Good evening.
Thank you for joining me.
Welcome to Dreamtime Stories with Jackie.
Tonight we're going to read another two chapters from the life and adventures of Santa Claus and how he became the beloved Jolly Fellow that we all know and love.
The story was written by L.
Frank Baum,
Who is best known for The Wizard of Oz.
He was a prolific children's writer.
So this story is slightly adapted and here we go.
Chapter Three.
The Adoption The master woodsman suddenly rose with knitted brows.
There is a strange presence in the forest,
He declared.
Then the queen and her nymphs turned and saw standing before them Nacille with the sleeping infant clasped tightly in her arms and a defiant look in her deep blue eyes.
And thus for a moment they remained,
The nymphs filled with surprise and consternation.
But the brow of the master woodsman gradually clearing as he gazed intently upon the beautiful immortal who had willfully broken the law.
Then the great act,
To the wonder of all,
Laid his hand softly on Nacille's flowing locks and kissed her on her fair forehead.
For the first time within my knowledge,
Said he,
Gently,
A nymph has defied me and my laws.
Yet in my heart I can find no word of chiding.
What is your desire,
Nacille?
Oh,
Let me keep the child,
She answered,
Beginning to tremble and falling on her knees in supplication.
Here,
In the forest of Berzee,
Where the human race has never penetrated?
Questioned Ach.
Here,
Yes,
In the forest of Berzee,
Replied the nymph.
It is my home and I am weary for lack of occupation.
Please let me care for the babe.
See how weak and helpless it is.
Surely it cannot harm Berzee,
Nor the master woodsman of the world.
But the law,
Child,
The law,
Cried Ach sternly.
The law is made by the master woodsman,
Returned Nacille.
If he bids me care for the babe he himself has saved,
Who in all the world dare oppose me?
The queen,
Who had listened intently to this conversation,
Clapped her pretty hands gleefully at the nymph's answer.
Oh,
You are fairly trapped,
Oh Ach,
She exclaimed,
Laughing.
Now,
I pray you,
Give heed to Nacille's petition.
The woodsman,
As was his habit when in thought,
Stroked his grizzled beard slowly.
Then he said,
She shall keep the babe and I will give it my protection.
But I warn you all that as this is the first time I have relaxed the law,
So shall it be the last time.
Nevermore,
To the end of the world,
Shall a mortal be adopted by an immortal.
Otherwise would we abandon our happy existence,
For one of trouble and anxiety.
Good night,
My nymphs.
Then Ach was gone from their midst,
And Nacille hurried away to her bower to rejoice over her new found treasure.
Chapter 4,
Klaus.
Another day found Nacille's bower the most popular place in the forest.
The nymphs clustered around her and the child that lay asleep in her lap,
With expressions of curiosity and delight.
Nor were they wanting in praise for the great Ach's kindness in allowing Nacille to keep the babe and care for it.
Even the queen came to peer into the innocent childish face and to hold a helpless,
Chubby fist in her own fair hand.
What shall we call him,
Nacille?
She asked,
Smiling.
He must have a name,
You know.
Hmm,
Let him be called Klaus,
Answered Nacille,
For that means a little one.
Oh,
Rather let him be called Nicholas,
Returned the queen,
For that will mean Nacille's little one.
The nymphs all clapped their hands in delight,
And Nicholas became the infant's name,
Though Nacille loved best to call him Klaus,
And in after days many of her sisters followed her example.
Nacille gathered the softest moss in all the forest for Klaus to lie upon,
And she made his bed in her own bower.
Of food the infant had no lack.
The nymphs searched the forest for bell udders,
Which grow upon the goa tree,
And when opened are found to be filled with sweet milk,
And the soft-eyed does willingly gave a share of their milk to support the little stranger,
While Shagra,
The lioness,
Often crept stealthily into Nacille's bower and purred softly as she lay beside the babe and fed it.
So the little one flourished and grew big and sturdy day by day,
While Nacille taught him to speak and to walk and to play.
His thoughts and words were sweet and the nymphs knew no evil,
And their hearts were pure and loving.
He became the pet of the forest,
For Axe decree had forbidden beast or reptile to harm him,
And he walked fearlessly wherever he wanted.
Presently the news reached the other immortals that the nymphs of Bersee had adopted a human infant,
And the act had been sanctioned by the great Ach.
Many visitors came to Nacille's bower to visit the baby.
There were the fairies and the nooks and the rills,
All came.
Klaus looked upon these immortals who thronged around him with fearless eyes and smiling lips.
He rode laughingly upon the shoulders of the merry rills.
He mischievously pulled the gray beards of the low-browed nooks.
He rested his curly head confidently upon the dainty bosom of the fairy queen herself,
And the rills loved the sound of his laughter.
The nooks loved his courage.
The fairies loved his innocence.
The boy made friends with them all and learned to know their laws intimately.
No forest flower was trampled beneath his feet.
He never interfered with the beasts.
The fairies loved him dearly.
Indeed,
Klaus came to consider that he alone,
Of all the forest people,
Had no like nor fellow.
To him,
The forest was the world.
He had no idea that millions of toiling,
Striving human creatures existed,
And he was happy and content.
Have a good night's sleep and come back very soon for chapter five and six as we continue in the book of the life and adventures of Santa Claus.
Good night now.
