Warum der schwarze König Melchior so froh wurde

Warum der schwarze König Melchior so froh wurde

Stories by Karl Heinrich Waggerl

Loosely translated by Reinhold Muller

Why the black King Melchior became so happy

Gradually the rumour spread about the wonderful child with the glow around his head, and it penetrated to the remotest countries. There lived three kings as neighbours, the oddly named  Kaspar, Melchior and Balthasar, as is named today with a stable hand or a simple beggar.  But they were nonetheless real kings and what is still more remarkable, wise men.  According to the testimony of ancient Scripture, they read and understood the course of the stars of heaven, and that is a difficult art, as anyone knows who has ever tried to run after a star. Thus, these three got together, they set a splendid entourage, and then they travelled urgently with camels and elephants in the evenings. During the day, people and animals rested under the rocks in the rocky desert, and the star that they followed, waited patiently in the sky and did a little sweating in the heat of the sun, until it finally became dark again. Then the star walked again and shone forth solemnly and showed the way to kings who followed the star.
In this way, the trip went ahead well, but as the star moved beyond Jerusalem to Bethlehem, the three kings refused to follow the star further. They thought that if there was a Prince's child to attend, then it must surely lie in a castle and not in a poor village.
The star got, as it were, in a white heat of despair, he jumped up and down and waved and waved his tail, but that did not help. The three wise men were of such misunderstanding that they could not understand for a long time, what common sense would make clear.
Thus it occurred that the star faded the morning. He sat sadly in the crown of a tree next to the barn and everyone who passed by, thought he was nothing more than a forgotten lemon in the branches. It was not until the night that he climbed out and jumped through the roof. The kings were happy to see the star again and head over heels they came with their camels. All day they had been looking for the promised child and found nothing, because in the castle in Jerusalem sat just a disgusting fat guy named Herod.
Now one of the three kings, who was named Melchior, was a Moor, tree long and so inky black that even in the bright light of the star there was no sign of him apart from a pair of eyeballs and some terrible teeth.
At home they had raised him to be the king, because he was still a little darker than the other blacks, but now Melchior realized to his chagrin, that this country was looking at him as if he stuck in the skin of the devil himself.
On the way all the kids were screaming and seeking refuge in the bosom of their mother, whenever he bent down from his camel, to give them sweets, and the women would have crossed themselves, if back then they had already had known how as a Christian to protect themselves against challenges.
The last of the three Kings, Melchior stepped timidly before the Christ child and threw himself to the ground. Oh, how he would have liked to show now only the teeniest white spot or at least some of his insides could return to the outside!
He covered his face, full of fear, unsure if also the child of God would revile before him.
But because he heard no more shouting, he ventured a little squinting through his fingers, and truly, he saw the Christ Child smile and stretch out his hands to touch Melchiors afro-hair. Happy beyond measure was the black king! He had never so great rolled his eyes and bared teeth from ear to ear. Melchior could not help it, he had to hold the child's feet and kiss all his toes, as was the custom of his country.

But as he untied the hands again, he saw the miracle - they had become white inside! And since then, all Ethiopians have light palms, just go there and see it for yourself and greet them as brothers.

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