This book contains Christmas stories by foreign writers, and some names and translations may be a revelation to readers. All the works fit perfectly into the framework of a Christmas story, as defined by Nikolai Leskov: '...it should be timed to coincide with the events of Christmas Eve—from Christmas to Epiphany—it should be somewhat fantastical, have some kind of moral, at least a refutation of a harmful prejudice, and, finally, it should certainly end joyfully.'