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S8 E8: The Gifts of Christmas - Stories for the Whole Family by Ed Stivender and Adam Booth
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S8 E8: The Gifts of Christmas - Stories for the Whole Family by Ed Stivender and Adam Booth
Update: 2024-12-12
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Gather your family to listen to stories about gift-giving and adventure that will carry listeners into the holiday season.
(1:06 ) "The Gift of the Magi" - Ed Stivender tells a classic O. Henry tale of Christmas gifts bought with sacrifice and love, and a great deal of wisdom.
(14:27 ) Sam Payne tells a story about his grandfather and his gift of a piano that kept on giving.
(19:34 ) "Uncle Ephraim and the Blue Snow" - Adam Booth spins a holiday story about giving in even the most incredible of circumstances.
Stories bring us together and the stories on The Apple Seed will spark memories that you can share with the people you love. The Apple Seed is a storytelling podcast by BYUradio and is hosted by Sam Payne.
Key words: Stories, storytelling, storyteller, family, holiday, season, Christmas, love, classic, gifts, presents, giving, gift-giving, sacrifice, irony, adventure, snow, Winter, migration, peddler, generosity
(1:06 ) "The Gift of the Magi" - Ed Stivender tells a classic O. Henry tale of Christmas gifts bought with sacrifice and love, and a great deal of wisdom.
(14:27 ) Sam Payne tells a story about his grandfather and his gift of a piano that kept on giving.
(19:34 ) "Uncle Ephraim and the Blue Snow" - Adam Booth spins a holiday story about giving in even the most incredible of circumstances.
Stories bring us together and the stories on The Apple Seed will spark memories that you can share with the people you love. The Apple Seed is a storytelling podcast by BYUradio and is hosted by Sam Payne.
Key words: Stories, storytelling, storyteller, family, holiday, season, Christmas, love, classic, gifts, presents, giving, gift-giving, sacrifice, irony, adventure, snow, Winter, migration, peddler, generosity
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Transcript
00:00:00
[MUSIC]
00:00:04
Welcome to the Apple See, the Storytelling podcast from BYU Radio,
00:00:08
where your family can gather for great stories from great story tellers in every episode.
00:00:13
Stories bring us together, and we hope the stories on the show will spark memories and thoughts
00:00:18
that you can share with the people you love.
00:00:20
I'm Sam Payne, your host, and today we're bringing you a gift for the season two stories about gift giving.
00:00:27
We'll begin with the classic story, The Gift of the Magi.
00:00:31
It's a beloved Christmas story written in 1905 by the author William Sidney Porter,
00:00:37
who a lot of people know better by his pen name, O Henry.
00:00:42
The story is about a young couple at Christmas time, and they're strapped for cash,
00:00:47
but each of them wants to get a secret Christmas gift for the other.
00:00:51
And telling the story is the great Philadelphia story teller Ed Stiveender.
00:00:56
We're pleased to have him with us here on the Apple Seed.
00:00:59
Here's Ed with The Gift of the Magi.
00:01:02
[MUSIC]
00:01:06
[APPLAUSE]
00:01:09
>> Thank you, thank you, thank you.
00:01:11
>> 85, 86, 87, $1.87, that was all.
00:01:21
And 62 cents of it was in pennies.
00:01:24
pennies saved one and two at a time by bulldozing the vegetal man or the grocer or the butcher
00:01:31
until once she's burned with the silent imputation of par semone,
00:01:37
that such close dealing implied.
00:01:39
$1.87, three times Dell accounted it.
00:01:43
$1.87, and the next day would be Christmas.
00:01:50
There was clearly nothing to do but flop down on the shabby little couch and howl.
00:01:55
So, Dell does it, which instigates the moral reflection that life is made up of
00:02:02
sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles predominating.
00:02:07
While the mistress of the home is gradually subsiding from the first stage to the second,
00:02:14
take a look about the home, a furnished flat for $8 a week.
00:02:20
It does not exactly begger description, but it has that word on the lookout for the mendicancy squad.
