Le Jongleur de Notre Dame (short story)

Le Jongleur de Notre Dame is a miracle story of religious devotion written by the French author Anatole France. It first appeared in a newspaper in 1890 and was later included in a collection of short stories published in 1892. The tale draws from a medieval poem called *Our Lady's Tumbler* and shares similarities with the later Christmas carol *The Little Drummer Boy*.

The main character is a monk who once worked as a carnival performer. While his fellow monks create beautiful offerings to the Virgin Mary—such as hymns, icons, and stained glass—he has no such skill. One night, he enters the chapel and performs his best juggling tricks before a statue of the Virgin, then collapses from exhaustion. The other monks see this and plan to punish him for blasphemy, but the statue comes to life and blesses the juggler for his gift.

The story has been adapted many times. In books, it appears in *The Little Juggler and Other French Tales Retold* (1917) by Violet Moore Higgins, *The Juggler of Our Lady* (1957) by R.O. Blechman, *The Little Juggler* (1961) by Barbara Cooney, and *The Clown of God* (1974) by Tomie dePaola. In 1980, an Ace Books anthology titled *The Best of All Possible Worlds* included a self-translated version by Spider Robinson, called "Our Lady's Juggler," after he learned it was Robert A. Heinlein's favorite short story.

Film and television adaptations include *The Greatest Gift* (1942), a short subject with Edmund Gwenn and Hans Conried; *The Juggler of Our Lady* (1958), an animated Terrytoons short narrated by Boris Karloff and nominated for an Academy Award (Oscar) for Best Animated Short; "The Young Juggler" (1960), an episode of *Startime* produced by and starring Tony Curtis; "Christmas Stories: The Little Juggler" (1968), an episode of the British series *Jackanory*; *The Juggler of Notre Dame* (1970), a low-budget feature film starring Barry Dennen; and *The Juggler of Notre Dame* (1982), a modernized television film starring Carl Carlsson.

On radio, "Joppe the Juggler" (1950) aired on *Family Theater* with Wallace Ford and remarks by Spencer Tracy. During the Golden Age of Radio, the story was broadcast several times, often as "The Juggler of Our Lady" on *Family Theater*, and a 1940 version on *Screen Guild Theatre* was narrated by Ronald Colman with songs by Nelson Eddy.