A CHRISTMAS SACK got very tired every time New Year’s Eve came, as his task of delivering the presents which Santa Claus had entrusted him with, to the children of the city, was a very demanding one. “Yet, no one ever gives ME a present!”, the sack bitterly complained all year long. Despite his complaints, as soon as the time came he did give each child their gift wearing a big smile on his face, as he knew they waited for them all year long.

This year, he thought of making his life easier: first, he gathered all the children under the big Christmas tree at the city square. After singing Christmas carols all together, he gave them their gifts, as always, with a smile on his face. So much did they enjoy the surprise even that they sat there for hours, singing and comparing and exchanging gifts with each other. When the time came for them to go back home, however, the Christmas sack was troubled to see that a remaining gift mentioning neither an address nor a name was to be found under the Christmas tree.

“Is this for you, perhaps?”, our good sack anxiously asked each and every child. Yet, as they had all received their gifts, he got no answer back, and the children went back to their homes. Our good sack, however, became very anxious as to whether he had delivered all the gifts correctly, worrying that some child might have been left unsatisfied.

He, then, knocked at every door he could find and asked whether there was a child in the house that had not received its gift. His quest soon proved futile, as only grandmothers and fathers opened the doors, often asking to keep the spare present for themselves so as to remember the good times of their youth.

After making sure he had visited each and every house, he checked the list he had received from Santa again. Each and every child was listed in it, along with its present and good deeds throughout the year. Yet, as he went through the names, he came across just one kid, for which Santa noted that no present was to  be given to as it had been very naughty that year. “Maybe Santa Claus changed his mind”, thought the sack and visited the child in the orphanage nearby. Much to his surprise, however, Santa Claus had already delivered a present to the child, as well as a letter with good advice on how to behave better the next year, via the royal mail. So, our good sack failed to find the recipient of the present once more.

What troubled him even more, however, was that not even a single kid had complained till that point. With the cold getting stronger, the sack angrily went to the city square and stood below the Christmas tree. “Unless you tell me who the present belongs to, I’ll never bring you a gift again”, he shouted and all the children went to the doors and windows of their homes to see what had happened.

“Since you  never give  ME  a present,  I’ll keep it for  myself then!”, the sack exclaimed and turned red with anger. So mad was he even, that he accidentally dropped a note that was attached on  the gift all this time and he had failed to take notice of. The note wrote:

“Our dear sack. To thank you for your diligence in bringing us our gifts all these years, this time we decided to give you a present as well. It’s a pair of new strings.

- the children of the village”.

As soon as our good sack read it, he turned red with shame. “Please pardon me, my judgement was clouded…” he told the children who had gathered around him to calm him down. He, then, opened the gift and got so impressed by his new strings that he wore them straight away.

Since that time, he got his lesson, not to jump into conclusions that easily again.