Retranslated! FRIEND OF THE CHILDREN AND LOVERS Nikolaus lived in 4th.century in today's Turkey. His grave can be visited in the Myraer church, in which he served as a bishop. Many legends are told about St. Nikolaus, who is the friend of children and lovers. Pupils, whom a cash-greedy host had killed, it is to have shown the life. It threw three goldclumps into a room, in order to prevent that poor daughters must rn themselves outer-expensively on the road. Because the gold clumps fell by a fire-place directly into the socks of the women, the custom developed to place one shoes before the door or to hang a sock by the fire-place around the turn of the century. In the Berchtesgadener region Nikolaus is accompanied by farmhands Ruprecht and Bertha Nikoloweibl. In some areas St. Nikolaus secretly brings the decorated Christmas tree into the house on Christmas eve. *********** Gisela 40/3