Dreamtime Stories: Life & Adventure Of Santa, Ch 6-8, Pt 2

Come join me, please, for CH 6-8 in Part 2 ...Manhood, in The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus. This book tells the delightful story of how a baby, found in the deep forest, grew up to be the beloved fellow who brings toys and joy the world over to children.

In tonight's reading, we find Claus discovering how to use his deer friends to help him deliver toys! I hope you enjoy this story as much as I do. Dreamtime Stories with Jacqui is the perfect soothing way to get sleepy for bedtime. Stories for all who are children and children at heart.

So just pull your blankets up to your chin, fluff up your pillow, and come along on this little adventure story of Santa Claus.

Transcript

Good evening.

Welcome to Dreamtime Stories with Jackie.

Tonight,

We're going to continue along our grand adventures with Santa Claus and how he came to be that wonderful,

Joyous fellow we look forward to every Christmas.

So we are up to chapter six,

And in chapter six and seven,

There is a tussle between good and evil.

I'm going to skip over that because it really doesn't have any bearing on the story.

And we're going to go right into chapter eight,

Which is so exciting because chapter eight,

The first journey with the reindeer.

So make sure you're all snuggled down in your bed and have those covers just the way you like them.

And we'll begin chapter eight,

The first journey with the reindeer.

Those were happy days for Claus when he carried his accumulation of toys to the children who had awaited them for so long during the fight between good and evil in the past two chapters.

He had spent a long time making toys during that tussle,

And he had shelves and shelves just filled with toys.

Remembering the time when he had journeyed with Ach through the world,

He knew children were everywhere,

And he longed to make as many as possible happy with his gifts of toys.

So he loaded a great sack with all kinds of toys,

Slung it upon his back so he might carry it more easily,

And started off on a longer trip than he had yet undertaken.

Wherever he showed his merry face,

In Hamlet or in Farmhouse,

He received a very warm welcome,

For his fame had spread into far lands.

At each village,

The children swarmed about him,

Following his footsteps wherever he went,

And the women thanked him gratefully for the joy he brought their little ones.

And men looked upon him curiously that he should devote his entire time to such an interesting occupation as toy making.

But everyone smiled on him and gave him kind words,

And Klaus felt amply repaid for his long journey.

When the sack was empty,

He went back again to the Laughing Valley,

And once more filled it to the brim.

This time he followed another road into a different part of the country,

And carried happiness to many children there who never before had owned a toy,

Or even guessed that such a delightful plaything existed.

After a third journey,

So far away,

That Klaus was many days walking the distance,

The store of toys became exhausted,

And without delay,

He set about making a fresh supply.

From seeing so many children and studying their tastes,

He had acquired several new ideas about toys.

The dollies were,

He had found,

The most delightful of all the playthings for babies and little girls,

And often those who could not say dolly would call for a doll in their sweet little baby talk.

So Klaus resolved to make many dolls of all sizes,

And to dress them in bright colored clothing.

The older boys,

And even some of the girls,

Loved the toys of animals,

So he still made plenty of cats,

And elephants,

And horses,

And many of the little fellows had musical natures,

And longed for drums,

And cymbals,

And whistles,

And horns,

And he made a number of those.

All this kept him busily at work,

And before he realized it,

The winter season came about with deeper snows than usual,

And he knew he could not leave the valley with a heavy pack of toys.

Moreover,

The next trip would take him farther and farther from home than ever before,

And Jack Frost was being mischievous,

Nipping at his nose and ears if he undertook any journey at all.

So Klaus remained at his workbench,

But he whistled and sang as merrily as ever,

For he would allow no disappointment to sour his temper.

One bright morning,

He looked from his window,

And saw two of the deer that he had known in the forest walking towards his house.

Klaus was so surprised,

Not that the friendly deer should visit him,

But that they walked on the surface of the snow as easily as if it were solid ground,

Notwithstanding the fact that throughout the valley,

The snow lay very many feet deep.

He had walked out of his house a day or two before,

And had sunk in the snow all the way up to his armpits in a snow drip.

So when the deer came near,

He opened the door and called to them.

Good morning,

Flossie.

Tell me,

How are you able to walk on the snow so easily?

It is frozen hard,

Answered Flossie.

The Frost King has breathed on it,

Said Glossie,

Coming up,

And the surface is now as solid as ice.

