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Christmas Chronicles 7.8 - Be of Good Cheer
00:29:03
Christmas Chronicles 7.8 - Be of Good Cheer
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- [00:00]
Kirkland's Home Announcer
The holidays are here and Kirkland's Home has everything you need to make this season shine. From beautiful tree decor and ornaments to cozy throws, candles and festive accents, you'll find inspiring ways to deck every hall. Explore thoughtful holiday gifts for everyone on your list at prices that make celebrating even brighter. Come visit Kirkland's Home and discover great deals across the store as you decorate, gift and gather Kirkland's Home your destination for a beautifully decorated holiday season. Come see us today. The Christmas Chronicles an exclusive dramatic reading by Tim slover Presented by Classical89KBYUfm, this eight part series captures the magic and mystery of everyone's favorite Yuletide character, revealing a true and complete history of Santa Claus. Episode 7 Be of Good Cheer as performed by Richard Johnstone.
- [01:07]
Narrator (The Christmas Chronicles)
Explanations about the mysterious suntan Klaus was sporting would have to wait. That is what Anna thought as she eyed her saintly husband's healthy glow, though she did wonder what he had been up to and if he had been having fun without her. And Klaus thought, wait till she hears about time stopping and about all those languages and how big the world is, and about no more need to worry about chimneys. But what they both thought was first things first. What should we do about this letter left in the holly bush at the foot of the straight road? The letter was from a child. This is what it Dear Santa, next Christmas Eve will you please bring me a kite so I can fly it in the summer? I would like it best if it had a picture of a dragon on it, because that is my most favourite animal in the world. Very sincerely yours, Sophie P. S. I love you Santa, and so does my little brother Arnulf, who would like a puppy. Now the alarming thing about this letter was not that it was addressed to someone called Santa. All at Castle Noel knew that this name for Klaus was becoming increasingly popular since it was or was near the word for saint. Nor was it alarming that the letter asked for a toy Klaus did not know how to make. For many Christmases now, elves had been making toys based on ideas of their own, or Anna's. That is very much the case now, of course, though all toys must still be personally approved by Klaus. No, the truly troubling thing about the letter was simply that Sophie had asked for a specific gift. Gift which had never happened before. Oh, Klaus had sometimes made a toy specially for a child. Remember little Lena's rattle? But no one had ever written to ask for a particular one. You can see the implications of this, I'm sure, as clearly as Anna and Klaus Could. What if everyone began asking for specific gifts? Would they be able to honour these requests? Children might ask for anything. Arnulf had asked for a puppy, which neither Klaus nor even the cleverest of the elves could make. And was little Arnulf ready for a puppy? This last question begged an even larger one. What if children asked for toys which were not good for them? What should they do then? Dasher and his siblings declared themselves too tired to pursue these thorny issues at the moment and trotted off to their own houses for a long winter's nap. But Klaus and Anna stayed up well into the night, sipping mint hot chocolate by the enormous fire in the great hall of Castle Noel and trying to decide what was best to do about the subject of dangerous playthings. Anna grew quite excited. She instantly began planning a range of toys on the spot, which would recreate in full working detail, but in children's sizes, the armour and weapons of the Roman Ninth Legion. Think what fun my children would have with their own real swords and shields, Anna exulted, her eyes glowing. And we could make a line of working catapults and scale models of Teutonic heroines on horseback. I could stitch their outfits myself. And then Klaus wondered aloud if parents might object to toys that might lead to loss of blood, and Anna declared indignantly that that was all part of a happy childhood. But in the end, she reluctantly conceded that decisions about toy safety would probably have to be left up to parents. Mind you, she grumbled, I'm sure the children would see it my way. And she returned to her enormous project of stitching all the battles of the Crusades onto Christmas stockings for the elves. They talked through the night, and by morning, though they were tremendously sleepy and full of cocoa, they had hammered out the main ideas of what became the famed Christmas list protocols. The three original protocols decided that night were as 1. Children may make written requests to Santa Claus about their Christmas gifts. These will arrive at Castle Noel by Magic. 