00:02:29
In the vestibule below, there is a letter box into which no letter will go.
00:02:35
Also an electric button, from which no mortal finger can coax a ring,
00:02:42
also appertaining thereunto is a card, bearing the name Mr. James Dillingham Young.
00:02:51
Whenever Mr. James Dillingham Young came home and reached the flat above,
00:02:56
he was greatly hugged and called Jim by Mrs. James Dillingham Young,
00:03:02
already introduced to you as Della, which is all very good.
00:03:06
Della finished her cry and attended to her cheeks with a powder rag.
00:03:11
She stood by the window and looked out-dully at a grey cat, walking a grey back yard.
00:03:19
The next day would be Christmas Day, and she had only $1.87 with which to buy a present for Jim.
00:03:26
She had been planning for months with this result.
00:03:29
She had been saving every penny.
00:03:31
Expenses had been greater than she had calculated.
00:03:35
They always are $1.87 with which to buy a present for Jim.
00:03:40
Her Jim, many a happy hour she had spent thinking of something nice for him,
00:03:46
something fine and rare and sterling, something just a little bit near to being worthy of the honor of being owned by Jim.
00:03:56
Suddenly she whirled from the window and stood in front of the mirror.
00:04:01
Her face had gone white in ten seconds, but her eyes were shining brilliantly.
00:04:06
Rapidly she pulled down her hair and let it fall to its full length.
00:04:11
Now, there were two treasures in which the James Dillingham Youngs both took a mighty pride.
00:04:18
One was Jim's gold watch, which had been his father's and his grandfather's.
00:04:23
The other was Della's hair.
00:04:25
If the Queen of Shiba had lived in the flat across the air shaft,
00:04:30
Della would have let her hair out the window to dry someday just to depreciate her majesty's jewels and gifts.
00:04:41
If King Solomon had been the janitor with all of his riches piled up in the basement,
00:04:48
Jim would have pulled out his watch every time he passed just to see the king pluck at his beard with envy.
00:04:55
And now Della's hair fell about her, rippling and cascading like a cascade of brown waters.
00:05:04
It reached below her knee and made itself almost a garment for her.
00:05:08
Then she did it up again, rapidly and nervously.
00:05:12
She faltered for a minute and stood still while a tear or two fell on the worn red carpet.
00:05:20
Then onwent her old brown jacket, onwent her old brown hat and with a whirl of skirts and that brilliant sparkle,
00:05:28
still in her eyes she fluttered out the door and down the stairs to the street.
00:05:34
Where she stopped, the sign read, "Madame Sofroni, hair goods of all kinds."
00:05:43
One flight up, Della ran, she collected herself panting.
00:05:47
"Madame, large, chilly, too white, hardly looked the Sofroni."
00:05:55
"Will you buy my hair? I buy hair. Take your hat off and let's have a sight at the looks of it."
00:06:04
Down rippled the brown cascade. "Madame, weighing the mass with a practiced hand," said.
00:06:11
"Twenty dollars! Oh, give it to me quick." Oh, and the next two hours tripped by on rosy wings.
00:06:18
Forget the hashed metaphor. Della was ransacking the stores looking for Jim's present.
00:06:25
She founded it last. It surely had been made for Jim and for no one else.
00:06:31
There was no other like it in any of the stores and she had turned all of them inside out.
00:06:37
It was a platinum fob chain. Simple and chased in design. Proclaiming its value by substance alone
00:06:51
and not by merititious ornamentation, as all good things should do. It was worthy even of the watch.
00:07:05
As soon as she saw it, she knew it must be Jim's. It was like him. Quietness and value with this
00:07:13
description applied to both. "Twenty one dollars!" they took from her for it.
00:07:21
And she hurried home with the other eighty-seven cents. With that chain on his watch, Jim would be
00:07:27
properly anxious about the time in any company. As grand as the watch was, he sometimes looked at it
00:07:33
on the sly on account of the old leather strap he used instead of a chain. When Della got home,
00:07:39
intoxication gave way to prudence and reason. She took out her curling irons, lighted the gas,
00:07:49
and went to work repairing the ravages of generosity added to love. Always a tremendous task,
00:07:57
dear friends, a mammoth task. Within forty minutes, her head was covered with tiny,
00:08:06
close-lying curls that made her look wonderfully like a druid schoolboy.
