Christmas Stories (Faulkner)/A Christmas Tree for Santa Claus

by Georgene Faulkner

A Christmas Tree for Santa
Claus

nce upon a time the fairies planned a Christmas surprise for Santa Claus. “I wonder what we can do to make him happy?” asked the Fairy Queen; “he always makes other people happy.”

“I know,” answered the Fairy King, “let us give him a Christmas party and after he returns from his long journey of love all around the world, let us lead him to the Christmas-tree forest and there we will have a tree all trimmed and ready for him.”

“Hurrah! hurrah!” shouted all the little brownies, elves, fairies and nymphs. “Hurrah! hurrah! what fun we shall have; a Christmas tree for dear old Father Santa Claus. We will ask Mother Santa Claus to help us plan it and she will tell us just what he needs and would most enjoy,” said the Fairy King.

Now, you must know, children, that all the brownies, elves, fairies and nymphs always call Santa Claus and Mrs. Santa Claus, “Father” and “Mother” because they seem like a Father and Mother to all these little people, and they always help Santa Claus and his good wife make the Christmas gifts; for how would Santa Claus and Mrs. Santa Claus ever get all their work done in time for Christmas without all these good, little fairies to help them?

So, of course, when they planned for a Christmas tree, they asked Mother Santa Claus to help them. “Have everything ready,” said Mother Santa Claus, “and, after Father has gone on his long journey, we will go out to the forest and trim the tree, and have everything in place before he comes home again. We will keep it as a great secret, for if he hears of it all our fun and surprise will be gone.”

“We will never let him hear a whisper from us,” said the fairies. “We will work and will wait patiently until Christmas Eve.”

Then the fairies, true to their promise, worked and worked helping Father and Mother Santa Claus to make the Christmas gifts, and they were all very busy. Some of these dear little fairies helped Mother Santa Claus to make doll clothes and to furnish dolls’ houses, hemming tiny table-cloths, fringing little napkins, making sheets and blankets and pillows and pillow-cases for the dollies’ beds. They were such happy little fairies that they sang as they worked:

• “The Christmas fairies find pleasure,
• As they work for the good girls and boys,
• For they know that the children will treasure
• And value these new Christmas toys.”

The little carpenter elves liked to help Father Santa Claus in his big work-shop, as he sawed the wood brought in by the forest elves and brownies, and, with plane and hammer, he made houses for the dolls, chairs and tables and sleds and all kinds of wooden toys. The mountain dwarfs and goblins from the mines brought in the iron ore which they heated red-hot, and they helped Santa Claus make the engines, trains of cars, the automobiles, fire-engines and boats and all the toys of iron and steel. They also brought him gold and silver and sparkling stones, while the water nymphs gave him pearls and coral and softly tinted shells which Santa Claus and his skillful helpers soon made into beautiful jewelry to give to some of the big, grown-up children on Christmas.

“Everybody is a child at this time,” said Sarita Claus to his good wife, “and even if people do feel too large to play with dolls and drums, still they must have their trinkets and things to make them happy.”

“Yes,” answered Mrs. Santa Claus, “but we must have useful presents, too, Father.” So she would knit stockings and mitts and make warm caps, hoods and mufflers, new coats and dresses. Then, when the soft skins of animals were brought in, she would make nice fur collars and muffs for the big Mammas, and little fur sets for the little girlies, and then she would take teeny-weeny scraps of fur that were left over, and make fur sets for the dollies. Oh, Mrs. Santa Claus was a very sensible old lady, you may be sure.

Well, I could not begin to take time to tell you about all the marvelous things that were made in that wonderful work-shop, nor how busily Santa Claus worked at his big desk, writing stories while the artist fairies drew the pictures for him, for I do want to tell you how all these fairy helpers gave Santa Claus his Christmas tree.

When, at last, Christmas Eve came, Mother Santa Claus helped Santa Claus bundle up in his big, red cloak and pack his toys in a magic sleigh. Then she gave him a big kiss, and he gave her a big hug and a kiss and said: “Good-bye, Mother, Merry Christmas! I will be back when all is done. Good-bye!”

