The Lights on the Christmas Tree

The Lights on the Christmas Tree

by Florence Page Jaques

Once the Christmas tree lights were not lights at all. They were the colors in the rainbow. Just a perfectly good rainbow – the kind you see in the sky after a rain. And when Santa Claus made the very first Christmas tree, it was easy to see that he needed a rainbow for a decoration. Because all the decorations he had were white. He lived at the North Pole, then, you know, as he does now, and when he had powdered the tree with snow and hung icicles all over it and tied snowballs on the ends of the branches, he looked at it and said;

“No – it's pretty, but it ought to have some color on it. It needs some red and green and blue and gold.”

“Oh, Santa Claus,” said the Littlest White Bear. “Let's put a rainbow on it!”

“That's just what it needs,” Santa Claus agreed. “I'll send the Biggest White Bear to get one.”

“Oh!” said the Littlest White Bear. He was so disappointed that the tears came to his eyes. “I was the one who thought of the rainbow. I think you might let me find it!”

“All right then,” Santa Claus said kindly. “But you must be very careful. Rainbows are easy to break, you know, and really you are the clumsiest, funny little bear.”

“Oh, I will be careful,” promised the Littlest Bear, and he ran and ran on his fat little legs till he found the most beautiful rainbow. Then he picked it and hung it over his back and went home to Santa Claus, walking very carefully. He walked safely past the snow fields and safely past the icebergs and safely past the slippery slides, and at last he came to Santa Claus's steps, and saw Santa Claus in the doorway, waiting for him.

“Hurrah!” he laughed, waving his little front paws in triumph. “Here it is!”

And just then both his back feet slipped and – boom! He fell on his back, and the rainbow was broken into a thousand pieces.

“Don't cry, don't cry,” said Santa Claus, hurrying down the steps. “You aren't hurt!”

“No, but the rainbow is,” sobbed the Littlest White Bear, “and I tried so hard to be careful.”

“Never you mind.” Santa Claus patted him gently. “We'll put the pieces of the rainbow on the tree.”

So they picked up a blue piece and put it here, and they picked up a red piece and put it there, and the Christmas tree was prettier than if the rainbow had been all together.

“Oh,” said the Littlest White Bear, “I'm glad I fell down!”

And ever since then we have had beautiful rainbow colored lights on the Christmas tree.