Papa Panov, an old shoemaker almost too blind to thread a needle, has a dream that Jesus will visit him on Christmas Day.
He anxiously and eagerly waits all day, but his only visitors are a tramp, a roadsweeper, and a pauper woman with her cold and hungry baby.
Despite his disappointment and fading hope, Papa Panov gives them his coat, his money, his soup, and even the tiny shoes he was saving as a present for Baby Jesus.
As night falls and his special visitor still hasn't arrived, Papa Panov thinks himself a silly, old fool.
But then he has another dream, a dream which convinces him his special visitor did come after all ....
This short story of Leo Tolstoy can be read here.
Below is a cartoon based on the original tale, titled "Red Boots For Christmas":