2. There is no guarantee that an item requested will be delivered, but we will do our best. 3. It is unlikely we see the hand of Anna in that word, unlikely that it will be delivered if it is deemed unsafe or unsuitable by a child's parent or guardian. These original protocols were posted at the foot of the straight road with the conviction that Sophie and Arnulf would spread the word. Given the volume of requests which poured into Castle Noel the next year and the steady increase for many years thereafter, we may safely assume that that is exactly what happened. I am sorry to have to Report, however, that these three simple and common sense protocols have had to be much amended over the years due to changing conditions and misunderstandings in the world. So long as the straight road remained tethered to the earth. These additions to the original protocols were posted periodically at its foot, but when that tie was broken, they had to be communicated imperfectly, I'm afraid, through dreams and bursts of inspiration to sensitive souls on Earth, generally on Christmas Eve. Unfortunately, this means of transmission has inevitably led to distortions of the Protocols, but on the plus side, it has also resulted in many a jolly story and song about how to behave when Santa Claus is coming to town, the unlikely event of Mommy kissing Santa Claus, etc. Round Castle Noel these always get a good laugh. However, to set the record straight, all the list protocols are reproduced in Appendix H of this book precisely as they appear in the striking tapestries woven by Anna, which hang in the Gifts Pavilion by Advent Lake in the True North. Here, for a sample, I set down just three of the more recent amendments. 237 gift requests must be made in writing. Castle Noel is a house of order and keeps records. Accordingly, a child speaking his requests to someone in a commercial emporium dressed in a costume vaguely imitative of the travelling suit originally made by Anna for Klaus, will not constitute a valid Christmas list. Please write it down. 238 each child may make his list of requests as long as he or she pleases. Santa will be happy to consider the first four items. After that his attention tends to flag. 239 it has come to our attention that for very valid reasons, some parent or guardian at some time may wish to give a child a Christmas gift and say it is from Santa. Hence, we have drawn up the Great Pact, which states any gift given in love in Santa's name will be deemed to be given by Santa. Further, Santa will pass by without delivering to any house participating in the Great Pact. Finally, any person who gives a surrogate Santa gift will automatically be considered signatory to the Great Pact in perpetuity. Please apply in writing if you wish to have this action reversed. Once the original Protocols were devised, Klaus and Anna and all the elves at Castle Noel began to think of toy making in a new way. Many elevated spirits with a wide variety of unique skills were now invited to the True North. Arnulf's request for a puppy prompted the establishment of the St. Farruk Kennel and Cattery staffed by elves skilled in animal husband. Sophie's request brought a cadre of engineers who could fashion ingenious kites and later miniature locomotives, space shuttles and the like. And now of course, the state of the art magical manufacturing establishments in the True north, along with the St Nicholas bank, founded after a massive deposit of gold was discovered not far from castle Noel, the Flying 8 weather and travel Bureau, and Anna's Institute of Toy Prognostication with its hand picked research team. In short, all that constitutes Klaus and Anna's realm as it exists today are among the marvels of this or any world. I commend the fuller treatment of them which constitutes the later sections of the Green Book. There, esteemed reader, you will find many useful charts and graphs as well as a holograph facsimile of the Great Pact signed by Claus and Anna and Hoof marked by each of the eight flyers. At the risk of inserting too much personal biography, I will note that this immigration of newcomers to the True north eventually included your humble author. Saint Claus expressed a desire for a scholar to establish the Castle Noel archives and serve as court historian. I had a smattering of training from my days as a history don at Exeter College, Oxford and my application was accepted.
