Signore Perelli and the Story of the Nativity

I once read a story about this Italian man travelling to Bali. He travelled alone and for adventure. At Christmas he decided he wanted to read to the natives The Story of the Nativity. He began telling the story, but when it got as far as Mary and Josef not being able to find a room for the night, his listeners wouldn’t have it anymore. “How much space can a pregnant woman take!?”, “Of course there must be room for one more!!”, “Surely somebody must have been able to put her up!?” The Italian tried to continue the story, so as to get to the point, but to no avail; it just stopped blank there, at the stable door, and at the discussion on how on earth anyone could refuse a pregnant woman room for the night. Anyway, time passed and it was time for him to go back to Italy. Everyone came to say goodbye. When everybody had said their goodbyes, and he was just about to get on the bus, this small boy came up to him and said: “I still can’t understand: Why didn’t you let her in?”