STEPHEN FRY

Merry Christmas from the Czech Republic sents you, with greetings and wishes, your fan, proud fluffette, FryfulPlamitz.

I hope you will enjoy holidays and your whole new year will be great and splendid!

Merry Christmas, Stephen. You are one of the kindness and most giving men I have ever met. I hope that this holiday season and onward into 2013 gives you the happiness and peace you so richly deserve. Thank you, sir, for your kindness and patience. *big Christmas hug*

@ginj_taz

Hello kind man!^^
Dear Stephen,

During the last year I again followed up your activities via Twitter or this forum – even if I didn’t appear very often “personally” by sending comments or regular tweets. Nevertheless, you can be assured that I’m still one of your devoted readers/listeners/admirers and fans and always feel rather happy when seeing you alive and kicking, with a kind of smile playing on your lips.

I’d like to wish you a merry, peaceful and blessed Christmas season! I hope you will enjoy it.
Good times, good cheer, and a happy new year!

Michèle (@ladyfromhamburg on Twitter)

Dear Stephen,

A very happy Christmas to you and your loved ones! As always, thank you for being who you are. You make the difference for so many of us, even in more difficult times and we appreciate that more than you know.

If 2013 will be as filled with love and work as 2012 was, then I'm sure you'll have a very, VERY good year.

Love and thanks,
Pieter

Darling ones - What an entirely beautiful and heart-warming and original and gorgeous present. Thank you so so so very much. I have transferred it to my SoundCloud app and listen to it as I go walking and searching for the final Christmas presents.

A million thankyous to you all. Apologies for leaving the Dm section of Twitter, but I literally couldn’t cope any more with so many. It would have left me literally no time for anything else. But you are all close to my great and I don't think I deserve such loyal, kind, warm and supportive friends. It especially pleases me how much you support and befriend each other,

A very very merry christmas to you all and a happy and fruitful 2013

all my love

Stephen xxxxxx

Desideria said:
Dear Stephen

Christmas is here again and the Fluffettes have been thinking about what present to give to a man who has brought so much joy into our lives and continues to do so. As you have lent your voice to many wonderful projects we decided to give you our voices as a present. We recorded the poem "The Foolish Fir-Tree" by Henry van Dyke for you and hope you will enjoy it. You can follow this link to listen to our recording:

https://soundcloud.com/wiwi_el/frychristmasproj

But that is not all. Our gift would not be complete without our personal messages to you which you can also find here in this thread.

With lots of love and admiration,

your Fluffettes xxx

Here's the poem we recorded together with the names of all participants:

PART 1 - Desideria (@AvenidaMK)

"A tale that the poet Ruckert told
To German children, in days of old;
Disguised in a random, rollicking rhyme
Like a merry mummer of ancient time,
And sent, in its English dress, to please
The little folk of the Christmas trees.

PART 2 - inckognitto (@inckognitto) and a_LexWilde (@a_LexWilde)

A Little fir grew in the midst of the wood
Contented and happy, as young trees should.
His body was straight and his boughs were clean;
And summer and winter the bountiful sheen
Of his needles bedecked him, from top to root,
In a beautiful, all-the-year, evergreen suit.

PART 3 - mvet88 (@mvet88)

But a trouble came into his heart one day,
When he saw that the other trees were gay
In the wonderful raiment that summer weaves
Of manifold shapes and kinds of leaves:
He looked at his needles so stiff and small,
And thought that his dress was the poorest of all.

PART 4 - Lily-Rose (@KristinEarhart)

Then jealousy clouded the little tree's mind,
And he said to himself, "It was not very kind
"To give such an ugly old dress to a tree!
"If the fays of the forest would only ask me,
"I'd tell them how I should like to be dressed,
"In a garment of gold, to bedazzle the rest!"

PART 5 - Prancing Jeeves (@PrancingJeeves)

So he fell asleep, but his dreams were bad.
When he woke in the morning, his heart was glad;
For every leaf that his boughs could hold
Was made of the brightest beaten gold.
I tell you, children, the tree was proud;
He was something above the common crowd;

PART 6 - andrealein (@andrealein)

And he tinkled his leaves, as if he would say
To a peddler who happened to pass that way,
"Just look at me! don't you think I am fine?
"And wouldn't you like such a dress as mine?"
"Oh, yes!" said the man, "and I really guess
I must fill my pack with your beautiful dress."
So he picked the golden leaves with care,
And left the little tree shivering there.

PART 7 - inckognitto (@inckognitto)

"Oh, why did I wish for golden leaves?"
The fir-tree said, "I forgot that thieves
"Would be sure to rob me in passing by.
"If the fairies would give me another try,
"I'd wish for something that cost much less,
"And be satisfied with glass for my dress!"

PART 8 - misprofessioned (@misprofessioned)

Then he fell asleep; and, just as before,
The fairies granted his wish once more.
When the night was gone, and the sun rose clear,
The tree was a crystal chandelier;
And it seemed, as he stood in the morning light,
That his branches were covered with jewels bright.

PART 9 - Stefi (@Giggi_1)

"Aha!" said the tree. "This is something great!"
And he held himself up, very proud and straight;
But a rude young wind through the forest dashed,
In a reckless temper, and quickly smashed
The delicate leaves. With a clashing sound
They broke into pieces and fell on the ground,
Like a silvery, shimmering shower of hail,
And the tree stood naked and bare to the gale.

PART 10 - Peachy (@peachytweety)

Then his heart was sad; and he cried, "Alas
"For my beautiful leaves of shining glass!
"Perhaps I have made another mistake
"In choosing a dress so easy to break.
"If the fairies only would hear me again
"I'd ask them for something both pretty and plain:
"It wouldn't cost much to grant my request,
"In leaves of green lettuce I'd like to be dressed!"

PART 11 - Wiwiel (@wiwi_el)

By this time the fairies were laughing, I know;
But they gave him his wish in a second; and so
With leaves of green lettuce, all tender and sweet,
The tree was arrayed, from his head to his feet.
"I knew it!" he cried, "I was sure I could find
"The sort of a suit that would be to my mind.

PART 12 - a_LexWilde (@a_LexWilde)

"There's none of the trees has a prettier dress,
"And none as attractive as I am, I guess."
But a goat, who was taking an afternoon walk,
By chance overheard the fir-tree's talk.
So he came up close for a nearer view;
"My salad!" he bleated, "I think so too!

PART 13 - EllieK (@zany_zigzag)

"You're the most attractive kind of a tree,
"And I want your leaves for my five-o'clock tea."
So he ate them all without saying grace,
And walked away with a grin on his face;
While the little tree stood in the twilight dim,
With never a leaf on a single limb.

PART 14 - inckognitto (@inckognitto)

Then he sighed and groaned; but his voice was weak
He was so ashamed that he could not speak.
He knew at last that he had been a fool,
To think of breaking the forest rule,
And choosing a dress himself to please,
Because he envied the other trees.

PART 15 - a_LexWilde (@a_LexWilde)

But it couldn't be helped, it was now too late,
He must make up his mind to a leafless fate!
So he let himself sink in a slumber deep,
But he moaned and he tossed in his troubled sleep,
Till the morning touched him with joyful beam,
And he woke to find it was all a dream.

PART 16 -Desideria(@AvenidaMK)

For there in his evergreen dress he stood,
A pointed fir in the midst of the wood!
His branches were sweet with the balsam smell,
His needles were green when the white snow fell.
And always contented and happy was he,
The very best kind of a Christmas tree.