that time I had gone out to see a movie!

(c) So they sat outside and ate the lunch I had packed for them.

(d) By the time I returned, they had fallenasleep!

● House no. 12 turned out to be nothing but burned out shell…. (destroyed by fire)

● That was the moment her eyes lit up with recognition…. (brightened)

● Hans Wolf and I looked on and cheered…. (watched)

● The schnapps and the sausages had long since run out…… (finished, consumed)

● Hans Wolf and I looked on and cheered clapping our hands and stamping our feet, to keep out the cold as much as anything…. (to avoid)

Student do yourself.

● Elephant- enormous grey animal

● Face- beautiful round chubby cheeks

● Building- tall large circular

● Water- deep blue icy cold

Wars are the worst possible way of conflict resolution and an expensive choice. It means social tension, bloodshed, suffering and economic damage that do no good to either of the warring nations. Wars are best avoided with meaningful discussions that take into accounts the concerns of the conflicting nations, it is the best way of avoiding misunderstanding and reaching a fruitful solution.

I like to give and receive books for presents. Books are one’s best friend for life, you can read them in the privacy of your room after a long day or quietly in public when travelling. You can also exchange books with friends who like to read and talks to them about it, it is a good way of making good conversations and friends. I keep in mind the taste of the person when I am buying books for someone, like my war like to read about history while my mother likes to read poems. I like to gift popular fiction to my friends and discuss the plot and characters of the story at lengths.

Dear Smith,

Merry Christmas! Hope this letter finds you in good spirits and health. You wouldn’t believe the day I have had! I had long wanted to buy a roll-top desk, the old kinds that look regal and classic. Yesterday, walking through the street I spotted one at the corner of the street in a garage sale. It was a damaged in many places but seemed repairable, so I decided to invest in it. I was carefully working on it at home last night when I came across a letter hidden in a secret drawer. It was a soldier’s letter to his beloved wife, written a day after Christmas day in 1914 from the war trenches somewhere near Germany. He had this amazing Christmas day he had, where the British and the German force that put down weapons and made merry together for the day. They shared food, played football and sang carols in the night. Wonderful as it may sound, I don’t think the man ever return home from the war. His wife, now an old lady lived by herself for years waiting for his return. I went to see her at the address on the latter and found the house burned down. She had been rescued in time and been moved to a nursing facility. I went there to see her and return the priced letter but she took me for her dead husband Jim. I was startled and wanted to correct her but she had a bright smile on her face and I decided against it. She was happy, even if mistaken she was contented after years of wait to have met him her Jim. How could I take it away from her? So, I sat there with her until she was tired of talking and the visiting hours were over and she was ready to bid goodbye to her Jim.

A young doctor, newly married and happy in his regular life, was inspired to join the freedom struggle and fight for the emancipation of the nation. He took leadership of the struggle in Bengal and as a result, he was arrested and exiled to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands by the British to the infamous cellular jail where political prisoners were kept away, isolated from the chaos that engulfed the rest of the country. The prisoners were tortured and starved which lead to them to revolt. The doctor led the inmates to a peaceful protest and show of strength that intimidated the jail authority. They were scared that the prisoners would at some point turn violent and overpower the fewer numbered guards and break out of jail. They decided to break the revolt and hang the doctor for sedition. His wife never received the news of her husband’s demise and waited for him to return for years. He grew old and senile with the wait but still prays for his safe return.

The cricket says these words when he sees that winter has come, the ground is covered with snow and trees have no leaves. He says this because he has not saved anything to eat and now he cannot find any food.

The line, ‘but we ants never borrow; we ants never lend’ means the same as the given quote, “Neither a borrower nor a lender be”.

The ant’s principles are strong. It teaches everyone to be prepared for the rainy day and not depend upon others for help.

Since the cricket sang away the summer, the ant asked him to dance away the winter. The word ‘Dance’ is appropriate here because it is symbolic of making merry and wasting time in the poem.

The last two lines of the poem express the poet’s comment;

‘Folks call this fable. I’ll warrant it true:

Some crickets have four legs, and some have two.’

It appears like a moral fable but the story has a lesson to it. Some people live only in the present with no regards to their future needs. It’s wise to save something for tomorrow because good time doesn’t last forever.

Once upon a time, there were two greedy cats who chanced upon a cake. It was big and round. Both the cats jumped upon it and started prowling. Just then, a monkey was swinging by the branches over them. He looked at the cake and the cats and thought of a wicked tricked. He came down and pacified the cats, asking them to share the cake instead of fighting for the whole. He said, “Come let me split the cake into two halves for you.”

The cake was handed over to the monkey. He broke it into two pieces and found one piece to be bigger. Then he took a bit from the bigger piece to make the two piece even but the now the other piece looked bigger, so he took a bit from it. Thus, we went on eating the cake as the cats watched with hungry eyes and took off.

The cats learned their lesson.