Bethlehem. When Jesus Christ was born, Bethlehem was a small town in Palestine not far from Jerusalem, now in present-day Israel. Baby Jesus was laid in a manger
/meindže/ - a wooden frame holding straw for the animals (donkey, ox) in the stable, where Joseph and Mary had to stay the night because there was no room at the inn.
The traditional stable scene with the holy family surrounded by animals, shepherds and angels is not usually called "Bethlehem" in English, but a crib or creche /kréš/
scene, which are the other words (English and French respectively) for the manger (kŕmidlo). But in 16th century London there was an asylum for the insane called the Hospital of St. Mary of
Bethlehem, and this name was distorted by local pronunciation into Bedlam, which is a byword for loud, uncontrolled noise, a place of madness and chaos. Something like how I remember Prešov in the
evening of MDŽ.
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