“‘When all is done’” said Mrs. Santa Claus, chuckling to herself, “we shall have it all done when he returns. Come, fairies!” and Mrs. Santa Claus, with all the brownies, elves and fairies, went out to the Christmas-tree forest.

The frost fairies selected a tall fir tree which they hung all over with shining, silvery threads of frost, while icicles, hanging from each branch, glimmered and glistened in the moonlight. “What a beautiful tree, frost fairies!” they all cried in a chorus, “But nothing is too good for our dear Father Santa Claus!” Then each put his present on the tree for Santa Claus.

Mrs. Santa Claus had made him a new, beautiful red coat, with a cap to match, and she had trimmed it with soft, white ermine. Some of the tailor fairies had helped her, and they also had made him a new pair of trousers. The little cobbler elves had made him a new pair of tall boots and the glove-makers brought a pair of warm gloves. “We want his fingers to be warm,” they said. Some of the fairies brought some animal skins and made them into a nice fur robe. The water nymphs brought him a new meerschaum pipe with an amber mouth-piece from out the sea, “For,” they said, “he has smoked that old clay one so long that he ought to have a new pipe.”

The forest fairies placed under the tree a wonderful, new magic sleigh, which was much larger than his old one. “He has to carry so much nowadays,” they said. The mountain dwarfs had made for him some new, metal sleigh-bells which jingled out the merriest Christmas music.

Suddenly they heard the old bells tinkling on Santa’s old sleigh and they all rushed back to the house to welcome him home. “What are you doing out here, Mother?” asked Santa Claus, “and all the brownies, elves, fairies, nymphs and mountain dwarfs out here with you? Why, don’t you know this is the time for rest, before we all go to work for another year?”

“No, not to-night, Father Santa Claus. We are so happy we will dance until morning. Come with us to the Christmas-tree forest,’’ and with all the fairy helpers pushing and pulling him, and Mother Santa Claus holding him tightly by the hand, Santa Claus was brought out to his own Christmas tree.

“Merry Christmas! Surprise! Surprise! Merry Christmas!” shouted all the fairies, and poor Santa Claus was certainly so surprised that he did not know what to say nor which way to turn. “A Christmas tree! And for me!” gasped Santa Claus in his bewilderment.

“Yes, yes, for you, for you!” they all shouted. “You are always making other people have a merry Christmas, and now we want you to have a merry Christmas. It is your very own Christmas tree, Father Santa Claus.” And then they brought out his presents and gave them to him.

When they had dressed him in his new suit, his eyes twinkled with pleasure as he said, “Why, I don’t know myself now; my old clothes were quite shabby and were tarnished with ashes and soot, and Dancer and Prancer and Dunder and Blitzen and all the reindeer will hardly know what to make of this beautiful new magic sleigh. And just listen to the merry music of our new sleighbells! How good this warm fur robe will feel over me! Sometimes it is pretty cold and my old one is getting thin and worn. A new pipe! Oh, that is fine! My old one is just a stump of a pipe which I had to hold tightly between my teeth, and now, with this new one, the smoke will encircle my head like a wreath. How good you are to me!” said Father Santa Claus, “and how did you ever plan it?”

“Oh, good Mother Santa Claus helped us; without her help we could not have had any Christmas tree surprise party at all.”

“Yes,” said Father Santa Claus, “it always takes the good Mother to plan and make a real Christmas party.”

Then the fairy helpers surprised Mother Santa Claus by bringing out a new dress which they had made for her, with a soft, lacy collar and a white cap, and the mountain dwarfs gave her a pair of gold-rimmed spectacles to help her as she did her sewing, and a new, gold pin set with corals was brought to her by the sea nymphs.

And then Father and Mother Santa Claus, dressed in their new Christmas clothes, stood under the sparkling tree trimmed by the frost fairies. Overhead the rainbow fairies came out and flashed their bright lights high in the northern sky, while all the Christmas fairy helpers, the brownies, elves, fairies, mountain dwarfs and nymphs, danced around and around them in a fairy ring, calling gaily:

• “Merry Christmas, Father Santa Claus!
• Merry Christmas, Mother Santa Claus!
• Merry, Merry Christmas to all the World!”