The cattle are lowing,
The Baby awakes.
But the little Lord Jesus
No crying he makes.
Upon reading this popular Christmas
quatrain in the epigraph of the book, I was intrigued because I could not figure out the reasoning behind it. However, Vonnegut shares his reasoning through Billy Pilgrim's character in chapter nine. Since Billy "cried very little, though he often saw things worth crying about" (197), he is compared to the infant Jesus who is described peacefully in the carol. Additionally, Billy reveals that he only cries privately which reminded me of Jesus who suffered silently at the hands of his persecutors. Often, Billy Pilgrim "sees things worth crying about", but he does not show his emotions through tears in those situations. Jesus also did not allow others to see his moments of weakness especially when imploring God the Father to let the cup pass from him before his crucifixion. Although Billy Pilgrim does not consider himself to be Christ-like, the quatrain comparison produced a connection between them.
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