Dreamtime Stories: Life & Adventures Of Santa Claus Ch 5 & 6

Come join me for a few chapters out of the book The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum, the beloved author of the Wizard of Oz stories from the early 1900s. This reading of the book, slightly adapted, tells the story of how a baby, abandoned in the deep forest, was raised by a Nymph who named him Claus and his adventures as he grew up to become Santa Claus. 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-known story of Santa Claus.

Transcript

Good evening.

Welcome to Dreamtime Stories with Jackie.

I'm so glad you're here.

We're going to continue tonight with a wonderful story of how Santa Claus came to be.

It's called The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus.

It was written by L.

Frank Baum,

Who is best known for his Wizard of Oz stories.

So snuggle down into your bed,

Get your covers just the way you like them,

And we'll begin.

We left Santa Claus in the forest,

Newly adopted by Nessiel,

And so here we begin.

Chapter 5,

The Master Woodsman.

Years pass swiftly in Bersie,

For the nymphs have no need to regard time in any way.

Even centuries make no change in the dainty creatures.

Ever and ever they remain the same,

Immortal and unchanging.

Claus,

However,

Being immortal,

Grew to manhood day by day.

Nessiel was disturbed presently to find him too big to lie in her lap,

And he had a desire for other food than milk.

His stout legs carried him far into Bersie's heart,

Where he gathered supplies of nuts and berries,

As well as several sweet and wholesome roots,

Which suited his stomach better than the bell udders.

He sought Nessiel's bower less frequently,

Till finally it became his custom to return only to sleep.

The nymph,

Who had come to love him dearly,

Was puzzled to comprehend the changed nature of her charge,

And unconsciously altered her own mode of life to conform to his whims.

She followed him readily through the forest paths,

As did many of her sister nymphs,

Explaining as they walked all the mysteries of the gigantic wood,

And the habits and nature of all the living things which dwelt beneath its shade.

The language of the beasts became clear to little Claus,

But he never could understand their sulky and morose tempers.

Only the squirrels,

The mice,

And the rabbits seemed to possess cheerful and merry natures.

Yet would the boy laugh when the panther growled and stroke the bear's glossy coat while the creature snarled and bared its teeth menacingly.

The growls and snarls were not for Claus,

He knew well.

So what did they matter?

He could sing the songs of the bees,

Recite the poetry of the wood flowers,

And relate the history of every blinking owl in Bersey.

He helped the rills to feed their plants and the nooks to keep order among the animals.

The little immortals regarded him as a privileged person,

Being especially protected by the queen and her nymphs,

And favored by the great Ach himself.

One day the master woodsman came back to the forest of Bersey.

He had visited,

In turn,

All his forests throughout the world,

And they were many and broad.

Not until he entered the glade where the queen and her nymphs were assembled to greet him did Ach remember the child he had permitted Nassil to adopt.

Then he found,

Sitting familiarly in the circle of lovely immortals,

A broad-shouldered stalwart youth who,

When erect,

Stood fully as high as the shoulder of the master himself.

Ach paused,

Silent and frowning,

To bend his piercing gaze upon Klaus.

The clear eyes met his own steadfastly,

And the woodsman gave a sigh of relief as he marked their placid depths and read the youth's brave and innocent heart.

Nevertheless,

As Ach sat beside the fair queen and the golden chalice,

Filled with rare nectar,

Passed from lip to lip,

The master woodsman was strangely silent and reserved,

And stroked his beard many times with a thoughtful motion.

With mourning,

He called Klaus to his side in kindly fashion,

Saying,

Bid good-bye for a time to Nassil and her sisters,

For you shall accompany me on my journey through the world.

Oh,

The venture pleased Klaus,

He knew well the honor of being companion to the master woodsman of the world.

But Nassil wept for the first time in her whole life,

And clung to the boy's neck as if she could not bear to let him go.

The nymph who had mothered his sturdy youth was still as dainty,

As charming and beautiful as when she had dared to face Ach with the babe clasped in her arms,

Nor was her love less for the boy.

Ach beheld the two clinging together,

Seemingly as brother and sister to one another,

And again he wore his thoughtful look.

Chapter 6.

Klaus Discovers Humanity Taking Klaus to a small clearing in the forest,

The master said,

Place your hand upon my belt,

And hold fast while we journey through the air,

For now we shall encircle the world and look upon many of the haunts of those men from whom you are descended.

These words caused Klaus to marvel,

For until now he had thought himself the only one of his kind upon the earth,

Yet in silence he grasped firmly the belt of great Ach,

His astonishment forbidding speech.

Then the vast forest of Brzee seemed to fall away from their feet,

And the youth found himself passing swiftly through the air at a great height.

