The Best Christmas Present in the World, Class 8 English, Chapter 1 Notes

The author found a roll-top desk in a junk shop. It was in a bad condition but cheap. He thought that he could restore it. So he bought it. He began to work on it on Christmas Eve. He pulled out the drawers. He found that these had been badly damaged by fire and water. The man who sold it had told him that it was very old. It was of 19th century and made of oak.

The last drawer had stuck fast. He had to use much force to open it. When it opened, it revealed a secret space. In it he found a small tin box. On the top of the box these words were written: “Jim’s last letter, received January 25, 1915. To be buried with me when the time comes.” Inside, there was an envelope with the address :

“Mrs Jim Macpherson 12 Copper Beeches, Bridport.” The date was December 26, 1914.

The author read the letter. The owner of the desk must have put it in. The letter had been written by a captain of the English army. His name was Jim Macpherson. He had written it to his wife Connie. A wonderful incident had happened on the battlefield on the Christmas day. Jim Macpherson had narrated it in his letter.

The English and the Germans were at war. The two armies stood in their respective trenches on the two sides of the no man’s land. Suddenly Macpherson saw someone waving a white flag from the enemy side. Then he saw many German soldiers calling out to them. They were wishing a happy Christmas to the English soldiers. Some English soldiers shouted back ‘Same to you’. The English thought that was all. To their surprise, they saw many Germans moving towards them.

The captain was alarmed. It could be a trick. But it was not. They were bringing with them German Wine and canned meat. Now there were no rifles between the soldiers. They were hugging one another. The German officer moved towards Macpherson. They shook hands very warmly. Then the German officer said that he was from Dusseldorf and that he played cello in the orchestra. He gave his name as Hans Wolf. In return, Macpherson also introduced himself. He said that he was a school teacher from Dorset.

Hans Wolf smiled. He said he knew Dorset. In fact he had never been to England. But he knew English. His favourite writer was Thomas Hardy. His favourite book was Far from the Madding Crowd. It was from there he had learnt all about Dorset. Macpherson shared with Hans Wolf the Christmas cake his wife had sent for him. Hans Wolf said that the marzipan was the best he had ever tasted. It was a wonderful Christmas party.

Then a soldier brought out a football. The soldiers played while Macpherson and Hans Wolf clapped and cheered. Hans Wolf suggested that the world would be much better if the problems were resolved by a football match instead of war. After the football match, all the drinks and eatables were consumed. Now it was time to part. Hans Wolf saluted Macpherson and Walked away slowly and unwillingly. That night the Germans were heard singing a carol.

The English soldiers replied with a rousing chorus of another carol. They exchanged carols for a while and then it was all silence. Macpherson wrote in his letter that he would treasure those moments all his life. Macpherson ended the letter hoping that the war would end soon. Both armies longed for peace and he was sure they would be together again.

Having read the letter, the author, put it back in the envelope. He decided to give the letter back to whom it belonged. The address was of Bridport, Dorset. So he drove to that place. The house no. 12 turned out to be a burnt-out shell. It was found that Mrs. Macpherson was in the house when it caught fire. The fireman had got her out just in time. She was 101 years old. Now she was in a nursing home.

The author went to the nursing home. He met the matron. She told the author that Mrs Macpherson was rather confused that day. They had put her in a conservatory. The author found Mrs Macpherson sitting in a chair. Naturally, she looked up at the author vacantly. But her eyes lit up when he called her Connie’ and gave her the letter. He told her how he had got the letter. But she was not listening to him. She reached out and took his hand, Her eyes were filled with tears. She felt that her Jim had returned. She said that her Jim had kept his promise. He had returned on the eve of Christmas. She made him sit beside her. She kissed his cheek. She talked long and lovingly to him. She said that she had got the best Christmas present in the world.

Word	Meaning
Spotted	saw
Roll-top desk	a desk with a flexible sliding cover
Far too	very much
Expensive	costly
Clumsily	awkwardly
several	many
mended	repaired
scorch marks	burn marks
was going for	was selling for
little money	cheap
restore	repair
risk	expose to loss
challenge	difficulty in a job one undertakes
workroom	working place
Veneer	a thin layer of decorative wood on furniture of cheap wood separated
lifted	separated
taken their toll on	damaged
struck fast	shut tight
to ease	to loosen
gently	without using much force
brute force	great force
sharply	fast
fist	tightly closed palm
reveal	show
shallow	not deep
reached in	put hand in
gripping	holding tightly
holding	keeping
turned out	happenend
huddles	groups
cheered	encouraged
resolve	solve
generously	liberally
drifting	going
rousing	exciting
terrible	horrible
long for	desire
gaping	peering
muddle headed	confused
easily enough	quite easily
matron	head-nurse
corridor	passage
wicker	cane
wispy	wisp like (like a thin mass)
gazing	looking
went on	continued
Recognition	identification
reached out	extended the hand
shanky	trembling
scruples	appeal of conscience/ moral considerations
curiosity	eagerness
got the better of	won over
it usually does	it happens frequently
unfolded	opened
frame	state
trenches	deep holes in the ground
crisp	bracing-invigorating (weather) all around
all about	all around
frosty	covered with frost
ashamed	abashed
Orchestra	a company of artists playing musical instruments
Fritz	a name for a German soldier
no man’s land	an area between armies which no one controls
got over	controlled
That would be that	that was all
lads	boys
parapet	the wall at the side of the trench
trick	ruse
waving	swaying
Schnapps	a German drink from grains
Sausage	canned minced meat
occurred to	struck
approached	came
outstretched	held out
warmly	affectionately
rum ration	allowance of wine (given to the soldiers)
favourite	choicest
Marzipan	covering on the cake
mingling	mixing
probably	likely
long since run out	consumed long back
dugouts	trenches
distant	far off
folded	wrapped
slipped	put gently
boarded up	covered by wood
entitled	had the right
lopsided	bent on one side
offered	gave
conservatory	a glass house made to relax (close to the main house)
potted	in the pots
bun	hair gathered into a round coil or knot
vacantly	with blank stare
lit up	became bright with happiness
Suffused with Glow	covered with shine
for me	for my sake