I've read this around Christmas each year since about 1995 or so. The story sounds familiar at the beginning, and yet foreign: foreign enough to make the words fresh, so they don't hit the I've heard this before, ho-hum filter on the way into the mind.
Een dat time, Caesar Augustus been de big leada ob de Roman people dem. E mek a law een all de town een de wol weh e hab tority, say, “Ebrybody haffa go ta town fa count by de hed an write down dey nyame.” Dis been de fus time dey count by de hed, same time Cyrenius de gobna ob Syria country. So den, ebrybody gone fa count by de hed, ta dey own town weh dey ole people been bon.
Soon, apparently, the whole New Testament will be available. This quotation is from the (out of print) Good Nyews bout Jedus Christ wa Luke Write (the Gospel According to Luke).
[Sigh]. I just noticed that this version, updated on 12/23/03, has some subtle changes since the version I (mostly) memorized. I'll have to learn the new version, I suppose, for next year.
Posted by ronlusk at December 20, 2004 02:50 PM