Everybody knows the old, plump, jolly gentelman with a white beard, dressed in a red and white suit. He has many names. The most popular are: Father Christmas, St Nicholas, Santa Claus. All year long he lives at the North Pole where he has a toy factory. Father Christmas and his helpers make toys for children there. On the night before Christmas, Santa takes his sleigh, fills it with toys and travels round the world to bring gifts to all good children.
The sleigh is pulled by eight reindeer: Dasher, Prancer, Dancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder and Blitzen. There is also Rudolph, the red nosed reindeer, who leads the others. The eight reindeer did not like him at first, so he was very sad. Then Santa asked him to lead the sleigh. Rudolph was very happy and soon the other reindeer began to like him.
When the sleigh stops over the house, Santa Claus takes a sack full of gifts, climbs down the chimney and gets into the house through the fireplace. He eats the cookies and drinks the milk prepared for him. Then he fills the stockings hung by the fireplace with gifts or puts some under the Christmas tree and leaves the house quietly.