00:08:12
She examined her reflection in the mirror long critically and carefully.
00:08:18
"If Jim doesn't kill me before he takes a second look at me, he'll say I look like a
00:08:25
Coney Island chorus girl. But what could I do? What could I do with a dollar at eighty-seven cents?"
00:08:33
At seven o'clock, the coffee was made and the frying pan was on the back of the stove hot and ready
00:08:40
to cook the chops. Jim was never late. Della doubled the chain in the palm of her hand
00:08:46
and sat on the corner of the table by the door he always entered. Then she heard his step
00:08:54
away down on the first flight and her face went white. She had a habit of saying little prayers
00:09:02
about the simplest everyday things and now she whispered, "Dear God, please make him think I'm still
00:09:10
pretty." The door opened and Jim stepped in and closed it. He looked tired and very serious.
00:09:19
Poor fellow, only 22 years old and to be burdened by a family, he needed a new overcoat and was
00:09:26
without gloves. He stopped inside of the door as motionless as a setter on the scent of quail.
00:09:34
His eyes were fixed on Della and there was an expression in them that she could not understand.
00:09:43
It was not anger nor disapproval nor horror nor any of the sentiments that she had been prepared for.
00:09:51
He simply stood there with that peculiar look on his face. Della rigled off the table and went from
00:09:59
"Jim Donning, don't look at me that way. I've had my hair cut off and sold it because I couldn't
00:10:04
live through Christmas without giving you a present. It'll grow out again. You won't mind.
00:10:09
I just had to do it. My hair grows awfully fast. Say Merry Christmas, Jim, and let's be happy.
00:10:16
You don't know what a nice, what a beautiful nice present I've got for you."
00:10:20
"You've cut off your hair," said Jim laboriously, as if he had not yet reached that patent fact
00:10:31
after the most difficult mental labor. "Cut it off and sold it, but don't you like me just as well,
00:10:37
anyhow? I'm me without my hair, ain't I?" Jim looked about the room curiously.
00:10:43
"You say your hair is gone." "You needn't look for it, Jim. It's gone. I tell you gone and sold too.
00:10:55
Maybe the house, my head, were numbered, but no one could count. I love for you. Shall I put the
00:11:04
chops on, Jim?" Out of his trance, Jim seemed quickly to wake. He enfolded his della. He reached into
00:11:14
his pocket, pulled out a package and placed it upon the table. "Don't make any mistake about me,
00:11:21
Dale. I don't think there's anything in the way of a haircut or a shave or a shampoo that would
00:11:31
make me like my girl any less. But if you unwrap that package, you'll see why you had me going
00:11:39
a while at first. White fingers and nimble tour at the string and paper, and then an ecstatic cry
00:11:47
of joy, and then alas a quick feminine change to hysterical tears and whales, dissociating all of the
00:11:56
comforting hours of the Lord of the flat, for there lay the combs, the set of combs that Delah had
00:12:04
worshiped for long in a Broadway window." "Beautiful combs, they were. Pure tortoiseshell,
00:12:10
with jeweled rims, just the shade to wear in the beautiful, vanished hair. They were expensive combs,
00:12:17
Delah knew, and her heart had craved and yearned over them without the least hope of possession.
00:12:24
And now they were hers, but the coveted adornments was gone. And she hugged them to her bosom,
00:12:33
and was able to look up in a moment with a smile and dim eyes and say, 'My hair grows back
00:12:42
awfully fast, Jim.' Oh, she leaped up like a singed cat from the fireplace. Jim had not yet seen his
00:12:49
beautiful present. She held it out to him eagerly on the palm of her hand. Isn't it a dandy, Jim?
00:12:56
I hunted all over town to look for it. You're going to have to check the time 100 times a day now.
