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Basque (3 stories)
> Mari, the Basque Goddess
> The Basajaunak, Lords of the Forest
> Olentzero, the Basque Father Christmas
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Olentzero, the Basque Father Christmas
Once upon a time, many many years ago, in the deep forests of the Basque Country, there lived a very beautiful and magical lady called Mari. Her hair was yellow like the sun and her eyes were very bright. One day, when she was travelling through the mountains, she stopped to brush her hair next to a waterfall. Suddenly, she noticed that something was moving amongst the ferns. It was a human baby. "An abandoned baby!” said Mari, "It is hard to understand how humans can be so heartless sometimes."
"From now on," said Mari to the baby, "your name will be Olentzero, for it is a wonderful thing to have found you. And I hereby give you the gifts of Strength, Courage and Love, for as long as you live."
Then Mari took baby Olentzero and left it by the front door of an old house at the edge of the forest, where a kind but childless couple lived. "They will be very, very happy to receive this child and they will take good care of it, I know," said Mari.
Very early in the morning, when the man came out of the house to go to milk the cows, he saw the baby and called his wife: "My love, come quickly! Come and see what I've found!"
Just as Mari had predicted, the man and the woman were very, very happy to find this child. "How could we be so lucky!" said the woman. And immediately they wrapped the baby in a warm blanket, gave him some food and took him as their son.
This is how Olentzero came to grow up in the Basque mountains, and he became a strong, healthy and kind man. Olentzero worked every day from morning till night, making charcoal and helping his ageing father. After his loving parents finally died, Olentzero lived all alone in the house in the forest. This made him sad and he decided that what he needed to do was to help people in need. Olentzero immediately thought of some orphan children who lived in a town further down the valley. They lived on whatever the people in the town gave them, and he realised that these children were very lonely, just like him, and that he could do things for them to make them happy.
Olentzero was very clever and very good at making things with his hands, so he made some toys out of wood for those children: little toys and dolls, which he planned to take to the children when he went to town to sell his charcoal.
When he had finished the dolls and other toys, he put them in a big bag, put the bag on his donkey, and set off. It took him a whole morning of walking through the mountains to get to town, but he felt very happy inside that day, and his eyes were shining very brightly, for he was going to give the children the toys he had made.
The little children in the village were very happy too when they got their presents, and Olentzero spent the afternoon playing with them and telling them stories he had learned from his parents when he was little. The boys and girls loved Olentzero very much and after that day they didn't feel as lonely as before. Olentzero became very well known in that town. Whenever he approached, he would quickly be surrounded by children.
This went on for many beautiful and happy years until, one stormy and thundery day, when Olentzero was coming to town, he saw lightning hit a house, which very quickly burst into flames. He immediately ran to the house and saw some very scared children screaming and calling for help from one of the windows. Without hesitating he went into the house, covered the children with a blanket to protect them from the fire, and helped them to get safely out of the house through a small downstairs window. He could not get through there, and just when he found a way out a big old wooden beam from the ceiling fell on top of him. Olentzero fell down in great pain, and his strong and beautiful heart stopped.
The people in the town, gathered outside the burning house, cried desperately when they saw what had happened and realised that there was nothing they could do. But just then they were all amazed by a bright ball of pure light shining from inside the house. Nobody could see what was happening inside, but we know that it was Mari, who appeared next to Olentzero and began calling his name in her sweet voice: "Olentzero! Olentzero!" She continued, saying: "Olentzero, you have been a good man, faithful and kind hearted. You have spent your life doing things for others, and you have even given your own life to save others. So I do not want you to die. I want you to live forever. From now on you will do what you have enjoyed best: making toys and other presents for children and you will deliver them once a year, in the middle of every winter."
And that is how since that amazing day, every 24th of December, Olentzero goes to all the towns of Basque Country delivering toys and presents for children, always in the middle of the night while they are fast asleep. Although the children never see him, they celebrate the coming of the Olentzero by singing songs about him and spreading his message of love, strength and courage.
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