- [11:51]
Kirkland's Home Announcer
The holidays are here and Kirkland's Home has everything you need to make this season shine. From beautiful tree decor and ornaments to cozy throws, candles and festive accents, you'll find inspiring ways to deck every hall, explore thoughtful holiday gifts for everyone on your list at prices that that makes celebrating even brighter. Come visit Kirkland's Home and discover great deals across the store as you decorate, gift and gather Kirkland's Home, your destination for a beautifully decorated holiday season. Come see us today.
- [12:22]
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- [13:22]
Narrator (The Christmas Chronicles)
May I simply say that the last 107 years have been amongst the happiest and most stimulating of my life. And until the attacks which I must shortly report came upon us, the most peaceful too. But at the end of that long night, Klaus and Anna finally went to their sleigh bed, contented and happy. As Klaus drifted off to sleep, into his mind came the words of Saint Abigail, spoken so many years before. One day Klaus will hear petitions from children all over the world. So he thought, smiling. This was what she had meant. So much of what the world now thinks of as Christmas and its traditions were born. That night the Christmas letters of children began to be magically snatched from pillows and mantelpieces and post offices around the world and transported to the vast range receiving centre built close by Castle Noel. And if grown ups felt they couldn't write letters to Santa as their children did, though some secretly did, they could send Yuletide greetings to one another in the form of cheery cards, Unconsciously mimicking old, old traditions. And Christmas trees and Christmas stockings began to appear in more and more homes. And it was in this period that a famous author caught a fleeting glimpse of Klaus on a chronoleptic Christmas Eve flight. One year he suddenly felt inspired to write a tale of miserliness and its redemption, featuring, if only he had known it, Klaus himself as his ghost of Christmas Present. A poet having a similar experience wrote of a Christmas sighting, and though he missed Ra badly on Claus character and appearance, to the astonishment of everyone at Castle Noel, he somehow got the names of every one of the eight flyers right. And the world grew more and more in love with Christmas each year. For a time anyway, for two or three mortal spans of years. One day at the height of this Christmas popularity, Anna and Dasha went galloping hard out from Castle Noel, Dasha carrying Anna on his back. It was high summer in the True north, and they were racing along the ground instead of flying, because neither Dasha nor Anna, especially Anna, had ever grown tired of the sheer pleasure of speed on the ground. Dasha wore no saddle, of course. He would never have submitted to it, and Anna had no need of one. Her snow white hair streamed out behind her, and Dasha's silver flanks gleamed in the sun as they raced down the straight road to post the latest list protocols at its foot in the Black Forest. Both were full of their own thoughts and not paying strict attention. That's how it happened. Look out. Anna cried suddenly. A thick grey fog loomed straight ahead. Dasher dug his hooves into the hard pack of the road, but could not stop in time, he plunged straight into the fog. It was viscous and clammy, and it made his mind reel. In his confusion, it seemed to him that the road dropped away, and unable to fly, he fell like a stone deep into the malevolent wetness. Anna pitched off Dash's back, sailed clear of the heavy damp cloud, and landed with a sickening thunder thud at the foot of a larch tree on the ground below the straight road. Back at Castle Noel, Klaus looked up abruptly from his work. He sensed that something was very wrong. He leaned out a window. Comet. He called out anxiously. A few moments later, Comet and Klaus were racing out from Castle Noel towards the straight road. They lighted on it with a bang of all four wheels of the light carriage Comet was pulling and sped down its broad track. Klaus urged Comet to go just a bit faster, and the swift reindeer summoned every ounce of speed he could muster. And then, abruptly, Klaus and Comet encountered the impossible, a jagged edge and empty air. The last 30ft of the straight road were gone. They had simply disappeared. Anna and Dasher had missed the precipice because it had been obscured by the grey fog. Comet nimbly took flight just before his hoof struck the edge and sailed safely to the ground below. For a moment, Klaus just sat in the