Once upon a time, there was a boy whose name was Théophile. He was very very sweet. He was also very very rich — well, his parents were very very rich — but he was very very sweet anyway.
Théophile lived very very happy in a very very big apartment, a pre-war full floor, among his daddy, who was very very rich, his mummy, who was very very beautiful, his elder sister, Abigail, who was very very pretty, and his little brother, Reinhard, who was very very intelligent.
Also, there was the maid, very Philipino, the nanny, very British, and the chauffeur, very African. They do not have any part in this story because, as it is happening, they are on holidays. That is why they have no name. They’re not very very interesting. We don’t care about them.
This year, Théophile had been very sweet at home and he had had very very good grades at school, when his elder sister and his little brother, no. His daddy and his mummy were very very happy with him, when his elder sister and his little brother, no.
When Christmas came, the mother asked her three children, Abigail, Théophile and Reinhard to write a letter to Santa Claus, which they did, each in the secrecy of his own bedroom.
Abigail, the elder sister, who was very very pretty, had stopped believing in Santa Claus two years ago, but, although she was very very pretty, she was not totally stupid, and she thought that it was her mother who read the letters to Santa Claus. Thus, she wrote her letter asking as a gift for Christmas the very very nice necklace in the shop window of Mr. Van Cleef & Arpels so she could be as very very beautiful as her mummy, because, as she wrote to end her letter, when you’re very very beautiful, you do not have to have good grades at school.
Reinhard, the little brother, who was very very intelligent, did not believe in Santa Claus either and he was thinking that it was his father who read the letters to Santa Claus and sent the chauffeur to buy the gifts. Thus, he wrote his letter to Santa Claus asking as a gift for Christmas a big stock exchange portfolio so he can become as very very rich as his father, because, as he wrote to end his letter, when you’re very very rich, you do not have to have good grades at school.
Théophile, who was very very sweet, wrote a long and very very nice letter to Santa Claus where he detailed how very sweet he had been at home and how many good grades — 23 to be exact — he had been given at school. To end his letter, he was promising to be even more very very sweet at home and to get even more very very good grades at school. As a gift for Christmas, he was asking for the complete works of Frances Hodgson Burnett to read at home as a very very sweet little boy and the latest edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica to obtain even more very very good grades at school.
And there go the three letters.
Something Abigail and Reinhard did not know, and that you probably do not know either, is that Santa Clause really does exist and that it is he who, in his gigantic letter box, received the letters of the three children.
When he read Abigail’s letter, Santa Clause went :
— Ho, ho, ho ! Isn’t there a nice little girl who loves her mummy so much that she wants to be as much so very very beautiful as her ! She must be rewarded ! Here we go ! And one necklace from Mr. Van Cleef & Arpels for little Abigail !
When he read Reinhard’s letter, Santa Clause went :
— Ho, ho, ho ! Is’nt there a nice little boy who admires his daddy so much that he wants to become as so much rich as his father. Here we go ! And one stock exchange portfolio for little Reinhard !
But when he read Theophile’s letter, Santa Clause went :
— Ho, ho, ho ! What in the world is this kind of little hypocrite ? What a sickening letter ! I would shave my whole beard if there was one true word in all that. And that I have been so good, and blah-blah-blah, and that I had so many good grades and blah-blah-blah, and that I will do better next time, and blah-blah-blah … what a two-faced little snot ! And not even a nice word for his parents ! Anyway, it has been years since I went out of the works of Frances Hodgson Burnett and of the Encyclopedia Britanica! Here we go ! One 4 color ballpoint pen for little Théophile !
And that is how the very very pretty Abigail received a magnificent necklace from Mr. Van Cleef & Arpels, and how the very very intelligent Reinhard received a big stock exchange portfolio, and how the very very sweet Théophile received a 4 color ballpoint pen.
Moral of the story :To receive beautiful presents, it’s better to be very very pretty or very very intelligent than very very sweet.
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