The Miracle of St Nicholas
Translated from the French, St. Patrick's School, Kentish Town, United Kingdom, performed at end-of-term Mass, 2000
 Photo courtesy of St Patrick's School, Kentish Town |
Characters
ST. NICHOLAS
BUTCHER
CHILD 1
CHILD 2
CHILD 2
M.C.
CHORUS
ST NICHOLAS:
I am St Nicholas, the patron saint of sailors, children and pawnbrokers.
BUTCHER:
I am the nasty butcher who is going to kill the children.
CHILDREN:
We are the lost children that the butcher is going to kill and that St Nicholas is going to save.
M.C.:
And now, the story begins!
CHORUS:
Look and listen in silence.
CHILD 1:
Alas! We are lost!
CHILD 2:
I'm frightened!
CHILD 3:
I'm cold!
CHILD 1:
I'm hungry!
I'm thirsty!
CHILD 3:
And I'm sleepy!
CHILD 1:
Look!
CHILD 2:
A little house!
CHILD 3:
Let's go!
CHILD 1:
I'm frightened!
CHILD 2:
Hang on, Patrick! (in French: "Courage, Gaston")
BUTCHER:
Who knocks at my door? Who stops me from sleeping?
CHILDREN:
We are lost children!
CHILD 1:
I'm frightened!
CHILD 2:
I'm cold!
CHILD 3:
I'm hungry!
CHILD 1:
I'm thirsty!
CHILD 2:
And I'm sleepy!
BUTCHER:
My dear children, come in, come in!
CHILDREN:
Thank you, thank you, Mr Butcher!
BUTCHER:
Eat, eat!
CHILDREN:
Yum, yum, it's nice! (Miam, miam, it's nice!)
BUTCHER:
Drink, drink, my dear children!
CHILD 3:
Oh dear, I'm very sleepy!
BUTCHER:
To bed my children, you are very tired!
CHILDREN:
Thank you!
CHILDREN:
Good night, Mr Butcher!
A bit of time passes-
BUTCHER:
They are sleeping! The time is right!
With my big shiny knife
I am going to kill these six children!
One, two, three! That's it!
And now, in my barrels, I am going to throw
these silly children! In they go!
M.C.:
In barrels? That can't be true. Oh, no! Oh, no! But this is horrible!
BUTCHER:
I add a little salt, Children-flesh is something . . . delicious!
CHORUS 1:
This is catastrophic!
CHORUS 2:
Horrible!
CHORUS 1:
Disastrous!
CHORUS 2:
Tragic!
M.C.:
The poor children! Who can save them?
M.C.:
I have an idea: Nicholas, the Patron Saint of sailors and children.
CHORUS(M.C.):
But of course! Bravo! What a good idea!
St Nicholas can save them!
CHORUS:
Dear St Nicholas, Patron Saint of sailors and children,
come and save those poor children!
ST NICHOLAS:
I am Nicholas, the Patron Saint of sailors and children.
Who calls? Who needs me? I'm coming.
M.C.:
Over there, St Nicholas!
CHORUS:
Over there! Over there!
ST NICHOLAS:
Oh yes, I see! A little house! Let's see what's to he done there! Butcher, can I come in?
BUTCHER:
But of course, Sir, I'm delighted to welcome you!
ST NICHOLAS:
Mmm! Well, now! What's in there?
BUTCHER:
Meat.
ST NICHOLAS:
Really?
Oh! Children! I knew it!
Villain! Sinner! Assassin!
My dear children, You have slept long enough.
Come out, come out of these barrels.
Come out, come out, my dear children.
CHILDREN:
That was great, I've had a really good sleep!
CHILDREN:
Who is this?
M.C.:
Who is this? What a question!
CHORUS:
This is St Nicholas,
the patron saint of sailors and children, of course!
BUTCHER:
St Nicholas, the patron saint of sailors,
children and pawnbrokers.
Dear saint, I beg you to forgive me.
ST NICHOLAS:
Butcher, get up! I forgive you. From now on, be good and kind.
As to you, my dear children,
I'm taking you back to your parents.
CHORUS:
And this is the end of our story.
M.C.:
Nasty butcher! Aren't you ashamed of yourself?
CHORUS:
Shush!
CHORUS (4):
Thank you to St Nicholas,
Patron Saint of sailors and children,
who, by this miracle,
the lost little children has saved.
M.C.:
Bravo, bravo, St Nicholas!
CHORUS:
Bravo, bravo, St Nicholas!
Play from St. Patrick's School, London, United Kingdom, performed at end-of-term Mass, 2000, courtesy of Fr. Clive Lee, used with permission