Once upon a time there was a kind-hearted nobleman. His wife died of illness, leaving him and his three daughters behind. The nobleman tried many inventions but failed and ran out of money, so they had to move to a farmhouse, and his daughters had to cook, sew and clean themselves. A few years later, the daughters gradually reached the age of marriage, but the father became even more frustrated because he had no money to buy dowry for his daughters. One night, after the daughters washed their clothes, they hung Christmas stocking ornaments in front of the fireplace to dry.
The saint Nicholas came to their house that night after learning about their father's situation. He saw from the window that the family was asleep, and he also noticed the girls' Christmas stocking ornaments. Immediately, he took out three small packets of gold from his pocket and threw them one by one from the chimney, just falling into the girls' Christmas stocking ornaments. The next morning, the daughters woke up to find that their Christmas stockings were filled with gold, enough for them to buy dowry. This nobleman was able to see his daughters getting married and lived a happy life ever since. Later, children all over the world inherited the tradition of hanging Christmas stockings. In some countries, children have other similar customs. For example, in France, children put their shoes by the fireplace and so on.
