[originaltext] In the Netherlands and Belgium children do not have their fun

In the Netherlands and Belgium children do not have their fun and presents on Christmas Day as we do. They go to church on Christmas Day, and they have their fun on St. Nicholas Day, which comes on December 6. The night before, they fix something to hold their gifts. Sometimes it is a well-polished shoe, sometimes a plate or a basket, and sometimes they hang up their stockings just as we do. St. Nicholas rides a gray horse or a white donkey and so the children leave water for the animal to drink and something for it to eat. They leave hay or oats or a carrot, and sometimes a piece of bread. In the morning, if they have been good, they find that St. Nicholas has left sweets and fruits and playthings for them. But if they have been bad they find only a rod or a switch.