Once upon a time a young man made ready for a voyage. His name was
Norss; broad were his shoulders, his cheeks were ruddy, his hair was
fair and long, his body betokened strength, and good-nature shone from
his blue eyes and lurked about the corners of his mouth.
"Where are you going?" asked his neighbor Jans, the forge-master.
"I am going sailing for a wife," said Norss.
"For a wife, indeed!" cried Jans. "And why go you to seek her in
foreign lands? Are not our maidens good enough and fair enough, that
you must need search for a wife elsewhere? For shame, Norss! for
shame!"
But Norss said: "A spirit came to me in my dreams last night and said,
'Launch the boat and set sail to-morrow. Have no fear; for I will
guide you to the bride that awaits you.' Then, standing there, all
white and beautiful, the spirit held forth a symbol--such as I had
never before seen--in the figure of a cross, and the spirit said: 'By
this symbol shall she be known to you.'"
"If this be so, you must need go," said Jans. "But are you well
victualled? Come to my cabin, and let me give you venison and bear's
meat."
Norss shook his head. "The spirit will provide," said he. "I have no
fear, and I shall take no care, trusting in the spirit."
So Norss pushed his boat down the beach into the sea, and leaped into
the boat, and unfurled the sail to the wind. Jans stood wondering on
the beach, and watched the boat speed out of sight.
On, on, many days on sailed Norss--so many leagues that he thought he
must have compassed the earth. In all this time he knew no hunger nor
thirst; it was as the spirit had told him in his dream--no cares nor
dangers beset him. By day the dolphins and the other creatures of the
sea gambolled about his boat; by night a beauteous Star seemed to
direct his course; and when he slept and dreamed, he saw ever the
spirit clad in white, and holding forth to him the symbol in the
similitude of a cross.
At last he came to a strange country--a country so very different from
his own that he could scarcely trust his senses. Instead of the rugged
mountains of the North, he saw a gentle landscape of velvety green;
the trees were not pines and firs, but cypresses, cedars, and palms;
instead of the cold, crisp air of his native land, he scented the
perfumed zephyrs of the Orient; and the wind that filled the sail of
his boat and smote his tanned cheeks was heavy and hot with the odor
of cinnamon and spices. The waters were calm and blue--very different
from the white and angry waves of Norss's native fiord.
As if guided by an unseen hand, the boat pointed straight for the
beach of this strangely beautiful land; and ere its prow cleaved the
shallower waters, Norss saw a maiden standing on the shore, shading
her eyes with her right hand, and gazing intently at him. She was the
most beautiful maiden he had ever looked upon. As Norss was fair, so
was this maiden dark; her black hair fell loosely about her shoulders
in charming contrast with the white raiment in which her slender,
graceful form was clad. Around her neck she wore a golden chain, and
therefrom was suspended a small symbol, which Norss did not
immediately recognize.
"Hast thou come sailing out of the North into the East?" asked the
maiden.
"Yes," said Norss.
"And thou art Norss?" she asked.
"I am Norss; and I come seeking my bride," he answered.
"I am she," said the maiden. "My name is Faia. An angel came to me in
my dreams last night, and the angel said: 'Stand upon the beach
to-day, and Norss shall come out of the North to bear thee home a
bride.' So, coming here, I found thee sailing to our shore."
Remembering then the spirit's words, Norss said: "What symbol have
you, Faia, that I may know how truly you have spoken?"
"No symbol have I but this," said Faia, holding out the symbol that
was attached to the golden chain about her neck. Norss looked upon it,
and lo! it was the symbol of his dreams,--a tiny wooden cross.
Then Norss clasped Faia in his arms and kissed her, and entering into
the boat they sailed away into the North. In all their voyage neither
care nor danger beset them; for as it had been told to them in their
dreams, so it came to pass. By day the dolphins and the other
creatures of the sea gambolled about them; by night the winds and the
waves sang them to sleep; and, strangely enough, the Star which before
had led Norss into the East, now shone bright and beautiful in the
Northern sky!
When Norss and his bride reached their home, Jans, the forge-master,
and the other neighbors made great joy, and all said that Faia was
more beautiful than any other maiden in the land. So merry was Jans
that he built a huge fire in his forge, and the flames thereof filled
the whole Northern sky with rays of light that danced up, up, up to
the Star, singing glad songs the while. So Norss and Faia were wed,
and they went to live in the cabin in the fir grove.
