The Christmas Pig

Long ago, on a dark winter night, a fat happy pig lay contentedly in his pen in a stable by an inn located in a small town. The inn was very popular and all of its rooms were full of travelers. It was a special time. The town was jammed with people, for everyone in the country was required to come to their home town to sign a book and pay a tax.

Now, the pig in the stable was a pet. The people of the country were forbidden by The Lord God to eat pig meat. So he was safe. The innkeeper made sure he had soft straw to sleep on. That made him a happy pig. The cook made sure he had all the table scraps he could eat. That made him a fat pig.

There were other animals in the stable with him. There was a cow who gave milk for the inn. There were chickens who laid eggs for the inn. There was a donkey who carried the innkeeper or the cook to the town's market. The fat happy pig lived in a small pen in the stable. It was in a corner by the wall next to the inn's garden. It had a wooden fence around it.

That night, just as the pig went to sleep, he heard some voices talking to the innkeeper. One was a young woman. The other was a man. The innkeeper said, "I'm sorry, we just don't have any space. People have come from all over and the inn is full."

The woman said, "But we have come from far away, too. And the rules say we have to come to this town."

The Innkeeper sighed. "All my rooms are taken. Perhaps you should look somewhere else. Try the hotel."

"But we have very little money," said the man. "The hotel costs a lot more than we can spend."

The inn keeper was about ready to shut the door. The pig, with a tear in his eye, heard the man say:

"My wife is going to have a baby. Please, can't you find a corner of your inn where we could sleep tonight?"

The innkeeper sounded very sad when he said, "I'm sorry. The inn is full."

"Perhaps," asked the woman, "perhaps we could sleep in your stable? I'm sure it is dry. The straw would make a good bed."

"Well, said the innkeeper. "I guess that will be fine tonight. But tomorrow you must find another place to stay.".

The man and the woman thanked the innkeeper. They came into the stable to sleep. The fat happy pig went back to sleep, too. Later that night, the pig woke up to sounds. The loudest was a baby crying. The woman said, "He's hungry, Joseph, and we have no food.".

"I know, Mary," said the man, "but we have no more money, either.".

The pig though for a while. He was fat and well-fed. He was happy and not hungry at all. He knew he was well cared for and had been given all the food he wanted before the man and the woman came. But he knew he had eaten all the food. There was nothing left for the baby. He was sorry he had made a pig of himself.

Then the little pig sniffed. He sniffed again. He could smell something nearby. He started looking and sniffing. Now pigs have bad eyesight. But they have very good noses and can smell far better than people can. And he could smell food.

Pigs also do something else very good. They dig. They like to dig for food in the ground such as turnips. Pigs noses are shaped like shovels. They are strong so pigs can push lots of dirt away from the holes they make.

The fat happy pig knew there was still food in the stable because he could smell it. He grunted and found the smell. In the dark, all he could see was the flat blur of the stable wall, but he started to dig with his nose. Soon he uncovered the end of a potato vine which had grown through a crack in the wall from the garden next door. At the end of the vine was a potato. The pig had so much food from the inn that he had never noticed the potato before.

It was not large but it was plump. He sniffed and pushed and soon the potato broke from the vine. It smelled delicious and made the pig hungry. He wanted to eat the potato right then. But the baby still cried and Mary quietly shushed it. The pig pushed the potato to the inside of his pen and grunted.

Nobody came, so he grunted again. And again he grunted, even louder. Soon the man came over. "What's the matter, old fellow?" he asked the pig. With a happy grunt, the pig nudged the potato under the slats of his pen and it rolled against the man's feet.

"Why, Mary, look," said the man. "The pig has found a potato." Picking it up, Joseph carried the potato to the woman. He took out a small carpenter's knife and carefully cut off the peeling. Then he cut the potato into very small pieces.

Mary took off her scarf. She tied a piece of potato in it. Joseph squeezed as hard as he could. At first, nothing happened. Joseph was very strong because he was a carpenter. He made heavy furniture and houses out of wood. Joseph squeezed some more. Slowly, a drop of white potato juice trickled into a cup Mary held under the scarf. Several more drops trickled into the cup. Mary tied another piece of potato into her scarf and Joseph squeezed some more.

When all the potato was crushed, Mary dipped her finger in the juice and the baby sucked the juice off her finger. Soon, it stopped crying and fell asleep. Mary and Joseph took the crushed potato out of the scarf and shared it as their meal. The pig watched them. He was happy the baby had stopped crying. He was happy it was not hungry anymore. The potato smell made the pig hungry but he knew tomorrow, the inn's cook would bring some more delicious scraps.

Then the man did something strange. Joseph picked up the potato peelings and brought them over to the pig. "Thank you, friend pig," Joseph said. "Your gift has given life to the baby." He put the peelings inside the pen, in front of the pig. As the fat happy pig ate the peelings, there was singing all around the stable. Angels and shepherds smiled at him.

Copyright © 1998-2005. Michael Quin Heavener. All Rights Reserved.