Before long there were spires beneath them,

While buildings of many shapes and colors met their downward view.

It was a city of men,

And Ach,

Pausing to descend,

Led Klaus to its enclosure.

Said the master,

So long as you hold fast to my belt,

You will remain unseen by all mankind,

Though seeing clearly yourself.

To release your grasp will be to separate yourself forever from me and your home in Brzee.

One of the first laws of the forest is obedience,

And Klaus had no thought of disobeying the master's wish.

He clung fast to the belt and remained invisible.

Thereafter,

With each moment passed in the city,

The youth's wonder grew.

He who had supposed himself created differently from all others,

Now found the earth swarming with creatures of his own kind.

Indeed,

Said Ach,

The immortals are few,

But the mortals are many.

Klaus looked earnestly upon his fellows.

There were sad faces,

Gay faces,

Reckless faces,

Pleasant faces,

Anxious faces,

And kindly faces,

All mingled in puzzling disorder.

Some worked at tedious tasks,

Some strutted in impotent conceit,

Some were thoughtful and grave,

While others seemed happy and content.

Men of many natures were there,

As everywhere,

And Klaus found much to please him and much to make him sad.

But especially he noted the children,

First curiously,

Then eagerly,

Then lovingly.

Ragged little ones rolled in the dust of the streets,

Playing with scraps and pebbles.

Other children,

Gaily dressed and propped up on cushions,

Were fed with sugar plums.

Yet the children of the rich were not happier than those playing with the dust and the pebbles,

It seemed to Klaus.

Childhood is the time of man's greatest content,

Said Ach,

Following the youth's thoughts.

Tis during these years of innocent pleasure that the little ones are most free from care.

Tell me,

Said Klaus,

Why do not all these babies fare alike?

Because they are born in both cottage and palace,

Returned the master.

The difference in the wealth of the parents determines the lot of the child.

Some are carefully tended and clothed in silks and dainty linens,

Others are covered in rags.

Yet all seem equally fair and sweet,

Said Klaus thoughtfully.

While they are babes,

Yes,

Agreed Ach,

Their joy is in being alive,

And they do not stop to think.

In after years,

The plight of mankind overtakes them,

And they find struggle and worry,

Work and fret to gain the wealth that is so dear to the hearts of men.

Such things are unknown to the young.

In the forest where you were reared,

Klaus was silent for a moment,

And then he asked,

Why was I reared in the forest among those who are not of my race?

Then Ach,

In a gentle voice,

Told him the story of his babyhood,

How he had been left at the forest's edge,

And how the loving nymph,

Nessiel,

Had rescued him and brought him to manhood,

Under the protection of the immortals.

Yet I am not of them,

Said Klaus,

Musingly.

No,

You are not of them,

Returned the woodsman.

The nymph,

Who cared for you as a mother,

Seems now like a sister to you.

By and by,

When you grow,

She will seem like a daughter.

Yet another brief span,

And you will be but a memory,

While she remains Nessiel.

Then why,

If man must perish,

Is he born,

Demanded the boy.

Everything comes and goes,

Except the world itself and its keepers,

Answered Ach.

But while life lasts,

Everything on earth has its use.

The wise seek ways to be helpful to the world,

For the helpful ones are sure to live again.

Much of this Klaus failed to understand fully,

But a longing seized him to become helpful to his fellows,

And he remained thoughtful while they resumed their journey.

They visited many dwellings of men in many parts of the world,

Watching the farmers in the field,

And warriors dashing here and there,

And merchants exchanging their goods.

And everywhere,

The eyes of Klaus sought out the children in love and pity,

For the thought of his own helpless babyhood was strong within him,

And he yearned to give help to the innocent little ones of his race,

Even as he had been given help by the kindly nymph.

Day by day,

The master woodsman and his pupil traveled the earth,

Ach speaking but seldom,

To the youth who clung steadfastly to his belt,

But guiding him into all places where he might become familiar with the lives of human beings.

And at last they returned to the grand old forest of Bersi,

Where the master set Klaus down within the circle of nymphs,

Among who the prettiness seal anxiously awaited him.

The brow of the great Ach was now calm and peaceful,

But the brow of Klaus had become lined with deep thought.

Nassil sighed at the change in her foster son,

Who until now had been ever joyous and smiling,

And the thought came to her that never again would the life of the boy be the same as before this eventful journey with the master.

So now I'm going to leave you as you snuggle down into your blankets and have a wonderful night's sleep,

But come back soon and see what happens in chapter seven when Klaus leaves the forest.

That will be the end of the first section of Santa Claus's Youth.

Good night now.

This is Jackie sending you many hugs.