Where did Santa get his reindeer from and how do they fly? |
| So many children have asked this story that Mr Likesalist, Santa's chief elf, has answered it in a story. |
Mr Likesalist says:Well my dears, that’s a good question, because of course ordinary reindeer don’t fly, do they? But Father Christmas’s do – so make yourselves comfortable and I’ll tell you the story of how it all began... |
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Many years ago, long before living memory, there were not so many children in the world. Father Christmas, who is hundreds and hundreds of years old, had a much easier job because there were far fewer presents to deliver on Christmas Eve and far fewer houses to get round. Instead of reindeer, he had one, rather old white horse with great white wings, called Hoverhoof, who flew him anywhere he wished to go. His sack of toys was much lighter than it is now, so it wasn’t too difficult for one flying horse to carry it and him all around the world – and he didn’t need a sleigh. Hoverhoof couldn’t speed across the sky as quickly as the reindeer can these days, so Father Christmas did used to have to start out a bit earlier on Christmas Eve, but then again there were so few presents to drop off that that didn’t matter at the time. However, even though he didn’t have a single flying reindeer or a sleigh, Father Christmas did know one ordinary reindeer, who lived in the Watching Wood, a dark, magical forest, not very far from Father Christmas’s house. This reindeer was called Cupid. (If you have read “The Night Before Christmas”, you might have heard of him before!) Cupid is still around today, he runs just behind Rudolph as they pull Father Christmas’s sleigh across the sky and he shimmers in the moonlight because his fur is a beautiful shade of silvery grey.
Anyway, as I was saying, Cupid was the very first reindeer Father Christmas ever met. He first came across him on a fine, frosty Sunday afternoon, on the day before Christmas, when he was taking a stroll after lunch. Now, Father Christmas doesn’t usually go strolling in the Watching Wood, because he has a very big garden and he generally prefers to spend his free time there, rather than in the wilder places of the world. On this particular occasion though, he had had a very big lunch and a big Christmas pudding for desert, so he wanted to take a long walk to help him work off all that sugar and to stop himself feeling uncomfortably full that night while sitting on Hoverhoof’s back.
He put on his warmest fur-lined boots and his thickest red coat and hat, then he pulled on his mittens and stepped out of the door. It was a very pretty day! All the ice was sparkling in the sunshine, so that it looked as if someone had shaken glitter over the world! And as he walked off down Icicle Lane, Father Christmas began to whistle a jolly little tune to himself as he plodded along. It was about a mile or so to the Watching wood – and as he approached the dark green boughs of the trees which were heavy with snow, he whistled even louder at the thought of being out delivering presents that night – because it always makes him very cheerful and excited! Some of the birds up in the branches heard him and joined in the singing so that soon, there was a whole chorus of whistling going on and the forest seemed to be vibrating with music – which was wonderful to hear! |
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Father Christmas walked deeper and deeper into the forest and as he picked his way through the trees he began to feel a little bit tired, which is hardly surprising really, because let’s face it my dears – he is a rather round man and probably not as fit as you are – nor as young I’m afraid! So as soon as he came across a clearing with a fallen tree in the middle of it, he decided to have a bit of a sit down and a nice rest. He sank down on a pile of soft leaves, leaned back against the tree and closed his eyes for forty winks. (You can hardly blame him for taking a nap, can you? Especially after a good meal and a long walk and such a busy night ahead of him delivering all the presents!) Unfortunately, he slept much too long. When he woke up, the first thing he saw were tiny white stars twinkling in between the branches above his head. The happy feeling he had had earlier disappeared and his stomach filled with dread. He must have been asleep for hours! It was already night-time and he hadn’t even started delivering the presents for everyone to open on Christmas day. He leapt up, thinking of the long walk back to Christmas house and started to jog out of the clearing and through the forest as fast as he could. It was very dark among the trees. So dark in fact, that you wouldn’t have been able to see your hand in front of your face, let alone where you were putting your feet and poor old Father Christmas had no idea which way to go to get home. He scrambled along through brambles and snow, skidding here and there on unseen patches of ice and sometimes even bumping into trees! Then, all of a sudden he hit something else. Something solid like a little mound, and he fell over with a crash. He was just about to pick himself up when a low, deep voice cut across the darkness and the strange mound which he had fallen over suddenly stood up! “Do you mind!” grumbled the voice, “Can’t a fellow ever have a peaceful sleep around here without something waking him up? First there was a forest full of unbearably loud music which disturbed my afternoon nap… and now, in the middle of the night, some great clumsy fool trips over me! It really won’t do at all!” Father Christmas squinted at the thing which was doing the talking and saw that it was a large silver reindeer. “Terribly sorry,” he replied, “but I’m in a dreadful rush!” The reindeer, who could see quite well in the dark, looked him up and down, taking in scratches from the brambles and Father Christmas’s jolly round face, which at this point was red and out of breath. “So I see,” he said. He blinked slowly. “I know you,” he went on, “You’re Father Christmas, aren’t you? Shouldn’t you be out delivering presents tonight? Whatever are you doing in the Watching Wood?” “Oh Goodness, well, it’s a long story – but I fell asleep you see!” answered Father Christmas sadly, “and you’re quite right! I should be out on my horse dropping off presents right this very minute… but I’ve managed to get myself lost and frankly, even if I wasn’t lost it’s at least a mile back to my house and I haven’t even filled up my sack. I don’t know what to do I really don’t! At this rate all those children will have nothing to open tomorrow morning… and I can’t bear the thought!” He glanced up at the moon peeping out between the trees and sighed. “I must get back as quickly as possible, you never know, I might just be able to get round one or two houses before the moon sets. I have to try!”
