The story behind the story

On a December night in Chicago many years ago, a little girl climbed onto her father's lap and asked a question. It was a simple question, asked in children's curiosity, yet it had a heart-rending effect on Robert May.

"Daddy," four-year-old Barbara May asked, "Why isn't my mommy just like everybody else's mommy?"

Bob May stole a glance across his shabby two-room apartment. On a couch lay his young wife, Evelyn, racked with cancer. For two years she had been bedridden. For two years, all of Bob's small income and smaller savings had gone to pay for treatments and medication.

The terrible ordeal had already shattered two adult lives. Now, Bob suddenly realized the happiness of his growing daughter was also in jeopardy. As he ran his fingers through Barbara's hair, he groped for some satisfactory answer to her question.

Bob May knew only too well what it meant to be 'different'. As a child he had been weak and delicate. With the innocent cruelty of children, his playmates had continually goaded the stunted, skinny lad to tears. Later, at Dartsmouth, from which he graduated in 1936, Bob May was so small that he was always being mistaken for someone's little brother.

Nor was his adult life much happier. Unlike many of his classmates who floated from college into plush jobs, Bob became a lowly copy writer for Montgomery Ward, the big Chicago mail order house. Now at 33, Bob was deep in debt, depressed and sad.

Although, he didn't know it at the time, the answer he gave the little child on his lap was to bring him fame and fortune. It was also to bring joy to countless thousands of children like his own Barbara. On that December night in the shabby Chicago apartment, Bob cradled the 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."

"Why was I born with such a terrible nose?" he cried.

"Well," continued Bob, "one Christmas eve, Santa Claus got his team of husky reindeer - Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, and Vixen, and the others -- 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 that he wouldn't be able to find a single chimney."

"Suddenly Rudolph appeared, his read 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 red nose penetrated like a beacon."

"And, so it was 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 on, Rudolph has been living serenely and happy."

Little Barbara laughed with glee when her father had finished. Every night she begged him to repeat the tale until finally Bob could rattle it off in his sleep. Then, at Christmas time, he decided to make the story into a poem like the 'Night Before Christmas' and prepare it in a booklet form with crude illustrations, for Barbara's personal gift.

Night after night, Bob worked on the verses after Barbara had gone to bed, for he was determined that his daughter should have a worthwhile gift, even though he could not afford to buy one.

Then, as Bob was about to put the finishing touches on Rudolph, tragedy struck. Evelyn May died. Bob, his hopes crushed, turned to Barbara as his chief comfort. Yet, despite his grief, he sat at his desk in the quiet, now lonely apartment, and worked on Rudolph with tears in his eyes.

Shortly after Barbara had cried with joy over his handmade gift on Christmas morning, Bob was asked to an employee's holiday party at Montgomery Wards. He didn't want to go, but his office associates insisted. When Bob finally agreed, he took with him the poem and read it to the crowd. At first the noisy throng listened in laughter and gaiety. Then, they became silent, and at the end broke into spontaneous applause. That was in 1938.

By Christmas of 1947, some 6 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 occupy a permanent niche in the Christmas legend.

Through the years of unhappiness, the tragedy of his wife's death and his ultimate success with Rudolph, Bob May has captured a sense of serenity. And as each Christmas rolls around he recalled with thankfulness the night when his daughter's questions inspired him to write the story.

 
 MIDIページでは英文→和訳というパターンですので、それとは逆に「ルドルフの秘密」を先に和文でお送りしてから、英文を掲載してみました。
 いわゆる「元ネタ」ですが、先に和訳をお読みいただいていますので、何となく英文の雰囲気もつかみやすいかと思います。単語を一つずつゆっくりとなぞっていただければ、英語の苦手な方にもお楽しみいただけるのではないか・・・と思います。もっとも責任は持てませんが・・・。 (^_^;)

 ところで、その「ルドルフの秘密」をUPしたことで、当の本人(本トナカイ?)からメールをもらっちゃいました。よっぽどクッキージャーの写真をUPした事を恨んでいるみたいです。(笑) 下がそのお手紙ですので、是非読んであげてくださいね。

 

 ルドルフからの手紙 

 
 皆さんこんにちは、「赤鼻のトナカイ」って呼ばれているルドルフです。hideさんが僕のことを紹介してくれたのは嬉しいんですけど、「誰にも見せない」って約束した写真をUPされて、ちょっぴりブルーになっちゃいました。

