I read that years ago and was thinking about it just today.
Thanks for posting.
I can't remember the name of the book it was in; seems like it was a collection of letters.
In a little Finnish book called "Tales from Moomin Valley" is a story called "The Fir Tree", which is about some little trolls who normally hibernate all winter but who are awakened one Christmas season and can't make out what is going on -- they decide that Christmas is a big frightening power of nature that has to be appeased with gifts, with a decorated tree, and with food. Everyone they meet appears to be frightened of what will happen if they don't get all these offerings together in time. When they have pulled together their Offering, including wrapping up their greatest treasures and placing them and the food around their tree, a family of poor, wretched trolls come to ask if they can look at the offering, and explain that what they are seeing is in fact Christmas. after a little consultation the trolls give it all to their poor neighbours and go back to sleep, figuring that when Christmas arrives, perhaps it will not find them there ... and it may be that all the people they heard had 'got it wrong' anyway. i have always loved that story.