00:13:03
Give me a watch. I want to see how it looks on it. Jim, instead of obeying, Jim tumbled down on the
00:13:10
couch, put his hands behind his head, and said, 'Del, let's put our presents away for now. They're too
00:13:20
nice to use, just at present. I sold the watch to get the money to buy your combs. So let's put them
00:13:30
chops on.' The magi, as you know, were wise men, wonderfully wise men, who brought gifts to the
00:13:38
bay, but the manger. They invented the art of giving Christmas presents, and being wise,
00:13:44
their choices were no doubt wise ones, perhaps with the right of exchange in case of duplication.
00:13:52
And here I have lamely related to you the uneventful chronicle of two foolish children in a flat
00:14:01
who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house, but in a final
00:14:08
word to the wise of these days, let it be said, of all who give and receive gifts such as these are
00:14:16
wisest. They are the magi. The gift of the magi, Oh Henry's classic about sacrifices made for the
00:14:34
giving of gifts at Christmas, told for you by Ed Stiveender. That's a story that has seen a lot of
00:14:41
versions over the years. When I was a kid, I remember seeing on television the Sesame Street version
00:14:47
of the story, a version in which Ernie sells his rubber ducky to Mr. Hooper in exchange for a
00:14:54
Christmas gift for Ernie's buddy Bert, a cigar box where Bert can store his paperclip collection.
00:15:01
Of course Bert has sold his paperclip collection to Mr. Hooper in exchange for a Christmas gift for
00:15:07
Ernie, a soap dish where Ernie can display his rubber ducky. I still love that version of the classic
00:15:13
story. But when I hear Ed Stiveender tell the story here on the apple scene, I'm reminded of a real
00:15:20
life sacrifice made for the giving of a gift. A gift that like the gifts in Oh Henry's story might
00:15:26
have been described at least at first as having limited usefulness to the receiver. My grandfather,
00:15:33
Leland J. Payne, long ago when he had married his first sweet art, a Rilda, Madeleine, Anderson,
00:15:41
scrimped and saved and bought for her a piano. And when he bought it, they both knew that a Rilda had
00:15:47
a heart condition that was shortened her life quite severely. She would in fact only be with
00:15:53
my grandfather for about four years before she passed on. It must be said that she filled those
00:15:59
years with music, playing herself and teaching piano lessons to neighborhood kids. But again,
00:16:06
long before her time, that piano fell silent. But the gift that my grandfather had purchased for
00:16:13
his dear Rilda kept giving as good gifts so often do. One of her little neighborhood piano students,
00:16:20
a kid named Gerald Ottley, would grow up to be the longtime director of the Mormon tabernacle choir.
00:16:28
And the piano that sat silent for a while after a Rilda's passing would eventually become the piano
00:16:34
that moved into my father's house when he left home and started a family, which means it's the piano
00:16:40
on which I learned to play as a child. It still stands in my dad's home today. A reminder of
00:16:48
so many good things. And that's where Ed Styvinder's telling of the gift of the magi took me. Where did it
00:16:56
take you? And who will you take along?
00:17:04
I want to introduce you to another show from the BYU Radio Family of Podcasts. It's called
00:17:16
the Lisa Show. And it's hosted by comedian, believer, actress, single mother, Lisa Valentine Clark.
00:17:24
The Lisa Show delves into the multitude of challenges and relationships that shape our lives. Whether
00:17:31
it's parenting, mental health questions, social issues, she and her counsel of moms will tackle it.
00:17:37
She'll help you figure out this thing called life with a lot of laughs along the way. Lisa is a great
00:17:43
person to hang around with. The Lisa Show, listen wherever you get your podcasts, you can find it on
00:17:48
Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, all kinds of places to listen to the Lisa Show whenever you like.
