[00:00.00]First, a story.
[00:03.51]New and unpublished.
[00:06.76]A little Christmas Story.
[00:09.72]I call it "The Story of Schmuel, Tailor of Klimovich"
[00:19.45]Merry Christmas
[00:27.05]Schmuel would work till half-past ten at his tailor shop in Klimovich
[00:32.39]Get up at dawn and start again with the hems and pins and twist
[00:39.66]Forty-one years had come and gone at his tailor shop in Klimovich
[00:45.10]Watching the winters soldier on, there was one thing Schmuel missed
[00:51.80]"If I only had time," old Schmuel said
[00:54.97]"I would build the dress that's in my head
[00:58.03]A dress to fire
[00:59.30]The mad desire
[01:00.74]Of girls from here to Minsk
[01:03.35]But I have no more hours left to sew"
[01:09.03]Then the clock upon the wall began to glow...
[01:17.66]And the clock said:
[01:18.66]"Na na na na, na na na
[01:20.56]Oh Schmuel, you'll get to be happy!
[01:24.08]Na na na na, na na na
[01:26.29]I give you unlimited time!
[01:29.71]Na na na na, na na na
[01:31.99]So Schmuel, go sew and be happy!"
[01:35.03]But Schmuel said
[01:35.84]"No, no, it's not my lot
[01:38.36]I've gotta make do with the time I've got"
[01:51.67]Schmuel was done at half-past ten and he said "Good night, old Klimovich"
[01:56.99]Put on his coat to go, but then the clock cried, "Wait! Not yet!
[02:04.15]Even though you're not wise or rich
[02:06.68]You're the finest man in Klimovich
[02:09.60]Listen up, Schmuel
[02:11.26]Make one stitch and you'll see what you can get"
[02:17.32]But Schmuel said
[02:18.02]"Clock, it's much too late
[02:20.13]I'm at peace with life
[02:21.48]I accept my fate..."
[02:22.58]But the clock said
[02:23.84]"Schmuel! One stitch and you will
[02:25.74]Unlock the dreams you've lost!"
[02:28.39]So Schmuel, with reluctance, took his thread
[02:34.56]He pulled a bolt of velvet and he said
[02:40.26]"I should take out my teeth and go to bed
[02:46.14]I'm sitting here with talking clocks instead!"
[02:54.64]And the clock said:
[02:55.40]"Na na na na, na na na
[02:57.16]Oh Schmuel, you'll get to be happy!
[03:00.61]Na na na na, na na na,
[03:03.02]I give you unlimited time
[03:06.54]Na na na na, na na na
[03:09.18]Just do it and you can be happy!"
[03:12.46]So Schmuel put the thread through the needle's eye
[03:15.84]And the moon stared down from a starless sky
[03:20.24]And he pushed the thread through the velvet black
[03:22.71]And he looked, and the clock was turning...back
[03:28.44]So he grabbed his shears and he cut some lace
[03:31.41]As the hands reverse on the old clock's face
[03:36.33]So his fingers flew and the fabric swirled
[03:38.39]It was nine-fifteen all around the world
[03:44.40]Every cut and stitch was a perfect fit
[03:47.60]As if God Himself were controlling it!
[03:51.11]And Schmuel cried through a rush of tears
[03:55.06]"Take me back! Take me back all forty-one years!"
[04:09.67]And on it went down that silent street
[04:16.02]Till Schmuel's dress was at last complete
[04:22.85]And he stretched his arms
[04:26.05]And he closed his eyes
[04:29.40]And the morning sun finally started to rise
[04:43.25]And the dress he made on that endless night
[04:46.56]Was a dress that would make any soul take flight
[04:49.77]Not a swatch, not a skein had gone to waste
[04:52.78]Every ribbon and button ideally placed
[04:56.28]And swen into the seams were forty-one seasons of dreams
[05:06.61]Dreams that you could feel
[05:10.94]Coming real
[05:18.64]And that very dress, so the papers swore
[05:22.21]Was the dress a girl in Odessa wore
[05:25.56]On the day she promised forevermore
[05:29.21]To love a young man named Schmuel
[05:38.14]Who only one day before
[05:41.65]Had knocked at her kitchen door
[05:56.54]Plenty have hoped and dreamed and prayed
[05:59.51]But they can't get out of Klimovich
[06:04.35]If Schmuel had been a cute goyishe maid
[06:07.82]He'd've looked a lot like you
[06:12.52]Maybe it's just that you're afraid to go out on to a limb-ovich
[06:21.58]Maybe your heart's completely swayed
[06:24.09]But your head can't follow through
[06:28.96]But shouldn't I want the world to see
[06:31.91]The brilliant girl who inspires me?
[06:34.91]Don't you think that now's a good time to be
[06:37.68]The ambitious freak you are?
[06:40.53]Say goodbye to wiping ashtrays at the bar
[06:46.04]Say hello to Cathy Hiatt, big-time star!
[06:54.65]'Cause I say:
[06:56.96]Na na na na na na na na
[06:58.50]Cathy, you get to be happy!
[07:01.86]Na na na na na na na
[07:04.32]I give you unlimited time!
[07:07.93]Na na na na na na na
[07:10.14]Stop temping and go and be happy!
[07:13.63]Here's a headshot guy and a new BackStage
[07:16.04]Where you're right for something on every page
[07:19.73]Take a breath
[07:21.09]Take a step
[07:22.58]Take a chance
[07:27.37]Take your time
[07:44.66]Have I mentioned today
[07:48.46]How lucky I am
[07:52.36]To be in love with you?!