Zurückhaltend trat Zo'or in die Audienzkammer Da'ans. Er wusste nicht genau warum er hier war, hatte nur das Bedürfnis gefühlt hier zu sein. Vielleicht wegen dieses Festes der Menschen. Weihnachten, das Fest der Familie wie es hieß.
Warum freuten sie sich so darüber? Familie war nun wirklich nichts bedeutsames, man sah sie doch ständig. Und es gab Geschenke, sie machten so viel Aufhebens darum als sei es alles was zählte. Dabei erzählten sie ständig von der Liebe der Weihnachten doch gelten sollte. Was für ein drolliger Widerspruch. Die Taelons hatten nichts was dieser Feierlichkeit vergleichbar wäre. Und doch war er hier und wollte der einzigen Person die für ihn so etwas wie Familie war nahe sein.
Der vertraute Anblick Da'ans grüßte ihn im Halbdunkel des Büros. Der ältere Taelon saß auf seinem Thron und las in einem kleinen schmalen und sehr bunt bedruckten Buch. Eine gewisse Fröhlichkeit hatte die für ihn übliche Melancholie ersetzt. Was er da wohl las? Es war lange her dass irgendetwas Da'an ein wirkliches Lächeln abgerungen hatte.
Zo'or entschloss sich zu fragen. „Da'an?”

Überrascht hob Da'an den Kopf, er kannte die Stimme, konnte sie jedoch kaum mit dem Tonfall in Verbindung bringen. Normalerweise klang sein Kind nicht so freundlich.
„Ja, Zo'or. Was kann ich für dich tun?”

Ein Hauch von Erleichterung erfüllte den jungen Synodenführer bei dieser positiven Reaktion. Dies hier würde nicht in einen Streit ausarten. „Ich wollte dich nur fragen was du da liest.”

Da'an blinzelte verblüfft. Was war das? Und wollte er es wirklich in Frage stellen? „Ich könnte es dir vorlesen wenn du es wünschst,” bot er schließlich ruhig an. Er erwartete fast schon eine zynische Reaktion doch Zo'or nickte einfach nur. „Bitte.” Anmutig ließ sich Da'ans Kind auf den Stufen des Thrones nieder.

Still zu sich selbst nickend, schlug Da'an das Buch erneut am Anfang auf und begann vorzulesen.

HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS
by Dr. Suess

Every Who
Down in Who-ville

„Was ist ein Who?” unterbrach Zo'or nach den ersten Worten.
„Ein Einwohner von Who-ville. Das hast du doch gehört. Lass mich weiter lesen.”

Liked Christmas a lot...

But the Grinch,
Who lived just North of Who-ville,
Did NOT!

„Untersteh dich Zo'or.” Unterband der amerikanische Companion jeden Einwand seines Kindes. Dieses klappte seinen Mund widerwillig wieder zu.

The Grinch hated Christmas! The whole Christmas season!
Now, please don't ask why. No one quite knows the reason.
It could be that his head wasn't screwed on quite right.
It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight.
But I think that the most likely reason of all
May have been that his heart was two sizes too small.

But,
Whatever the reason,
His heart or his shoes,
He stood there on Christmas Eve, hating the Whos,
Staring down from his cave with a sour, Grinchy frown
At the warm lighted windows below in their town.
For he knew every Who down in Who-ville beneath
Was busy now, hanging a mistletoe wreath.

„Warum hängen die Menschen dieses Unkraut eigentlich auf?”
„Das ist Tradition, Zo'or. Ich werde dir ihre Hintergründe später gern erklären.”
„Wenn's sein muss.”

“And they're hanging their stockings!” he snarled with a sneer.
“Tomorrow is Christmas! It's practically here!”
Then he growled, with his grinch fingers nervously drumming,
“I MUST find a way to keep Christmas from coming!”
For, tomorrow, he knew...

„Was ist der Sinn dieses Gedichtes? Es ist albern und nutzlos.” erklang auf einmal Zo'ors Stimme. Er war bisher nicht sehr angetan von der ganzen Geschichte.
„Du wirst sehen Zo'or. Soll ich weiterlesen?” kam die elterliche Antwort Da'ans
„Hm.”

...All the Who girls and boys
Would wake up bright and early. They'd rush for their toys!
And then! Oh, the noise! Oh, the noise! Noise! Noise! Noise!
That's one thing he hated! The NOISE! NOISE! NOISE! NOISE!

