SANTA CLAUS

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 53, Issue 3846, 16 December 1936, Page 21 (Supplement)

SANTA CLAUS

I pretty tale. telling how he was given his sacred trust of bringing gifts to little children. I-’ar away from civilisation, far from all mankind, lived Claus, an old Eskimo. Deserted by all, he had left the world that had had such hopes for him. He lived by his harpoon and gun, catching what food he could, and cooking it over a fire made from flint, with moss and whale oil for fuel. But. lie did not know that the Spirit of the North Pole had taken pity on him, had watched over him, and had sent him whales with plenty of oil and blubber, bears with thick fur coats, and walruses with a great abundance of meat. He did not know that every night this Spirit came to his solitary hut, and warmed it with numberless meteors. . Day in, day out, he lived in this way, with never a friend to sympathise with him in his sorrow and loneliness, till an old man came to his hut begging shelter from the cold and snow. The old man at once started a conversation, saying how warm it was and what a good supply of meat and Blubber Claus had. “Come now.” replied Claus, “meat and blubber are made to eat. so eat them while you may, for perhaps the animals will soon perish.” "But some Spirit must have helped you in this desolate place where mortals cannot dwell for long,” continued the old man. “Do you never think how near you are to death in this terrible cold, yet how warm your hut is.” "If some Spirit watches over me, then let him come before me that I may thank him for all the goodness that he has done me in the past years of my life.” ‘Then, behold!" cried the old man. “I am that Spirit who took compassion on your loneliness.” Claus looked up, and instead of an old man he saw a tall, upright figure sparkling in the whiteness of his snowy garments. “Since the cold is so great," observed the Spirit, "you may wear this red cloak I have brought you, and in return you must go to the world every Christmas Eve and take round presents to all the children there, and they will call you ‘Santa Claus,’ and make merry when you come.” Claus thanked the Spirit, and every Christmas Eve he comes to all the children in return for the kindness the Spirit did him, though he is quite five hundred years old, and his snowy white beard touches the ground.