 サンタさんに相談したら、「それなら、ルドルフ。お前が皆さんに手紙を書くのが良いかもしれんのう」って言ってくれたので、こうしてお手紙を出すことにしました。

 この間のクッキージャーの写真のことは忘れて、本当の僕を知ってくださいね。

 「赤いお鼻でどうやって夜道を照らすの?」って、世界中の良い子たちからよく聞かれます。言葉で説明するより写真で見ていただく方が早いので、特別に公開しちゃいます。
 右の写真を見てくださいね。

 世界中の空を一晩で駆け巡るので、雨や霧。それにミゾレや吹雪のところももちろんあります。地上の様子や海岸線で自分たちが飛んでいるところの見当をつけますので、こんな感じに照らしてあげて、コース取りが間違っていないかを皆で確認するんですよ。

 このページの最初にも飾ってもらいましたけど、僕の歌のシングルレコードです。いつ頃発売されたかは、サンタさんも「知らんのう」って言うので分かりませんが、45回転のレコードで39¢ですから、随分昔のものには間違いないと思います。

 トントたちがこの歌をとても気に入って、毎晩何十回も聞いていたので、擦り切れてもう聞くことは出来ません。

 でも僕の顔をジャケットに使ってくれた「記念の1枚」ですので、ず〜っっと大切に持っているんですよ。

 右上の写真は、この間hideさんが紹介してくれたクッキージャーのシリーズで、「Salt&Pepper Shakers」です。日本では「『調味料入れ』っていうんですよね。

 サンタさんはこのShakersがお気に入りで、テーブルにいつも飾っています。

 右下も同じShakersなんですけど、これは「飾って見るだけ」なんだそうです。どこからこの違いがくるんでしょうか?よく分からないです。



 左上は僕のぬいぐるみです。トントが作ってくれたんですけど、可愛く出来たのでもらってきました。

 寝る前に、赤いお鼻を3回撫でると、いい夢を見ることが出来るんですよ。でも毎晩撫でていたので、ちょっと鼻のところだけ黒くなっています。写真ではあまりよく分からないかも?です。

 

 左下は、アメリカN.Y.のメイシーズさんがクリスマス用に作った僕のバルーンです。

 去年のイヴにN.Y.の上を飛んでいたらサンタさんが、「おやおや、あそこにもルドルフがおるようだぞ」って言うから、ヴィクセンとかが「見たい〜♪」って騒ぎ出して・・・。

 それで仕方なく「20秒間だけ」見学した時に、キューピッドがいつも持ち歩いているデジカメで撮影したものです。ちょっとあわてたので、斜めからしか撮れなかったみたいで残念です。
 来年もあるかなぁ・・・。

 これは僕のことが色々分かるCD-ROMです。残念ですが日本語版は出ていないみたいですけど、もし海外旅行する時は探してみてくださいね。


  

 色んな僕、ルドルフを見てもらいましたけど、これで誤解は解けましたよね?

 そうそう、最後に僕の名前にまつわるお話がありますので、ご紹介させていただきます。

 ロバートが最初にこの詩を書いたとき、トナカイの名前はルドルフではなく、ロロ(Rollo)だったとも言われています。
 ですが
Rollo ではピンと来ない〜当たり前すぎる名前だということになり、レイノルド(イギリスっぽい名前なので、これもボツ)などいろいろな候補が考えられました。
 結局、最終的に
ルドルフとなったのは、ロバートの娘バーバラの意見だったとも言われています。

 これが本当ならバーバラに感謝(!)ですね。

 じゃあ、次のクリスマスで、またお会いしましょう!それまで元気でね〜っ☆

 「赤鼻のトナカイ 〜ルドルフの秘密〜」を、皆さんに気に入っていただいたのは良かったのですが、ルドルフがスネてるみたいでしたので、1ページあげることにしました。

 hideが作るよりうまくまとまっていて、結構ショックだったりします。  (ーー;)

 でルドルフは何をしているかというと、先日お知らせしたように、南半球で相変わらずノンビリとバカンスを楽しんでいるみたいです。優雅な暮らしでうらやましい・・・。

 何はともあれ、これで『トナカイ3部作』を完結することが出来ました。

 知ってるようで、以外と知られていないトナカイさんたちと、今までより少しでも仲良くなっていただければ嬉しく思います。さあ、次は何のお話にしましょうか?サンタさん?トント?それともミセス・サンタクロース?
 一杯ありすぎて悩んでしまいますね。(^^)

2004.02.01 Webmaster hide

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

xcdロゴ