The story of Saint Nicolas and the three children

This is the first thing we used to know about saint Nicolas when I was a child: the story of Saint Nicolas and the three children.

They were three young children who were gleaning in fields. They did it for so long and so far away that it was dark and they got lost.

They knocked at a door, it was the butcher's. They asked for a meal, he let them in and killed them. He cut them into pieces and put them in his salting tub.

Seven years later Saint Nicolas knocked at the same door. He asked for a meal. The butcher proposed different meats, each time Saint Nicolas refused and, in the end, he asked for the meat kept in the salting tub. The butcher was so frightened that he run away.

Saint Nicolas put three fingers on the salting tub and resuscitated the three children. The first said "I had a good sleep.", the second "Me too", and the third said "I believed I was in heaven."

This story seems quite frightening for children but with a happy end. This is also a song we used to learn at school (or was it at Sunday school ?). Each time I see a statue of Saint Nicolas with the three children, this story comes to my mind. I think the week end celebrating the patron saint of Lorraine and of pupils is a good opportunity to tell this story, isn't it ?