Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer


Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer
Had a very shiny nose!
And if you ever saw it,
You would even say it glows!

All of the other reindeer
Used to laugh and call him names!
They never let poor Rudolph
Join in any reindeer games!

Then one foggy Christmas Eve,
Santa came to say,
"Rudolph, with your nose so bright,
Won't you guide my sleigh tonight?"

Then how the reindeer loved him,
And they shouted out with glee,
"Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer,
You'll go down in history!"

Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer

          Rudolph was born at the North Pole on a sunny spring morning.  His mother was very proud of him.  But Donner, his father, was not as happy with his newborn son.  Because little Rudolph was different from the other baby reindeer.  He had a shiny red nose.
          When Rudolph was old enough, Donner took him to play with the other young reindeer.  He made Rudolph wear a black rubber nose, to hide his red nose.
          At first, the other reindeer let Rudolph play with them.  Comet, one of Santa's sleigh reindeer, tried to teach them how to fly.  Rudolph flew better than any of the other young bucks, and he was very happy.
          But then his black rubber nose came off, and the other deer started to laugh.  They didn't want to play with him anymore, because he was different from them.  So they chased him away.
          Only one young reindeer, pretty little Clarise, still liked Rudolph.  But Clarise's father wouldn't let them be together.  He made Clarise stay away from Rudolph.
          Rudolph was so unhappy that he decided to run away.  That's when he met Hermie, a young elf who didn't like to make toys.  Hermie wanted to be a dentist.  Because he was different from the other elves, they had laughed at him and chased him away.
          Rudolph and Hermie set off together.  They wanted to leave the North Pole completely.  Yet before they'd gone very far, they were attacked by the horrible Snow Monster who lived nearby.   They hid in the snow, and Rudolph covered his red nose so that the Snow Monster wouldn't see them.
          The next morning, they were found by Yukon Cornelius, a crazy old miner who thought that the North Pole was full of gold and silver.  He gave them a ride on his sled.
          But the Snow Monster came back, and chased them out onto the ice.  Just when it was about to catch and kill them, Yukon Cornelius broke the ice, and they floated away into the water.  The Snow Monster could not swim, so they were able to escape from it.
          Donner was very worried when Rudolph didn't come home from the reindeer games.  He decided to go looking for his son, because he knew that the Snow Monster loved to kill and eat reindeer.
          When Donner had left the cave, Rudolph's mother and Clarise set off on their own, to search for Rudolph.
          But Rudolph and his new friends were far away.  Their ice boat had carried them far away from the North Pole, until they'd crashed into the Island of Unwanted Toys.  There they found a land filled with misfit toys--spotted elephants, trains with square wheels, birds that could only swim, and cowboys who rode ostriches instead of horses.
          Rudolph knew that if he stayed with Yukon Cornelius and Hermie, the Snow Monster would catch and kill them all.  And he didn't want his friends to be hurt.  So he left the Island in the middle of the night, and set off alone.
          He traveled on his own for a long time.  The Snow Monster kept chasing him, so he had to keep moving.  But as he got older and bigger, he realized that he couldn't keep running away.  He had to go home.  So he turned around and headed north again.
          ChristmasTown hadn't changed very much.  Rudolph was still different, still a misfit, and the other reindeer still laughed at him.  But he didn't care anymore.  His parents and Clarise were missing!  Santa told him that they'd been gone for months, searching for him.   He knew he had to find them, and fast!
          And he knew just where they might be...in the cave of the horrible Snow Monster!
          Just as he was about to leave, a terrible blizzard blew across the North Pole.  But he didn't let that stop him.   He ran toward the Snow Monster's cave as fast as he could.
          They were there, all right!   And Rudolph was just in time, because the Snow Monster was holding pretty Clarise in its huge fist, and it was about to eat her!
          "You put her down!" Rudolph yelled.
          The Snow Monster saw Rudolph's shiny red nose, and it forgot all about Clarise.  It started chasing Rudolph across the cave.
          Just then, Yukon Cornelius and Hermie arrived.  They'd been searching for Rudolph ever since he'd left them on the Island of Unwanted Toys, and had finally found their way back to ChristmasTown.
          Hermie and Cornelius lured the Snow Monster out of the cave, and threw a rock on its head.  Then Hermie pulled the Snow Monster's teeth out.
          Without its sharp teeth, the Snow Monster was harmless.  It couldn't attack them anymore.  And it was so scared of Yukon Cornelius and his sled dogs that it fell backwards over a high cliff!
          Everyone was very sad that Cornelius had fallen over the cliff with the Snow Monster.  But there was nothing they could do.  So they slowly headed back to ChristmasTown through the storm.
          Santa was very happy to see them all come home.  And when Rudolph told him about the Island of Unwanted Toys, he realized that he had been wrong to treat Rudolph badly, just because he was different from the other reindeer.
          The elves were sorry that they'd been so mean to Hermie, too.  And they agreed to let Hermie open a dentist's office right after Christmas.
          Santa and the elves threw a big party to welcome Rudolph and Hermie back to the North Pole.  And everyone was very happy, even though that awful blizzard was still blowing outside.
          Suddenly there was a loud knock on the door.  Yukon Cornelius was still alive--and he'd brought the Snow Monster with him!  "Snow Monsters bounce!" he laughed, when everyone asked him how he'd survived such a terrible fall over the high cliff.  "And this Snow Monster is sorry for being so bad!  He wants a job!"
          With that, the Snow Monster picked up the Christmas star and set it on top of Santa's tree.  And everyone cheered!
          But Santa was still very worried.   It was snowing so hard that he couldn't fly his sleigh!  And it was almost Christmas Eve!  If he couldn't deliver his toys, all the children in the world would be very sad!
          He didn't want to cancel Christmas, but he didn't have any choice.
          Then he saw Rudolph's shiny red nose.  With that bright, glowing nose leading his team of magical reindeer, he could fly through the very worst storm without a problem!
          "Rudolph!" he cried.   "You can guide us through the storm!  You will lead my sleigh tonight!   Come on, everyone, let's get ready!"
          Rudolph was very proud to lead Santa's sleigh.  The first place he took them was the Island of Unwanted Toys.   Santa laughed while all the toys jumped into his big bag.  They were finally going to have homes of their own, and children to love them and play with them!
          "Now let's go!" Santa said.  "It's time to deliver all these toys to the good girls and boys all over the world!"
          So they took off again.   Rudolph bravely led them through that cold, icy blizzard.  Because of his help, Santa was able to deliver all of his special toys.
          Rudolph did such a wonderful job that Santa was very proud of him!
          Since then, Rudolph has led Santa's magical sleigh every year.  If you look up in the sky on Christmas Eve, and you're very lucky, you can see them flying overhead.  Just look for the beautiful shooting star, and listen for Santa's tinkling sleigh bells.
          And have a very Merry Christmas, and the happiest of New Year's!

 

Adaptation by:  Jo Grant