For the First Sunday of Advent (not advertising)

For the First Sunday of Advent, I have a poem for you here; the names can be swapped out...

The Christmas Mouse

The Christmas mouse is curious
even to learned people.
For only once in all the year
do its tracks become visible.

With traps and with rat poison
you cannot catch this mouse.
As far as that is concerned,
it has never been caught in the net.

All year long this mouse
causes people no trouble.
But suddenly out of its hole
it creeps on Christmas Day.

For example, of the festive cookies,
which Mother had hidden well,
suddenly the very best was gone
on the first Christmas morning.

Everyone said it straight out:
I didn't take it!
It must have been the Christmas mouse
that came overnight!

Another time even
JONATHAN's marzipan disappeared:
which was strange and astonishing,
for no one ever found it later.

SARAH called out straight away:
I didn't take it!
It must have been the Christmas mouse
that came overnight!

A third time, from the tree
on which the baubles hung,
a meringue Santa disappeared,
along with other tasty things.

ANIKA said it straight out:
I didn't take it!
It must have been the Christmas mouse
that came overnight!

And HANS and NICI and JOJO,
they cried, what a nuisance!
The wicked mouse is back again
and right on the holiday!

Only SABINE spoke no word of complaint.
She said without beating around the bush:
Once the sweets are gone,
the mouse will have vanished too!

And it was really true: the mouse stayed away
as soon as the tree had been emptied,
as soon as the last festive cookie 
had been eaten and consumed.

If someone now says that in their house,
with little Franz and little Lieschen - 
there was no Christmas mouse,
then I have my doubts.

But I say nothing that would offend anyone!
You'd like that, wouldn't you!
What one thinks of Christmas mice
is left up to everyone.

Wonderful, Sabine. Such a sweet poem. I’d love to join in, but I think I’d better not ;D
Best regards, Steffi

That’s a shame, Steffi,
now you’ve made me curious :-) My mom found this poem somewhere and adapted it for my family... it caused a lot of giggling when it was read aloud.

Cute :-)

I memorized this poem when I was a child and used to love reciting it to Santas at Christmas markets. :-)
I can even still recite the first three stanzas. Even though it’s easily been 25 years.
I wish you all a wonderful First Sunday of Advent as well.

Our daughter did this in elementary school. They performed it there with several children at the Christmas party. Really very sweet!

Good things never go out of style :-)