To these two was born in good time a son, whom they named Claus. On
the night that he was born wondrous things came to pass. To the cabin
in the fir grove came all the quaint, weird spirits,--the fairies, the
elves, the trolls, the pixies, the fadas, the crions, the goblins, the
kobolds, the moss-people, the gnomes, the dwarfs, the water-sprites,
the courils, the bogles, the brownies, the nixies, the trows, the
stille-volk,--all came to the cabin in the fir grove, and capered
about and sang the strange, beautiful songs of the Mist-Land. And the
flames of old Jans's forge leaped up higher than ever into the
Northern sky, carrying the joyous tidings to the Star, and full of
music was that happy night.
Even in infancy Claus did marvellous things. With his baby hands he
wrought into pretty figures the willows that were given him to play
with. As he grew older, he fashioned, with the knife old Jans had made
for him, many curious toys,--carts, horses, dogs, lambs, houses,
trees, cats, and birds, all of wood and very like to nature. His
mother taught him how to make dolls too,--dolls of every kind,
condition, temper, and color; proud dolls, homely dolls, boy dolls,
lady dolls, wax dolls, rubber dolls, paper dolls, worsted dolls, rag
dolls,--dolls of every description and without end. So Claus became at
once quite as popular with the little girls as with the little boys of
his native village; for he was so generous that he gave away all these
pretty things as fast as he made them.
Claus seemed to know by instinct every language. As he grew older he
would ramble off into the woods and talk with the trees, the rocks,
and the beasts of the greenwood; or he would sit on the cliffs
overlooking the fiord, and listen to the stories that the waves of the
sea loved to tell him; then, too, he knew the haunts of the elves and
the stille-volk, and many a pretty tale he learned from these little
people. When night came, old Jans told him the quaint legends of the
North, and his mother sang to him the lullabies she had heard when a
little child herself in the far-distant East. And every night his
mother held out to him the symbol in the similitude of the cross, and
bade him kiss it ere he went to sleep.
So Claus grew to manhood, increasing each day in knowledge and in
wisdom. His works increased too; and his liberality dispensed
everywhere the beauteous things which his fancy conceived and his
skill executed. Jans, being now a very old man, and having no son of
his own, gave to Claus his forge and workshop, and taught him those
secret arts which he in youth had learned from cunning masters. Right
joyous now was Claus; and many, many times the Northern sky glowed
with the flames that danced singing from the forge while Claus moulded
his pretty toys. Every color of the rainbow were these flames; for
they reflected the bright colors of the beauteous things strewn round
that wonderful workshop. Just as of old he had dispensed to all
children alike the homelier toys of his youth, so now he gave to all
children alike these more beautiful and more curious gifts. So little
children everywhere loved Claus, because he gave them pretty toys, and
their parents loved him because he made their little ones so happy.
[Illustration: For he was so generous that he gave away all these
pretty things as fast as he made them.]
But now Norss and Faia were come to old age. After long years of love
and happiness, they knew that death could not be far distant. And one
day Faia said to Norss: "Neither you nor I, dear love, fear death; but
if we could choose, would we not choose to live always in this our son
Claus, who has been so sweet a joy to us?"
"Ay, ay," said Norss; "but how is that possible?"
"We shall see," said Faia.
That night Norss dreamed that a spirit came to him, and that the
spirit said to him: "Norss, thou shalt surely live forever in thy son
Claus, if thou wilt but acknowledge the symbol."
Then when the morning was come Norss told his dream to Faia, his wife;
and Faia said:
"The same dream had I,--an angel appearing to me and speaking these
very words."
"But what of the symbol?" cried Norss.
"I have it here, about my neck," said Faia.
So saying, Faia drew from her bosom the symbol of wood,--a tiny cross
suspended about her neck by the golden chain. And as she stood there
holding the symbol out to Norss, he--he thought of the time when first
he saw her on the far-distant Orient shore, standing beneath the Star
in all her maidenly glory, shading her beauteous eyes with one hand,
and with the other clasping the cross,--the holy talisman of her
faith.
"Faia, Faia!" cried Norss, "it is the same,--the same you wore when I
fetched you a bride from the East!"
