"Be still, and do not shame me with your ignorance. You have no conception of the dignity of your functions. You have been blessed; you are church-bells. To men you say, 'Keep vigil over your immortal souls!' and to God, 'O Father, have pity on human weakness!' Instead of being proud of your exalted mission, and meditating upon what you see, you chatter like hand-bells and reason like sleigh-bells. Your bright color and your clear voices need not make you vain, for age will tarnish you and the fatigues of your duty will crack your voices. When years have passed; when you shall have proclaimed church festivals, weddings, births, christenings, and funerals; after having raised the alarms for conflagrations, and rung the tocsin at the invasion of the enemy,--you will no longer complain of your fate; you will begin to comprehend the things of this world, and divine the secrets of the other; you will come to understand how tears on earth can become smiles in heaven. "So ring gently, gently, without sadness or fear. Let your voices sound like the cooing of doves. A torn cloak in this world may be a mantle of eternal blessedness in the next." THE END. TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE * Italics have been transcribed between underscores as in _italics_. * Small caps have been transcribed in upper case as in SMALL CAPS. * Obvious printer errors have been silently corrected. * Original spelling has been kept but variant spellings have been made consistent when a predominant usage was found. * The spelling of some Spanish words has been emended, namely: Page x: "Becquer" replaced by "Bécquer" Page 16: "petenéras" replaced by "peteneras" Page 23: "San Jeronimo" replaced by "San Jerónimo" Page 26: "Martinez" replaced by "Martínez" Page 32: "Jimenez" replaced by "Jiménez" Page 60: "Alcala" replaced by "Alcalá" Page 61: "_casa panadería_" replaced by "_Casa Panadería_" Page 117: "_El Latigo_" replaced by "_El Látigo_" Page 118: "_Las Animas_" replaced by "_Las Ánimas_" Page 156: "_delicto_" replaced by "_delito_" Page 183: "Retriro" replaced by "Retiro" Page 221: "BECQUER" replaced by "BÉCQUER" Page 234: "San Ramon" replaced by "San Ramón" End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Christmas Stories from French and Spanish writers, by Antoinette Ogden