Good evening.
Welcome to Dreamtime Stories with Jackie.
Tonight we're going to finish the section on Santa Claus's childhood and then we will go on to his manhood as he becomes an adult.
When last we left Claus he was leaving the forest in chapter seven.
So we are going to begin today the chapter one in the section of manhood.
So snuggle down into your blankets and fluff up your pillow just right.
Maybe even take a nice big breath and let it out and get ready for a wonderful adventure with Santa Claus.
Chapter one,
The Laughing Valley.
When Claus came the valley was empty save for the grass,
The brook,
The wildflowers,
The bees,
And the butterflies.
If he would make his home here and live after the fashion of men he must have a house.
This puzzled him at first but while he stood smiling in the sunshine he suddenly found beside him old Nelko the servant of the master woodsman.
Nelko bore an axe strong and broad with blade that gleamed like burnished silver.
This he placed in the young man's hand then disappeared without a word.
Claus understood and turning to the forest's edge he selected a number of fallen tree trunks which he began to clear of their dead branches.
He would not cut into a living tree.
His life among the nymphs who guarded the forest had taught him that a live tree is sacred,
Being a created thing endowed with feeling.
But with the dead and fallen trees it was different.
They had fulfilled their destiny as active members of the forest community and now it was fitting that their remains should minister to the needs of man.
The axe bit deep into the logs at every stroke.
It seemed to have a force of its own and Claus had but to swing and guide it.
When shadows began creeping over the green hills to lie in the valley overnight the young man had chopped many logs into equal lengths and proper shapes for building a house such as he had seen the poorer classes of men inhabit.
Then resolving to await another day before he tried to fit the logs together Claus ate some of the sweet roots he well knew how to find,
Drank deeply from the laughing brook and lay down to sleep on the grass first seeking a spot where no flowers grew lest the weight of his body should crush them.
And while he slumbered and breathed in the perfume of the wondrous valley the spirit of happiness crept into his heart and drove out all care and misgivings.
Nevermore would the face of Claus be clouded with anxieties.
Nevermore would the trials of life weigh him down as with a burden.
The laughing valley had claimed him for its own.
Would that we all might live in that delightful place but then maybe it would become overcrowded.
For ages it had awaited someone to live there.
Was it chance that led young Claus to make his home in this happy vale?
Or maybe we guess that his thoughtful friends the immortals had directed his steps when he wandered away from Bersee to seek a home in the great world?
Certain it is that while the moon peered over the hilltop and flooded with its soft beams the body of the sleeping stranger the laughing valley was filled with the crooked shapes of the friendly nooks.
These people spoke no words but worked with skill and swiftness.
The logs Claus had trimmed with his bright axe were carried to a spot beside the brook and fitted one upon the other and during the night a strong and roomy dwelling was built.
The birds came sweeping into the valley at daybreak and their songs so seldom heard in the deep wood aroused the stranger.
He rubbed the web of sleep from his eyelids and looked around.
The house met his gaze.
Oh I must thank the nooks for this he said gratefully.
Then he walked to his dwelling and entered at the doorway.
A large room faced him having a fireplace at one end,
A table and bench in the middle.
Beside the fireplace was a cupboard.
Another doorway was beyond that.
Claus entered here and saw a smaller room with a bed against the wall and a stool set nearby with a small stand.
On the bed were many layers of dried moss brought from the forest.
Oh indeed it is a palace exclaimed the smiling Claus.
I must thank the good nooks again for their knowledge of man's needs as well as for their labors in my behalf.
He left his new home with a glad feeling that he was not quite alone in the world although he had chosen to abandon his forest life.
Friendships are not easily broken and the immortals are everywhere.
Upon reaching the brook he drank of the pure water and then sat down on the bank to laugh at the mischievous gambols of the ripples as they pushed one another against rocks or crowded desperately to see which should first reach the turn beyond.
Next Claus reached for roots to eat while the daffodils turned their little eyes upon him.
There is happiness and joy in all things here in the laughing valley.
The laughing valley is a valley of peace and goodwill.
He passed the day talking with the ants and beetles and exchanging jokes with the light-hearted butterflies and at night he lay on his bed of soft moss and slept soundly.
Then came the fairies,
Merry but noiseless,
Bringing skillets and pots and dishes and pans and all the tools necessary to prepare food and to comfort a mortal.
With these they filled cupboard and fireplace,
Finally placing a stout suit of wool clothing on the stool beside the bed.
When Claus awoke he rubbed his eyes again and laughed and spoke aloud his thanks to the fairies and the master woodsman who had sent them.
With eager joy he examined all his new possessions wondering what some of them might be used for.
But in the days when he had clung to the belt of the great Ach and visited the cities of men,
His eyes had been quick to note all the manners and customs of the race which he belonged.
So he guessed from the gifts brought by the fairies that the master expected him hereafter to live in the fashion of his fellow creatures.
Which means that I must plow the earth and plant corn,
He reflected,
So that when winter comes I shall have food in the pantry.
But as he stood in the grassy valley he saw that to turn up the earth in furrows would be to destroy hundreds of pretty helpless flowers as well as the thousands of tender blades of grass.
And this he could not bear to do.
Therefore he stretched out his arms and uttered a peculiar whistle he had learned in the forest.
Afterward crying rills of the field flowers come to me.
Instantly a dozen of those little rills were squatting upon the ground before him and they nodded to him in cheerful greeting.
Klaus gazed upon them earnestly.
Your brothers of the forest,
He said,
I have known and loved many years.
I shall love you also when we have become friends.
To me the laws of the rills,
Whether those of the forest or of the field,
Are sacred.
I have never willfully destroyed one of the flowers that you tend so carefully.
But I must plant grain to use for food during the cold winter.
And how am I to do this without harming those little creatures that sing to me so prettily with their fragrant blossoms?
The yellow rill,
He who tends the butter cups,
Made answer.
Fret not,
Friend Klaus.
The great Ach has spoken to us of you.
There is better work for you in life than to labor for food.
And though not being of the forest,
Ach has no command over us.
Nevertheless,
We are glad to favor one he loves.
Live,
Therefore,
To do the good work that you are resolved to undertake.
We,
The field rills,
Will attend to your food supplies.
After this speech,
The rills were no longer to be seen,
And Klaus drove from his mind the thought of tilling the earth.
When next he wandered back to his dwelling,
A bowl of fresh milk stood upon the table.
Bread was in the cupboard,
And sweet honey filled a dish beside it.
A pretty basket of rosy apples and new plucked grapes was also awaiting him.
He called out,
Thanks,
My friends,
To the invisible rills,
And straightaway began to eat the food.
Thereafter,
When hungry,
He had but to look into the cupboard to find goodly supplies brought by the kindly rills,
And the knooks cut and stacked much wood for his fireplace,
And the fairies brought him warm blankets and clothing.
So began his life in the Laughing Valley,
With the favor and friendship of the immortals,
To minister to his every want.
So ends chapter one in the manhood section of the life and adventures of Santa Claus.
Come back soon for chapter two of the manhood section,
When Klaus makes his first toy.
I can hardly wait.
So you have a wonderful sleep now,
And wonderful dreams.
This is Jackie sending you many hugs.
Good night.
