"The Christopsomo" ( The Christmas Bread) is a short story by Alexandros Papadiamantis, published on December 26, 1887, in the newspaper "Efimeris." The story, subtitled "Original Story," is Papadiamantis' first short story, signed with his initials A.P. It is included in the author's Christmas stories.
In the Christmas of 1941, the story, which had been forgotten until then, was published by the philologist Georgios Valetas in the periodical "Nea Estia," with an introduction and comments.
The plot revolves around the tragic story of a woman. Her attempt to murder her barren daughter-in-law with a poisoned Christopsomo (Christmas bread) leads to the death of her own son.
Plot:
The story unfolds on the island of Skiathos around 186... Captain Kantakis and his wife Dialechti have been married for seven years but have no children, despite the young woman's efforts with herbs, miraculous jewelry, treatments at the healing baths, etc. The mother of Captain Kantakis and Dialechti's mother-in-law, the old Kantakaina, blames the daughter-in-law for the childlessness, hates her fiercely, and even goes so far as to slander her to her son every time he returns to the island. As a result, when Kantakis arrives home tired from his journey, drunk, and influenced by what he heard from his mother, he violently explodes on Dialechti.
On Christmas Eve, Kantakis had already been away for five days on a neighboring island, where, despite the bad weather, he dared to travel to transport livestock. However, strong winds and rough seas prevented his return. Before leaving, anticipating the worsening weather, he had informed his mother and wife that he might not be able to return for Christmas. Consequently, the women did not expect him.
On the afternoon of December 24th, old Kantakaina visits her daughter-in-law, unusually kind and smiling, offering her a Christopsomo. Dialechti was puzzled but did not suspect anything. When Dialechti told her that she would keep it for the Epiphany, her mother-in-law urgently urged her to eat it immediately. However, she did not eat it but left it on the fireplace ledge.
At midnight, Dialechti went to the church for the Christmas service, but shortly afterward, she was notified that her husband had arrived, despite the severe storm. Dialechti returned home, dried his clothes, put a steak on the coals for him, and went back to church to partake, having sent a message to her mother-in-law, who was attending another church, about her son's arrival.
Kantakis sat by the fireplace to eat his steak. As he was too tired to get up and get bread from the cupboard, he took the Christopsomo that Dialechti had left earlier on the fireplace ledge and ate it.
At dawn, when Dialechti returned from the church, she found her husband dead, and her mother-in-law holding him in her arms, mourning. The young woman looked and noticed that the Christopsomo was missing from the fireplace ledge, immediately understanding what had happened: her husband had eaten the poisoned Christopsomo prepared by the malicious mother-in-law for her.
As there was no doctor on the island, and no autopsy was performed, Kantakis' death was attributed to freezing, and no one suspected what had really happened. Only old Kantakaina knew. Kantakis was unintentionally murdered by his own mother, who, realizing her crime, never blamed her daughter-in-law. On the contrary, she defended her when others accused her.