CHRIST-KINKLE AND CHRIST-KINDLEIN
I have now told you all that is known of the story of Saint Nicholas
during his lifetime and even after his death. I think you will agree
that we have not yet gone very far in identifying Santa Klaus, the
modern Saint Nicholas, with the historic saint who was once Bishop of
Myra.
It is true that some learned men have thought to find in the legend of
the three maidens an answer to a couple of problems that bother the
inquiring mind.
First they explain that the three purses of gold, which, in pictures
by the old Italian masters, figure as three golden balls, and which
were looked upon as the special symbol or sign of the charitable Saint
Nicholas, are the origin of those three gilt balls which swing over a
pawnbroker’s shop in token of that well-spring of human kindness which
has earned for him the affectionate title of “uncle.”
[Illustration: “Suffer little children to come unto me.”
Painting by B. Plockhorst.]
If you have a fine sense of humor you will see that the last sentence
is sarcasm. And if you have small love for clever explanations that
don’t explain, you will reject this theory of the origin of the
pawnbroker’s sign and prefer to believe that it sprang from the gilt
pills which adorned the shield of the great Medici family of Italy.
Medici means doctors. Both the name and the shield were reminders that
the family earned their first fame as physicians many years before they
became the greatest princes and money changers of Europe.
But the other theory, what of that? The other theory is more to the
point. It assumes that the Saint Nicholas who was Bishop of Myra is the
Santa Klaus of modern Christmas, whom he pre-figured in the fact that
he appeared in the night-time and secretly made valuable presents to
the children of a certain household.
Here is some appearance of truth. In the first place there can be no
doubt that Santa Klaus and Saint Nicholas are the same name. Indeed to
this day our Christmas saint is known either as Santa Klaus or Saint
Nicholas, Klaus in Dutch being “short and sweet” for Nicholaus, and, as
such, the same as our Nick for Nicholas.
But, after all, there seems to be little likeness in other respects
between the saint of the legend and the modern patron of the Christmas
season. What connection is there between a single case of charity,
performed at no particular time, with the splendid and widespread
generosity of Santa Klaus, who every Christmas eve loads himself
down with presents for the little ones he loves, and finds means to
distribute them all over the land in a single night?
As the answer is not apparent on the surface, let us turn to the other
legend. We shall have to confess however that the story of the three
schoolboys miraculously restored to life after they had been cut up
and salted down, helps us even less than does the story of the three
purses. It is simply one of a whole group of stories wherein Saint
Nicholas appears as the friend and benefactor of children. In this
respect only does he resemble our Santa Klaus.
In all the characteristics which modern painters and story tellers, in
America, in Holland and in Germany, have bestowed upon the jolly saint
of the Christmas season he differs entirely from the slender and even
emaciated Nicholas, clad in the robes of a bishop, with a mitre on his
head and a crozier in his hand, whom the early painters were fond of
depicting.
So the legends of Saint Nicholas afford but a slight clew to the origin
of Santa Klaus,--alike, indeed, in name but so unlike in all other
respects.
Let us turn elsewhere. In Germany and to a certain extent in America
the name Christ-Kinkle or Kriss-Kingle is looked upon as another name
for Santa Klaus. But in fact history teaches us that is a far different
Being, though the two have been welded into one in the popular
imagination.
[Illustration: Christ the giver.
Painting by Murillo.]
A very small knowledge of German reveals the fact that Christ-Kinkle
is simply a “corruption” or mistaken pronunciation of the German word
Christ-Kindlein which in English means Christ-child. Now the connection
of the Christ-child with the gift-giving season is obvious enough. In
the first place He is the hero of Christmas day itself. Born a human
child He ever preserved a great love for young people.
“Suffer little children to come unto me,” He said, “for of such is the
kingdom of Heaven.”
The old masters were fond of painting Him as a child among children. In
nearly all the famous pictures which Raphael, the greatest of Italian
artists, painted of the Holy Family or of the Madonna and Child, the
infant Jesus is accompanied by the infant Saint John as friend and
playmate.