carriage, transfixed by the carnage of the broken road, too appalled to move. How could this have happened? Then he heard a low moan and looking for its source, he saw Anna, inert beneath the larch tree. He ran to her with a cry and gathering her in his arms, carried her back to the carriage and laid her gently across the bench seat. Dasha, she murmured. Klaus looked wildly around but could not see the reindeer anywhere. Over there, Anna whispered, gesturing towards the shattered road. She winced sharply because that arm was broken, and then fell mercifully into unconsciousness. And then Klaus saw Dasher, half covered in rubble. He was lying on his side, one back leg twisted at a sickening angle. In a flash, Klaus was at his side, pulling broken pieces of the road off of him, cradling his head in his lap. Dasher. He sobbed and kissed his face. We'll get you home, great heart. Don't worry, you'll be all right. But Dasher could not reply, nor could he hear what his old friend was saying. His eyes, wide open as though fixed on some terrifying object, were sightless, and his mind was filled with horror. It was Rolf Eckhorff, of course, said St Nicholas. The green Council was meeting in the great hall of Castle Noel. Anna was there, her arm in a sling, but otherwise none the worse for her harrowing experience. Klaus sat close beside her, his hand on hers. But it was. It was just a sort of cloud, wasn't it? Anna asked Klaus. That's what you said. It never touched me, anna said. And yet I felt such despair, such hopelessness. She shuddered, and Klaus put his arm around her. I cannot speak of it, she murmured. Klaus looked up at the council. How can a grey cloud be Rolf Eckhoff? He asked. I don't know that there is much of Rolf Eckhoff left, St. Abigail said. She sighed. Mostly there is just a fog now, more an it than a person. That can happen to a soul consumed by envy and hatred. It is a demon, said Saint Babucar. Then he pounded the table with an ebony fist. And it is your enemy. It broke the straight road, your only way into the world. Think if it had destroyed it all. Yes, said Nicholas. You would have been shut out of the world forever, Klaus. Klaus sat back and pondered the enormity of what this demon had almost accomplished. No more Christmas Eve deliveries, ever. Everything that Castle Noel and the True north and Anna and the eight flyers and Klaus himself stood for wiped out. Poor, poor Rolf Eckhoff, anna said for the second time in her life. It will be ages before he can be healed. At that moment, Saint Farouk came in and took his place at the table with a worried expression on his face. Well, well, he said. I've done all I can for poor Dasher. Will he be all right? Klaus asked anxiously. His leg will mend, surely, farouk said. But I cannot recall him from the dreadful place his soul walks. He was in that terrible fog so long. He shook his head sadly. I thought those who tarry could not be harmed, Klaus said. Anna held up her damaged arm. Apparently we can, she said ruefully. We are swimming in uncharted waters, I'm afraid, St. Nicholas said. They all looked at each other around the table. No one had an answer to what was happening. But one thing is certain, Nicholas continued. The demon is bent on your destruction. He spread his hands on the table. Indeed, that is all its life is now, I believe. An unquenchable desire to make everyone as miserable as it is. He glanced at Anna. It will strike at everyone and everything you love. It will strike at Christmas. The Green Council severed the tie which had tethered the straight road to a fixed place in the Black Forest. From that hour, its entire length was drawn up beyond the circles of the world. Now it touches the earth only in December, and only where belief in Christmas is strongest. Wherever in the world the love of Christmas burns brightest, There the straight road will touch down. Meanwhile, the demon that had been Rolf Eckhoff roams the earth searching for it. And if it finds it, then the road must be snatched quickly away, or the demon will complete its work of destruction and shut Klaus out of the world forever. Just before the Green Council departed, Saint Farouk took Klaus aside. I do not know what will happen to Dasha, he said. He is in a dark place. Maybe he will not find his way out. Oh, Klaus said. He could find no more words. Farouk gripped his arm. Your love for him is great, he said. So have courage, my friend. There may be more for you to discover. All through the autumn, Klaus tried hard to concentrate on organizing that year's Christmas preparations. But Anna could tell that his heart was not in it. And she knew the