Christmas. The most grand and joyful holiday in Christian cultures.
Children don’t cry, adults enjoy a feast, young people fall in love, and stores glitter with colorful decorations─ the work that created this splendid and cheerful Christmas tradition was none other than.
Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.
President Kindersley, who had just turned the last page of the manuscript for A Christmas Carol he was reading, muttered in a voice that seed to have lost so of its soul.
“Reading this novel makes feel like I’ve been wasting the precious ti of Christmas…”
“You’ve been very busy lately. There’s not much you could do.”
“If the author had given this novel at Christmas, it would have been the best Christmas gift of my life! Ugh, I should have rested back then.”
“Then you wouldn’t have received this manuscript, would you?”
“That’s true, but… Huaaah!”
Suddenly, President Kindersley scread and started tearing at his own hair.
Then, after letting out a long sigh as if feeling relieved, he returned to his usual self, that of a young businessman, and continued.
“By the way, author?”
“Yes, President. Was there sothing wrong with the manuscript?”
“No! This ti, it’s perfect as well! It was truly a dreamlike novel… But this novel… wouldn’t it be better to publish it closer to Christmas, rather than now? Since it’s a Christmas-thed novel… I think it would resonate more with the readers if we release it closer to the holiday.”
“Ah.”
Indeed, considering the the of the work, publishing it closer to Christmas would attract more readers.
Publishing it just after Christmas now felt a bit like missing the mark. Seasonal products are typically launched a season early.
However.
What I was trying to do wasn’t just to take advantage of the “Christmas” holiday.
“Still, doesn’t that make you even more excited? You’d have an entire year to anticipate and prepare for Christmas.”
“Well… yes, but…”
I was trying to ‘create’ a new holiday, the “Christmas,” in this world.
During that process, I hoped that many people would think of Christmas. I wanted them to feel regret for not enjoying it enough, recall old mories of Christmas, ask their friends about their Christmas experiences, and co to the conclusion of “So this is what Christmas is.”
Then, when the next Christmas approached.
I hoped that everyone would prepare for Christmas grandly and enjoy a more splendid and cheerful Christmas than ever before.
Because Christmas was supposed to be that kind of day.
If the entire street wasn’t covered in carols and decorations, it couldn’t truly be called Christmas.
“Isn’t it fun just imagining it? Imagine an entire year of anticipation for the next Christmas. Children won’t cry, adults will reminisce about Christmas traditions in their study, young people will show off their fancy celebrations, and rchants will be grinning while thinking about selling Christmas goods─ and imagine how the Christmas preparations, fully made for a year, would cover the capital of the empire.” R̃𝘈ɴОꞖÈṨ
“Author, that’s not really your style… You’re planning to just read books even during Christmas, aren’t you?”
“President, you know too well.”
“Hehe. Still, the image of Christmas you’re imagining seems incredibly beautiful…”
It would definitely be beautiful. Because Christmas was beautiful, and that’s why so many creations in the 21st century set their stories on a snowy Christmas Eve, creating far more romantic and childish tales than we could ever imagine.
Isn’t it just ridiculously childish to imagine?
Snow falling on Christmas Eve. Streets glittering with colorful lights. At the end of the street, an old streetlamp standing alone. Two people chasing each other across the lively street, confessing their love beneath the dim streetlamp─
It’s so childish that it makes you cringe.
“Isn’t it even better because it’s childish?”
Indeed, there were stories that were better because they were childish.
On a New Year’s Day after Christmas, A Christmas Carol was published.
The news that Hor’s new work had been published spread quickly throughout the empire. It wasn’t even considered that new anymore─
“Everyone, rry Christmas! May the whole world have a happy New Year!”
“I feel like I’ve turned into Scrooge… Why have I lived so indifferently all this ti?”
The novel released this ti was A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.
Even those who had grown accustod to literature and developed a resistance to “over-imrsion” couldn’t help but be captivated by the Christmas atmosphere of A Christmas Carol.