00:17:55
The Lisa Show from BYU Radio. There's a lot coming up, but I want to take just a moment to let
00:18:01
you know about another show from among the BYU Radio Family of Podcasts. The podcast is called
00:18:07
Constant Wonder. And it's hosted by Marcus Smith. In each episode, Marcus takes you on kind of a quest
00:18:14
to find the awe and wonder in all nature, human or wild. Not just interested in the natural world,
00:18:22
interested in human nature as well. Marcus's guests tell fascinating stories and talk about experiences
00:18:29
that have left them all struck. You'll love the podcast. You can find it on Apple Podcasts,
00:18:36
Spotify, YouTube, all kinds of places to listen to Constant Wonder anytime you need a little dose of
00:18:43
awe or wonder in your life. Constant wonder from BYU Radio.
00:18:56
It's a pleasure to be with you on the Apple Seed today, where we have one more gift to share.
00:19:05
A story by the West Virginia Storyteller Adam Booth. It's a delightful mix of Appalachian,
00:19:11
tall tale and heartwarming holiday story that asks, how does a snowed in Appalachian town get its
00:19:19
Christmas gifts? It's a story called Uncle Ephraim and the Blue Snow. We recorded it live in the
00:19:25
Appalachian studio. Here's Adam. Thank you all. Long ago in the mountains, way, way long ago in
00:19:41
the mountains, they talked about the blue snow. So you know, today, it's snow's when it gets cold,
00:19:48
but when it gets really cold, it can't snow. It's too cold to snow, but they said back in the day,
00:19:55
that when it got really, really cold, it reached another period or another phase where it could
00:20:01
snow again, but a special kind of snow would fall. They called it the blue snow. Because to look at
00:20:08
your window, everything just looked a little bit blue with a special kind of snow. One morning,
00:20:15
old Uncle Ephraim woke up and everything had this blue glow about it and he thought, could it have
00:20:20
happened? I'd heard tell about it, but I'd never seen it with my own eyes and he jumped out of bed
00:20:24
and dashed across the room and looked out the window and everything out in creation was covered with
00:20:29
that blue snow. He thought I got to go outside and see it. He opened the door and slammed the door and
00:20:34
said, no, I don't. He put on his coat first and several pairs of long johns and then went out to see it
00:20:41
and that cold had come on so fast that the flowers had mumble bees frozen to them.
00:20:46
And there were long yellow beams right there on the snow. He thought, well, what could that be?
00:20:52
When he examined it, he realized that it had frozen so fast that sunbeams had just cracked off and
00:20:56
fallen right down. And he thought, well, I won't be able to get into town to get me something to eat
00:21:02
today. Well, what do I do? And he looked all around and saw down there at the pond. His prayers have
00:21:09
been answered. There must have been 200 ducks frozen in that icy pond now. And he looked around and
00:21:17
went to the old wood pile and picked up one that could be a nice club. Took it down there and
00:21:23
thought, I'll just whack one of them. And that'll be my supper. And he wham down like that. Now, don't worry.
00:21:30
Don't worry. He wham like that. And it was so hard that ice was that instead of whacking the duck,
00:21:42
it kind of went up down his arm and his bones just rattled in his jaw, clicked against his skull,
00:21:50
and that ice just shattered right off. And that duck, which had been frozen, mid quack, said,
00:21:57
start flapping its wings, quack, quack. The bottom half of it was still frozen down in the ice.
00:22:03
Well, he went to the next one because this one was shun him away and bam like that. And it
00:22:09
shivered up his bones and the ice cracked off of this one and that one started clacking at him
00:22:14
and flapping its wings at him. And he went around to this one and that one and this one and that one.
00:22:18
And we got to that 200 duck and wham like that and the ice fell off. And I got to tell you,
00:22:24
there were now 400 wings flapping like this. And that was enough power to lift that old six inches
00:22:32
of frozen top of the lake right up into the air. With all those ducks flapping and quacking like
00:22:39
that and old Uncle Ephraim was just standing right on it. There was nowhere to go but with them.
00:22:44
And you know where ducks want to go, right? They wanted to go south. So this big old disc ice up
00:22:54
in the air with 200 ducks flapping like this and quack and took off flying out of the mountains.
00:23:00
And by the time they got to Tennessee, what was a little warmer there and the outsides of that
00:23:04
disc had started to melt and a few ducks were free and flew away and came down a little lower.