Oh,

Perhaps,

Remarked Klaus thoughtfully,

I might carry my pack of boys to the children.

Is it a long journey?

Asked Flossie.

Yes,

It will take me many days,

For the pack is very heavy,

Answered Klaus.

Well,

Then the snow would melt before you could get back.

You probably should wait till spring,

Klaus.

Klaus sighed.

Oh,

If I had your fleet feet,

I could make the journey in a day.

But you have not,

Said Glossie,

Looking at his own slender legs with pride.

Perhaps I could ride on your back,

Klaus ventured to remark after a pause.

Oh no,

Oh no,

Our backs are not strong enough to bear any weight.

But if you had a sleigh,

You could harness it to us,

And we might be able to draw you easily and your pack as well.

Oh,

I'll make a sleigh.

Will you agree to draw me if I do?

Well,

Replied Flossie,

We first must go and ask the Nooks who are our guardians for permission.

But if they say yes,

You can make the sleigh and harness,

And we will gladly assist you.

Then go at once,

Cried Klaus eagerly.

I'm sure the friendly Nooks will give their consent.

And by the time you are back,

I shall be ready to harness you to my sleigh.

Glossie and Glossie,

Being dear of much intelligence,

Had long wished to see the great world.

So they gladly ran over the frozen snow to ask the Nooks if they might carry Klaus on his journey.

Meantime,

The toy maker hurried and began the construction of a sleigh and a harness.

He worked very hard twisting cords together for the harness and working on long runners for the sleigh.

Before the work was completed,

Glossie and Flossie were back from the forest,

Having been granted permission by Will Nook to make the journey with Klaus,

Provided that they would be back to Bersey by daybreak the next morning.

That is not a very long time,

Said Flossie,

But we are swift and strong.

And if we get started by this evening,

We can travel many miles during the night.

Klaus decided to make the attempt.

So he hurried on his preparations as fast as he could.

After a time,

He fastened the collars around the necks of his deer and harnessed them to his sled.

And then he placed a stool on the little platform to serve as a seat and filled a sack with his prettiest toys.

"'How do you intend to guide us?

' asked Glossie.

"'We've never been out of the forest before "'except to visit your house,

So we do not know the way.

'" Hmm,

Klaus thought about that for a moment.

And then he brought out more cords from the house and fastened two of them to the spreading antlers of each deer,

One on the right and the other on the left.

"'These will be my reins,

' said Klaus.

"'And when I pull them to the right or to the left,

"'you go in that direction.

"'If I do not pull the reins,

You may go straight ahead.

"'Very well,

Very well,

' answered Glossie and Plossie.

"'And they asked,

Are you ready?

' Klaus seated himself on the stool,

Placed the sack of toys at his feet,

And gathered up the reins.

" Oh,

He was so excited.

"'All ready,

' he shouted.

The deer leaned forward,

Lifted their slender limbs,

And the next moment,

Away flew the sleigh over the frozen snow.

The swiftness of the motion surprised Klaus,

For in a few strides,

They were across the valley and gliding over the broad plain beyond it.

The day had melted into evening by the time they had started,

For as swiftly as Klaus had worked,

Many hours had been consumed in his preparations.

And Klaus decided it was just as pleasant to travel by night as by day.

The deer liked it better,

For although they wished to see something of the world,

They were timid about meeting people.

And now all the people in all the towns and farmhouses were sound asleep and could not see them.

Away and away they sped,

On and on over the hills and through the valleys and across the plains until they reached a village where Klaus had never been before.

Here,

He called on them to stop,

And they immediately obeyed.

But a new difficulty now presented itself,

For the people had locked their doors when they went to bed and Klaus found he could not enter the houses to leave his toys.

Oh,

I'm afraid,

My friends,

That we've made our journey for nothing,

For I shall be obliged to carry my playthings back home without giving them to the children.

Flossie asked,

What's the matter?

Well,

The doors are all locked and I cannot get in.

Flossie looked around at the houses.

The snow was quite deep in that village,

And just before them was a roof,

Only a few inches above the sleigh.

A broad chimney,

Which seemed,

To Glossie,

Big enough to admit Klaus,

Was at the peak of the roof.

Why don't you climb down the chimney,

Asked Glossie.

Klaus looked at it.

