Story: Santa's Beard
-Eh Père Christmas ! s’écria le chef des lutins en frappant doucement à la fenêtre de la chambre du vieux bonhomme. « Réveillez-vous, nous sommes le 21 décembre, il faut commencer les préparatifs de Noël si on veut arriver à temps pour le 24!
-Already? Santa Claus replied, completely sleepy.
-Yes! Get up if you want to be ready for the big tour. There are still lots of children's letters to open, lots of presents to wrap, then load your sleigh, polish your boots, prepare the reindeer and...
– Oh my! So many things to do, I'm coming, I'm coming.
– Come on, Santa Claus, come on, I've made you some hot chocolate.
Santa Claus quickly swallowed his chocolate, then opened the large wardrobe where he kept his holiday gear. His red coat was all crumpled and his black boots were covered in dust. Turning to one of the elves, he asked him to take care of giving his clothes a little more shape.
For days and days, the elves and Santa Claus busied themselves in his workshop (located so high in the mountains that it looked like he was in the clouds). So, on December 24th, the gifts were ready and all that was left was to take out Santa's clothes. He put on his coat and boots, everything was perfect.
Suddenly, one of the elves approached and whispered in his ear, "Santa, everything is perfect except that it seems to me that your beard is much too long."
-Do you think so? Santa Claus replied, checking his appearance in his mirror.
-Oui, insista le elf. Si longue, que je me demande si vous ne risquez pas de vous accrocher dans les cheminées! Je pense qu’il y a des mois que vous ne l’avez taillée, vous savez.
A few minutes later, the elf returned with a pair of large scissors and asked Santa to sit down so he could gently trim his beard. They sat outside as millions of tiny snow-white hairs flew into the air in front of the amused elves.
At that moment, a little boy was opening the curtains of his room when he saw a string of white particles fluttering through the air and then landing on the countryside. Amazed, he hurried to wake his brother and little sister, saying to them:
“Come see, it looks like it's snowing. They're probably trimming Santa's beard up there. Which means he's coming today with his presents. Hooray!”