They clicked their tongues at Scrooge’s coldness, but felt the excruciating pain of seeing the emaciated children and witnessing Scrooge’s future.
“I will never beco like Scrooge!”
“It is a sin against the Lord to be cold-hearted towards others! The keys to heaven lie in kindness and goodness! Let us all help each other! Let us listen to each other and imagine each other’s happiness! Creating a better future through good intentions is a privilege the Lord has granted us!”
It was… essentially no different from a fairy tale. In that it promotes good and warns against evil.
A Christmas Carol was a novel with a childish and clichéd the of rewarding good and punishing evil.
So critics pointed out this aspect to criticize A Christmas Carol.
They claid it was a novel full of outdated ideas, regressing against the tide of modern tis.
And then.
“Hor is the na of this era! It’s you critics, denying the sanctity of Hor, who are going against the tis!”
“What?”
After experiencing a ‘discussion’ with the followers of Hor, their opinions quickly changed.
However, such reactions alone couldn’t fully explain the influence of the novel A Christmas Carol.
A Christmas Carol was.
“Head Priest!”
“Hoho, Sister, please don’t run in the hallways. The children might see and imitate you.”
“Well, it’s, um─ the nobles from the Council─.”
“Is it another donation this ti? Hmm, we don’t lack anything, so I’ll discuss with the church to direct the donation toward the poorhouse instead─.”
“They’ve co to volunteer in person!”
“…What?”
“They’re holding our children’s hands and listening to their stories right now! So of the nobles are even hugging the children and apologizing─.”
It moved people’s hearts.
It made them feel sha for their selfishness and guilt for their indifference.
It made them empathize with the sorrows of others.
Thus.
“Head Priest, perhaps our children too─.”
“…….”
“Once they graduate from the orphanage, could they possibly… join the Council… or the House of Commons?”
It made people regard others as ‘human beings.’
“…Let us pray. No, first, we must go et those kind visitors who ca to volunteer. Let’s hurry.”
“But didn’t you say not to run in the hallways?”
“Hmm. Co to think of it, I suppose running in the hallways is acceptable once in a while.”
“…Hehe, yes!”
.
.
.
“Young Master, the reports from the two foundations you are operating have arrived.”
“Hmm? Leave them there; I’ll check them later.”
“Yes. This quarter, the number of donors has increased severalfold compared to last year. It’s presud to be the influence of A Christmas Carol.”
“Really?”
“Aren’t you surprised?”
“Well, no, it was already expected….”
The influence of the work A Christmas Carol was overwhelming, to the extent that it could be said to touch the entire society.
In the past life, on Earth, it was Charles Dickens who created the culture of ‘Christmas,’ and A Christmas Carol was particularly notable for its strong social critique.
With a bit of exaggeration.
“A Christmas Carol is the masterpiece that made Christmas a symbol of peace and harmony.”
One could even say this.
That ‘Christmas’ is essentially a work by Charles Dickens.
“Excuse ?”
“Oh, no, um, that’s how it will be in the future.”
“Is that so? You seem to hold this work in especially high regard, Young Master.”
“In terms of its social impact, yes.”
Even the most vile hatred or horrendous malice─ when A Christmas Carol resonates, none of that cos to mind.
No one could remain indifferent to others during Christmas.
The Salvation Army’s charity pots, often seen around train stations during Christmas, were one such symbol.
There were also many other examples representing the peace of Christmas.
Christmas was the grandest holiday in the Christian cultural sphere, and since the era of imperialism, the Christian cultural sphere had ruled half the world.
But if one were to ntion the most dramatic example.
It would be.
The Christmas Truce.
“Are you saying that when A Christmas Carol is played, soldiers at war lay down their weapons and beco friends?”
“Yeah.”
“Hmm, no matter how fictional it is, if you write such a story, people will likely criticize it for being too unrealistic.”
“Pfft, right?”
Yeah.
I also thought Earth’s authors were a bit too careless with their storytelling.
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