Book your ticket to happiness with Sun Express Airlines. I'm going to. The Oh, Welcome to one thousand one classic short stories and tales. Leo Tolstoy was a Russian author and

and considered to this day to be one of the greatest writers that ever lived.

His novels, War in Peace, and Anna Karanina are masterpieces of realist fiction.

During his visit to Europe he had the good fortune to meet

Victor Hugo who had at that time just spent 30 years writing his masterpiece

lay miserabs and learned a lot from his style of writing.

Tolstoy was a Christian, and he wrote a number of short stories that stand as examples of

his faith.

Today's story, Papa Panov's special Christmas is one of those stories.

It's based on a verse from the Bible, found at Matthew 25 35.

And it goes like this, For I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me.

And now Papa Panov's special Christmas by Leo Tolstoy.

It was Christmas Eve and although it was still afternoon, lights had begun to appear in the shops and

houses of the little Russian village.

For the short winter day was nearly over.

Excited children scurried indoors and now only muffled sounds of chatter and laughter escaped from closed shutters.

Old Papa Panov, the village shoemaker, stepped outside his shop to take one last look around.

The sounds of happiness, the bright lights and the faint but delicious smells of

Christmas cooking reminded him of past Christmas times when his wife

had still been alive, and his own children little.

Now they had gone.

His usually cheerful face with the little laughter wrinkles behind the steel round spectacles looked sad now.

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