“Well,” said the reindeer slowly, still watching him. “I suppose I could give you a ride back to your house on my back. “My name is Cupid, by the way. I don’t usually do any favours for humans I must say, because in my opinion they are a somewhat selfish lot, but you’re rather special, always doing things to make other people happy and so forth. So I’ll give you lift if you like.”
Well, Father Christmas took the reindeer up on his offer at once and the two of them sped out of the forest at the speed of lightening, racing across the snowy ground like a shot. Cupid is a very fast runner you see – but only when he wants to be and there is a real reason for it – he’s a moody sort of character and never does anything unless he thinks it’s worthwhile – but he’s still one of the fastest of Father Christmas’s herd.
As soon as Cupid and Father Christmas arrived at Christmas House, Father Christmas gave a long whistle and Hoverhoof appeared in the sky. He flew down, nodded at Cupid in a friendly way and then spoke to Father Christmas with his face full of concern.
“You’re late, old friend!” he said with a neigh. “Look at the moon! Dawn is only a few hours away!”
“I know, I know,” muttered Father Christmas as he beckoned to half a dozen elves who had come running out of the house with presents and a sack, “but we shall have to do our best nonetheless.” He took the sack from one of the elves and started stuffing presents into it, muttering magic words under his breath as he did it, to shrink them so that they would all fit. It was slow going though my dears, for there were so many presents to pack! Hoverhoof shook his mane impatiently, but there was nothing he could do but wait. Then Cupid, who everyone seemed to have forgotten about but who was watching the whole scene, spoke.
“It will take you half the time that’s left to pack all those presents into that sack,” he observed coolly.
“You don’t say?” snorted Hoverhoof sarcastically, then to Father Christmas he snapped, “Who on earth is this reindeer? The last thing we need at the moment is someone to stand around pointing out the obvious and doing nothing to help!” Cupid ignored him and went on, “Over there in the middle of your garden I can see a sleigh, why don’t you simply put all the presents onto that and then you can fill up your sack while you’re flying through the air.”
“I can’t pull a sleigh!” whinnied Hoverhoof crossly. “Especially one full to the brim with presents, I’m not that strong!” He was beginning to think that Cupid was a silly, interfering creature and that he didn’t like him much at all.
“No”, smiled Cupid to himself. “I should think not. Neither am I. But I think, if one of those elves has a little fairy dust to make me fly, that together we might pull it quite well.”
At this, Father Christmas stopped packing up the presents and turned to the reindeer. “That’s a wonderful idea!” he exclaimed, “how kind of you! And when we get back you must come and spend Christmas with us here at Christmas house and stay as long as you like!”
Cupid was ever so pleased about that my dears, because even though he is a very proud reindeer and would never admit it, he had been quite lonely living by himself in the Watching Wood.
As they raced across the sky that night, Cupid and Hoverhoof and Father Christmas talked of many things. In fact, in a very short space of time they became the best of friends. Because of Cupid being able to fly so fast, they managed to deliver all the presents too… although I must tell you it was a close cut thing… and they delivered the last one just as the sun began to peep over the horizon on Christmas Day.
The world was tinged with a pink and orange glow as they made for home that night, and Cupid thought that it was so beautiful that he might like to do this again next year. And, as you know, he did. And the next year and the year after that and the one that followed, until soon he realised that it had become a proper job, a job doing something which he loved, which is what all proper jobs ought to be!
As for Hoverhoof, he carried on flying for about another hundred years or so, then retired to a nice grassy plane in Fairyland where he could grow old in peace. Cupid and he remained great friends, though like many great friends they were very different and would often disagree. However, there was nothing either of them liked better than to loll around in the grass together on a sunny day, quarrelling happily over who was wrong and who was right about everything imaginable! And for as long as he lived Cupid always went to visit Hoverhoof, if only to have an argument!
As for the other reindeer, they all have their own stories of how they came to work for Father Christmas, perhaps I’ll tell you another one next year!
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