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!"
[pg 16]
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 [pg 17]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 [pg 18]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, [pg 19]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[pg 20] 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[pg 21] 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[pg 22] 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[pg 23] loved him because he made their little ones so happy.
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.[pg 24]
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[pg 25] 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[pg 26] 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[pg 27] 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.[pg 28]
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.
1886.
