The Story of Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer
驯鹿红鼻子鲁道夫的故事(The Story of Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer)
Robert May was a copywriter for Montgomery Ward, the big Chicago mail order house. On a December night in a shabby Chicago apartment, Bob cradled his little girl's head against his shoulder and began to tell a story...
\"Once upon a time there was a reindeer named Rudolph, the only reindeer in the world that had a big red nose. Naturally people called him Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer.\"
As Bob went on to tell about Rudolph, he tried desperately to communicate to Barbara the knowledge that, even though some creatures of God are strange and different, they often enjoy the miraculous power to make others happy. Rudolph, Bob explained, was terribly embarrassed by his unique nose. Other reindeer laughed at him; his mother and father and sister were mortified too. Even Rudolph wallowed in self-pity.
\"Well,\" continued Bob, \"one Christmas Eve, Santa Claus got his team of husky reindeer--Dasher, Dancer, Prancer and Vixen--ready for their yearly trip around the world. The entire reindeer community assembled to cheer these great heroes on their way.
But a terrible fog engulfed the earth that evening, and Santa knew that the mist was so thick he wouldn't be able to find any chimney. Suddenly Rudolph appeared, his red nose glowing brighter than ever. Santa sensed at once that here was the answer to his perplexing problem. He led Rudolph to the front of the sleigh, fastened the harness and climbed in.
They were off! Rudolph guided Santa safely to every chimney that night. Rain and fog, snow and sleet; nothing bothered Rudolph, for his bright nose penetrated the mist like a beacon. And so it as that Rudolph became the most famous and beloved of all the reindeer. \"
The huge red nose he once hid in shame was now the envy of every buck and doe in the reindeer world. Santa Claus told everyone that Rudolph had saved the day and from that Christmas, Rudolph has been living serenely and happy.\"
Little Barbara laughed with glee when her father finished. Every night she begged him to repeat the tale until finally Bob could rattle it off in his sleep.
At Christmas time he decided to make the story into a poem like \"The Night Before Christmas\" and prepare it in book form, illustrated with pictures, for Barbara's personal gift.
On Christmas morning, Barbara cried with joy over his handmade gift.
That was in 1938. By the Christmas of 1947, some six million copies of the booklet had been given away or sold, making Rudolph one of the most widely distributed books in the world. The demand for Rudolph sponsored products increased so much in variety and number that educators and historians predicted Rudolph would come to occupy a permanent place in the Christmas legend.
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