"It is the same," said Faia, "yet see how my kisses and my prayers
have worn it away; for many, many times in these years, dear Norss,
have I pressed it to my lips and breathed your name upon it. See
now--see what a beauteous light its shadow makes upon your aged face!"
The sunbeams, indeed, streaming through the window at that moment,
cast the shadow of the symbol on old Norss's brow. Norss felt a
glorious warmth suffuse him, his heart leaped with joy, and he
stretched out his arms and fell about Faia's neck, and kissed the
symbol and acknowledged it. Then likewise did Faia; and suddenly the
place was filled with a wondrous brightness and with strange music,
and never thereafter were Norss and Faia beholden of men.
Until late that night Claus toiled at his forge; for it was a busy
season with him, and he had many, many curious and beauteous things to
make for the little children in the country round about. The colored
flames leaped singing from his forge, so that the Northern sky seemed
to be lighted by a thousand rainbows; but above all this voiceful
glory beamed the Star, bright, beautiful, serene.
Coming late to the cabin in the fir grove, Claus wondered that no sign
of his father or of his mother was to be seen. "Father--mother!" he
cried, but he received no answer. Just then the Star cast its golden
gleam through the latticed window, and this strange, holy light fell
and rested upon the symbol of the cross that lay upon the floor.
Seeing it, Claus stooped and picked it up, and kissing it reverently,
he cried: "Dear talisman, be thou my inspiration evermore; and
wheresoever thy blessed influence is felt, there also let my works be
known henceforth forever!"
No sooner had he said these words than Claus felt the gift of
immortality bestowed upon him; and in that moment, too, there came to
him a knowledge that his parents' prayer had been answered, and that
Norss and Faia would live in him through all time.
And lo! to that place and in that hour came all the people of
Mist-Land and of Dream-Land to declare allegiance to him: yes, the
elves, the fairies, the pixies,--all came to Claus, prepared to do his
bidding. Joyously they capered about him, and merrily they sang.
"Now haste ye all," cried Claus,--"haste ye all to your homes and
bring to my workshop the best ye have. Search, little hill-people,
deep in the bowels of the earth for finest gold and choicest jewels;
fetch me, O mermaids, from the bottom of the sea the treasures hidden
there,--the shells of rainbow tints, the smooth, bright pebbles, and
the strange ocean flowers; go, pixies, and other water-sprites, to
your secret lakes, and bring me pearls! Speed! speed you all! for
many pretty things have we to make for the little ones of earth we
love!"
But to the kobolds and the brownies Claus said: "Fly to every house on
earth where the cross is known; loiter unseen in the corners, and
watch and hear the children through the day. Keep a strict account of
good and bad, and every night bring back to me the names of good and
bad that I may know them."
The kobolds and the brownies laughed gleefully, and sped away on
noiseless wings; and so, too, did the other fairies and elves.
There came also to Claus the beasts of the forest and the birds of the
air, and bade him be their master. And up danced the Four Winds, and
they said: "May we not serve you, too?"
The Snow King came stealing along in his feathery chariot. "Oho!" he cried,
"I shall speed over all the world and tell them you are coming. In town and
country, on the mountain-tops and in the valleys,--wheresoever the cross is
raised,--there will I herald your approach, and thither will I strew you a
pathway of feathery white. Oho! oho!" So, singing softly, the Snow King
stole upon his way.
But of all the beasts that begged to do him service, Claus liked the
reindeer best. "You shall go with me in my travels; for henceforth I
shall bear my treasures not only to the children of the North, but to
the children in every land whither the Star points me and where the
cross is lifted up!" So said Claus to the reindeer, and the reindeer
neighed joyously and stamped their hoofs impatiently, as though they
longed to start immediately.
Oh, many, many times has Claus whirled away from his far Northern home
in his sledge drawn by the reindeer, and thousands upon thousands of
beautiful gifts--all of his own making--has he borne to the children
of every land; for he loves them all alike, and they all alike love
him, I trow. So truly do they love him that they call him Santa Claus,
and I am sure that he must be a saint; for he has lived these many
hundred years, and we, who know that he was born of Faith and Love,
believe that he will live forever.
[Illustration: Oh, hush thee, little Dear-my-Soul, And close thine
eyes in dreaming.]