reason why. His deep worry over Dasher. Every day, Klaus spent hours sitting beside the reindeer, where he lay mute and unmoving in his house. There was a look of horror which never left Dasher's large brown eyes. Where are you, old friend? Klaus whispered into the reindeer's ear again and again. Come back to us, he pleaded. But it was no use. Dasher did not come back. And one day, just as the first snow fell in the pine forest of the True north and ice began to film the lake, Dasher closed his eyes, and Klaus felt him slipping even further away into darkness. From then on, he would not leave him even for a moment. He forsook all pretense of preparing for that Christmas. He refused utterly, despite much urging to name a new lead reindeer. And when Anna brought his meals to him at Dasherside, he turned aside from them because for the first time in his life, he had no appetite. Quietly, Anna took the reins of Christmas preparations. She organized the completion of that year's toy making and list. Checking, she studied the maps and charts for the annual deliveries, essential now that Dasher would not be leading the team. She gathered weather reports from around the world for Christmas Eve. Klaus did not inquire about any of it. He had no care for anything but Dasha, whom he continually stroked and called by name. Dasher. Dasher, come back. Late. One weary December night, when Anna had joined Klaus in his vigil, she finally said to her husband, dasher tarries for you. You must let him go. No. Klaus cried and clung to the reindeer. I also love him. He was mine before he was yours. But this life is not all, Klaus, Anna said. Let him go. To better pasturage then Klaus knew that what his wife said was true. And so he whispered in Dasha's ear, great heart, I speak to you, spirit to spirit. Your work here is done. You need no longer tarry. Go in peace. And he released his hold on the beast. At this Dasher opened his eyes, and the horror left them, replaced by a solemn joy. He lifted his great antlered head a little and looked at Anna and then at Klaus. Be of good cheer, he said to them, and died. Klaus and Anna clung to each other and wept because they knew how much they would miss their friend and could only guess how long they would be parted from him. Then, arm in army, Anna's good arm, of course, they walked out into what was left of the night. They were quiet, as one is after a momentous event, and took comfort in each other's silence. A large, full December moon hung in the velvet sky. The night was chilly, but not too cold. As long as they clung to each other, they drifted past the castle down to the lake, shining like a sheet of silver beneath the moon. Remember when you made me build him a house? Klaus asked, and it was really for you. And remember how he wouldn't step one hoof into it? Anna replied. In spite of themselves, they chuckled at the good memory of their friend, and Anna observed that though Klaus was sad, a sweet acceptance had come to him, and by that she knew that he would heal, be whole again. But down by the lake, something was stirring. It stepped out from the shadow of a tree into the full moonlight. Klaus and Anna stood transfixed. It used a little hoof to break the thin ice at the lake's edge and bent down to drink. Then it raised its head and and looked straight at Anna and Klaus. It was smaller than the beasts they were accustomed to, but it was without question a reindeer, and from its tail to the very tip of its nose, which was glistening in the moonlight, it was bright scarlet red. Be of good cheer, it called happily to St. Anna and Saint Cloud.
- [30:35]
Kirkland's Home Announcer
The Christmas Chronicles is written by Tim Slover. Music is by Robert Robary. The series producer is Judith Olas, and Terny technical producer is Jackie Tateishi. Executive producer is Walter Rudolph. For more information about the Christmas Chronicles, visit classical89.org the Christmas Chronicles is produced by Classical 89 KBYUFM Provo, Utah.
- [31:04]
Shopify Advertiser
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- [32:03]
Kirkland's Home Announcer
The holidays are here and Kirkland's Home has everything you need to make this season shine. From beautiful tree decor and ornaments to cozy throws, candles and festive accents, you'll find inspiring ways to deck every hall. Explore thoughtful holiday gifts for everyone on your list at prices that make celebrating even brighter. Come visit Kirkland's Home and discover great deals across the store as you decorate, gift and gather Kirkland's Home your destination for a beautifully decorated holiday season. Come see us today.