Then the Whos, young and old, would sit down to a feast.
And they'd feast! And they'd feast!
And they'd FEAST! FEAST! FEAST! FEAST!
They would start on Who-pudding, and rare Who-roast-beast
Which was something the Grinch couldn't stand in the least!

And THEN
They'd do something he liked least of all!
Every Who down in Who-ville, the tall and the small,
Would stand close together, with Christmas bells ringing.
They'd stand hand-in-hand. And the Whos would start singing!

They'd sing! And they'd sing!
AND they'd SING! SING! SING! SING!

„Ich verstehe sehr gut was in ihm vorgeht.” Erklärte Zo'or mit fester Stimme. Der ungläubige Blick Da'ans entging ihm nicht, im Gegensatz zu dem leisen Hauch eines Schmunzelns der um seine Lippen spielte.

And the more the Grinch thought of the Who-Christmas-Sing
The more the Grinch thought, “I must stop this whole thing!
“Why for fifty-three years I've put up with it now!
I MUST stop Christmas from coming!
...But HOW?”

„Ja. Wie?”
„Das kommt als nächstes Zo'or. Hör auf mich ständig zu unterbrechen.”

Then he got an idea!
An awful idea!
THE GRINCH
GOT A WONDERFUL, AWFUL IDEA!

“I know just what to do!” The Grinch Laughed in his throat.
And he made a quick Santy Claus hat and a coat.
And he chuckled, and clucked, “What a great Grinchy trick!
“With this coat and this hat, I'll look just like Saint Nick!”

„Leidet er vielleicht unter einem Sehfehler? Er hat keinerlei Ähnlichkeit mit dem Weihnachtsmann.”
„Shh. Oder ich höre auf zu lesen.”
„Aber ... Das grüne Fell fällt doch sicher auf.”
„Zo'or!”

“All I need is a reindeer...”
The Grinch looked around.
But since reindeer are scarce, there was none to be found.
Did that stop the old Grinch...?
No! The Grinch simply said,
“If I can't find a reindeer, I'll make one instead!”
So he called his dog Max. Then he took some red thread
And he tied a big horn on top of his head.

„Das soll funktionieren?”
„Zo'or!!”

THEN
He loaded some bags
And some old empty sacks
On a ramshakle sleigh
And he hitched up old Max.

Then the Grinch said, “Giddyap!”
And the sleigh started down
Toward the homes where the Whos
Lay a-snooze in their town.

All their windows were dark. Quiet snow filled the air.
All the Whos were all dreaming sweet dreams without care
When he came to the first house in the square.
“This is stop number one,” The old Grinchy Claus hissed
And he climbed to the roof, empty bags in his fist.

Then he slid down the chimney. A rather tight pinch.
But if Santa could do it, then so could the Grinch.
He got stuck only once, for a moment or two.
Then he stuck his head out of the fireplace flue
Where the little Who stockings all hung in a row.
“These stockings,” he grinned, “are the first things to go!”

Then he slithered and slunk, with a smile most unpleasant,
Around the whole room, and he took every present!
Pop guns! And bicycles! Roller skates! Drums!
Checkerboards! Tricycles! Popcorn! And plums!
And he stuffed them in bags. Then the Grinch, very nimbly,
Stuffed all the bags, one by one, up the chimney!

„War das nicht eigentlich umgekehrt?”
„Deshalb heißt es ja How the Grinch STOLE christmas. Und unterbrich mich nicht ständig.”

Then he slunk to the icebox. He took the Whos' feast!
He took the Who-pudding! He took the roast beast!
He cleaned out that icebox as quick as a flash.
Why, that Grinch even took their last can of Who-hash!
Then he stuffed all the food up the chimney with glee.
“And NOW!” grinned the Grinch, “I will stuff up the tree!”

Da'an schlug Zo'or die Hand vor den Mund ehe dieser die Gelegenheit bekam etwas zu sagen.

And the Grinch grabbed the tree, and he started to shove
When he heard a small sound like the coo of a dove.
He turned around fast, and he saw a small Who!
Little Cindy-Lou Who, who was not more than two.

The Grinch had been caught by this little Who daughter
Who'd got out of bed for a cup of cold water.
She stared at the Grinch and said, “Santy Claus, why,
“Why are you taking our Christmas tree? WHY?”