Well,

That would be easy enough if I were on top of the roof,

He answered.

Then hold on,

And we'll take you there,

Said the deer,

And they gave one big bound to the roof and landed beside the big chimney.

Oh,

Good,

Cried Klaus.

So pleased,

He slung the pack of toys over his shoulder and got into the chimney.

There was plenty of soot on the bricks,

But he did not mind that,

And by placing his hands and knees against the sides,

He crept down until he had reached the fireplace.

Leaping lightly over the smoldering coals,

He found himself in a large sitting room where a dim light was burning.

From this room,

Two doorways led into smaller chambers.

In one,

A woman lay asleep with a baby beside her in a crib.

Klaus laughed,

But he did not laugh loud.

He feared waking the baby,

And then he slipped a big doll from his pack and laid it in the crib.

The little one smiled as if it dreamed of the pretty plaything it was going to find in the morning,

And Klaus crept softly from the room and entered the other doorway.

Here were two little boys,

Fast asleep,

With their arms around each other's neck.

Klaus gazed at them lovingly a moment,

And then placed upon the bed a drum,

Two horns,

And a wooden elephant.

He did not linger now that his work in this house was done,

But climbed the chimney again and seated himself on his sleigh.

"'Can you find another chimney?

' he asked the reindeer.

"'Yes,

Easily enough,

' cried the deer.

Down to the edge of the roof,

They raced,

And then,

Without pausing,

Leaped through the air to the top of the next building,

Where a huge,

Old-fashioned chimney stood.

"'Don't be so long this time,

' called Flossie,

"'or we shall never get back to the forest by daybreak.

' Klaus made a trip down this chimney also and found five children sleeping in the house,

All of whom were quickly supplied with toys.

When he returned,

The deer sprang to the next roof,

But on descending the chimney,

Klaus found no children there at all.

That was not often the case in this village,

So he lost less time than you would suppose in visiting the sad homes where there were no little children.

When he had climbed down the chimneys of all the houses in that village and had left a toy for every sleeping child,

Klaus found that his great sack was not yet half-emptied.

"'Onward,

Friends,

' he called to the deer.

"'We must seek another village.

' So away they dashed.

Although it was long past midnight and in a surprisingly short time,

They came to a large city,

The largest Klaus had visited since he began to make toys.

But nothing daunted by the throng of houses,

He set to work at once,

And his beautiful steeds carried him rapidly from one roof to another,

Only the highest being beyond the leaps of the agile deer.

At last,

The supply of toys was exhausted,

And Klaus seated himself in the sleigh with the empty sack at his feet and turned the heads of Glossie and Flossie toward home.

Presently,

Flossie asked,

"'What is that gray streak in the sky?

' "'It is the coming dawn of day,

' answered Klaus,

Surprised to find that it was so late.

"'Oh,

Good gracious!

' exclaimed Glossie.

"'Then we shall not be home by daybreak,

"'and the nooks will punish us and never let us come again.

"'We must race for the Laughing Valley "'and make our best speed return,

Flossie.

"'So hold fast,

Friend,

And away we go!

' Klaus held fast,

And the next moment,

He was flying so swiftly over the snow that he could not see the trees as they whirled past.

Uphill and downdale,

Swift as an arrow shot from a bow,

They dashed,

And Klaus shut his eyes to keep the wind out of them and left the deer to find their own way.

It seemed to him they were plunging through space,

But he was not at all afraid.

The nooks were severe masters and must be obeyed at all costs,

And the gray streak in the sky was growing brighter every moment.

Finally,

The sleigh came to a sudden stop,

And Klaus,

Who was taken unawares,

Tumbled from his seat into a snowdrift.

As he picked himself up,

He heard the deer crying,

Quick,

Friend,

Quick,

Cut away our harnesses!

He drew his knife and rapidly severed the cords,

And then he wiped the moisture from his eyes and looked around.

The sleigh had come to a stop in the laughing valley only a few feet,

He found,

From his own door.

In the east,

The day was breaking,

And turning to the edge of Bersey,

He saw Glossy and Flossy just disappearing into the forest.

Oh,

That's so wonderful to have an adventure like that,

Riding through the sky,

Leaping from roof to roof with the deer.

I can hardly wait for chapter nine.

Come back soon,

And have a really good night's sleep.

Thank you for listening tonight.