00:23:09
And when they got to North Carolina, a few more melted away and they flew off and it got a little
00:23:14
lower and by the time they got down to Georgia, it was so warm that the rest of that ice just
00:23:19
melted all away and all the ducks flew away and poor old Uncle Ephraim was now just falling out of
00:23:23
the sky. Well what was left of that lake was just a little puddle under his feet falling down like
00:23:29
this and they were falling so fast that it froze right back up into a snowflake that big
00:23:35
that he was standing on and it just kind of
00:23:37
back down towards the earth and until they were about 10 feet away from the earth and it was warm
00:23:46
enough that that snowflake just melted and evaporated and Uncle Ephraim fell right down the rest
00:23:52
those 10 feet right on top of a man who was standing there. Fump like that and he knocked that man
00:23:59
plum out right on the ground and when he stood up there was another man standing right there a
00:24:05
peddler I said this was an old old story you know a peddler was a person to go around and sell
00:24:10
wears out of a pack and that peddler said oh thank you he grabbed his arm and started pumping it
00:24:14
up and down thank you you saved my life that man was trying to rob me and then payment
00:24:21
for saving his life he just turned his whole pack of goods right over to old Uncle Ephraim
00:24:26
and Uncle Ephraim he wanted to get back home so he started walking back north
00:24:31
and found his way back up to the part of the Appalachian Mountains where we live
00:24:35
and as he made his way up into the hall or well the last of that blue snow had just melted away
00:24:41
and he heard a bell ringing in the distance I made him realize today was Christmas day
00:24:51
and because all the people have been stuck in their homes with that blue snow they hadn't been
00:24:55
able to go out and get things to celebrate the holiday and so he opened up that pack and put gifts
00:25:00
on the doorsteps of all the people up and down that town a doll or a ball maybe a new axe and a skillet
00:25:09
so that when the people finally came out to celebrate Christmas there were some nice gifts there
00:25:13
till that pack was empty and Uncle Ephraim well he'd had enough adventure for a whole season
00:25:21
so he went to his home and laid down to take him a nice long winter's nap he'd earned it
00:25:28
and he slept through the rest of the winter and didn't wake up until the spring had come around
00:25:33
and boy if you want to know what happened then well I don't have time to tell you tonight
00:25:39
but I can tell you it was many more adventures that will save for another time
00:25:47
thank you all thanks everybody
00:25:51
Adam Booth with his story Uncle Ephraim and the blue snow do you have special holiday stories
00:26:00
you share every year with your family is there a gift that you gave or received at Christmas
00:26:07
that fills you with poignant memories of someone important to you
00:26:10
what's your favorite family memory at this time of year
00:26:15
whatever your traditions make time to share those memories with the people you love
00:26:20
we want to thank Ed Stiveender and Adam Booth for sharing with us today you've listened to their
00:26:26
stories now it's time to share some of your own
00:26:29
the apple seed is produced by me Sam Bain Wendy Folsom Brian Tanner and Kira Van Dam
00:26:38
our audio engineer is DJ Chromarty and the rest of the apple seed team is Tristan Chetzel
00:26:43
K Hendrix and Nico Wetzel and if you like today's podcast subscribe, rate us and leave us a review
00:26:49
and tell your friends that's how the podcast grows we also love to receive emails email us at the
00:26:56
apple seed at bw.edu that's the apple seed all one word at bw.edu your thoughts and comments
00:27:04
help us shape the future of the apple seed we're pleased and proud to be among the many podcast
00:27:09
produced by the bw.edu radio family of shows if you want more great story telling for the whole
00:27:13
family then search for our companion podcast kaboom where you'll hear original audio adventures
00:27:19
for the whole family you can find any episode of the apple seed or kaboom on youtube spotify apple
00:27:25
podcasts on the bw.edu.app or at bw.edu.org I'm Sam Bain and we can't wait to be with you again on
00:27:32
the apple seed
00:27:33
[Music]
00:27:43
you
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