„Da kann ich nur zustimmen. Welchen Nutzen hat ein vertrockneter Nadelhaufen für den Grinch?”
Da'an verhinderte mit Mühe, dass sich sei Gesicht zu einer Grimasse verzog. Es war wirklich ein Fehler gewesen die Hand wegzunehmen. Ob Liam irgendwo noch Paketklebeband hatte?

But, you know, that old Grinch was so smart and so slick
He thought up a lie, and he thought it up quick!
“Why, my sweet little tot,” the fake Santy Claus lied,
“There's a light on this tree that won't light on one side.
“So I'm taking it home to my workshop, my dear.
“I'll fix it up there. Then I'll bring it back here.”

And his fib fooled the child. Then he patted her head
And he got her a drink and he sent he to bed.
And when Cindy-Lou Who went to bed with her cup,
HE went to the chimney and stuffed the tree up!

„Dummes Kind.”
„Zo'or!!! Zum x-ten Male: Hör. Auf. Mich. Zu. Unterbrechen! Oder ich höre auf weiter zu lesen.”

Then the last thing he took
Was the log for their fire.
Then he went up the chimney himself, the old liar.
On their walls he left nothing but hooks, and some wire.

And the one speck of food
The he left in the house
Was a crumb that was even too small for a mouse.

Then
He did the same thing
To the other Whos' houses

Leaving crumbs
Much too small
For the other Whos' mouses!

It was quarter past dawn...
All the Whos, still a-bed
All the Whos, still a-snooze
When he packed up his sled,
Packed it up with their presents! The ribbons! The wrappings!
The tags! And the tinsel! The trimmings! The trappings!

Three thousand feet up! Up the side of Mount Crumpit,
He rode to the tiptop to dump it!
“Pooh-pooh to the Whos!” he was grinch-ish-ly humming.
“They're finding out now that no Christmas is coming!
“They're just waking up! I know just what they'll do!
“Their mouths will hang open a minute or two
“The all the Whos down in Who-ville will all cry BOO-HOO!”

„Mhmpfmph.” Zo'or entfernte mit einiger Mühe Da'ans Finger von seinem Mund. „Wenn ich den Verlauf dieser Geschichte richtig einschätze, wird der Grinch eine Enttäuschung erleben.” Verkündete er leicht schadenfroh.
Da'an verdrehte einfach nur die Augen.

“That's a noise,” grinned the Grinch,
“That I simply must hear!”
So he paused. And the Grinch put a hand to his ear.
And he did hear a sound rising over the snow.
It started in low. Then it started to grow...

But the sound wasn't sad!
Why, this sound sounded merry!
It couldn't be so!
But it WAS merry! VERY!

„Was habe ich gesagt?”

He stared down at Who-ville!
The Grinch popped his eyes!
Then he shook!
What he saw was a shocking surprise!

Every Who down in Who-ville, the tall and the small,
Was singing! Without any presents at all!
He HADN'T stopped Christmas from coming!
IT CAME!
Somehow or other, it came just the same!

And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow,
Stood puzzling and puzzling: “How could it be so?
It came without ribbons! It came without tags!
“It came without packages, boxes or bags!”
And he puzzled three hours, ‘till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before!
“Maybe Christmas,” he thought, “doesn't come from a store.
“Maybe Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!”

„Oh was denn? Bisher hatte ich immer den Eindruck Geschenke wären der einzige Grund für Weihnachten.”
Ein tiefer Seufzer verkündete das nahe Ende von Da'ans Geduld.

And what happened then...?
Well...in Who-ville they say
That the Grinch's small heart
Grew three sizes that day!
And the minute his heart didn't feel quite so tight,
He whizzed with his load through the bright morning light
And he brought back the toys! And the food for the feast!
And he...

...HE HIMSELF...!
The Grinch carved the roast beast!

„Dann hatte er ja doch noch was von diesem Fest.”
Zo'or hatte im Verlauf der Geschichte seinen Kopf an Da'ans Knie gelehnt. Um zu verhindern, dass dieser sein Lächeln sah, versuchte er sich einzureden, doch eigentlich um ein wenig Komfort und Wärme in dieser Berührung zu finden. Er würde noch ein wenig über dieses sonderbare Gedicht nachdenken müssen, aus diesem Grunde würde er auch noch ein wenig hier bleiben und sich an Da'an lehnen müssen, damit er den Faden nicht verlor. Oder so ähnlich.

Da'an schmunzelte in sich hinein als er spürte wie Zo'or langsam ins Reich des Schlafes entglitt. Ob er das Gedicht wohl verstanden hatte? Vielleicht.