Christmas Eve
ONE night there is in the whole year through,
When the cattle may speak as men can do.
Horses and oxen and donkeys stood,
A weary and suffering multitude.
Said the ox, "To-day I fell in the road,
My master helped me with whip and goad,"
And the horse, "With spurring my sides are red,
My master laughed at the wounds that bled!
"Surely the hearts of men do harden
Since Adam named us all in the garden."
Each had a tale of hurt to tell,
The blow, the curse, and the lash that fell,
Save the little ass, with the patient face,
Quietly munching there in his place.
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