The first few weeks of winter are beautiful but bitter, and Jim takes Ántonia and Yulka in a sled, which Otto built, to the Russians’ old house. When they start back, around four, the wind has come up, howling across the plains, and the sky has become gray. The girls begin shivering because their clothes aren’t warm enough, and Jim gives Yulka his neck scarf, which she forgets to return. Quinsy, an acute inflammation of the tonsils, keeps Jim inside for two weeks after the sled ride, and he reads to his grandmother. On Saturday nights, she pops corn and makes taffy. Sometimes, Otto tells stories.
From Jake’s remarks, Grandmother thinks the Shimerdas may be reduced to eating prairie dogs, so she and Jake and Jim take food to their neighbors and are appalled at their wretched living conditions. Mrs. Shimerda reproaches them for their lack of neighborliness, but after Jake brings in the hamper of food, she breaks down and cries.
Mr. Shimerda tells them that they were not beggars in the Old Country. In fact, they have plans for a new log house in the spring, but now the girls must sleep in an alcove dug into the wall of the dugout. Grandmother worries that the Shimerdas don’t have enough “horse-sense” to survive on the Nebraska prairie.
Before the guests leave, Mrs. Shimerda gives Grandmother a small sack of something and gives little explanation—except to indicate that it is good to eat. When she gets home, Grandmother tosses the package into the stove, but not before Jim samples one of the items inside; it will be years before he realizes that the sack contained dried mushrooms, gathered “in some deep Bohemian forest.”
A snowstorm on the twenty-first of December prevents Jake from going into Black Hawk for Christmas gifts, so they decide to have “a country Christmas,” with homemade presents. Grandmother bakes gingerbread cookies, which they decorate with colored frosting. Otto makes candles and fastens them on the little cedar tree that Jake cut from the prairie. They send gifts to the Shimerdas.
Morning prayers on Christmas day are longer than usual. Grandfather reads from the Book of Matthew about the birth of Christ, then thanks the Lord for their food and comfort. He prays for the poor and destitute whose hardships are greater than their own, and a feeling of peace-on-earth pervades the household.
Late in the afternoon, Mr. Shimerda arrives and thanks them for their kindness to his family. After the Burdens ask him to stay for supper, he relaxes in the warm atmosphere. There is an uneasy moment when the candles are lighted on the Christmas tree and Mr. Shimerda falls on his knees and crosses himself. Grandmother fears that Grandfather—who is “rather narrow in religious matters”—will say something, but he just bows his head. After their guest leaves, Grandfather tells Jim that the prayers of all good people are good.
