Soon, the snowy North Pole was filled with the most wonderful sounds. Bells were jingling, reindeer were chattering, and Santa was laughing so hard that Mrs. Claus came rushing out of the house to see what all the excitement was about.

 

"Good heavens, Santa! Whatever is going on out here?" "Oh, my dear!" Santa exclaimed. "The most extraordinary thing has happened!

 

The reindeer can TALK!"

 

Mrs. Claus smiled and shook her head. "Whatever do you mean?" "Listen! Just listen!" Santa said, turning toward Dancer. "Go on, Dancer. Say something to Mrs. Claus!" Dancer gave his beautiful golden bell a shake.  Tinkle, jingle, jingle!  Mrs. Claus smiled. "What a lovely little bell!" Santa stared at her in amazement. "But didn't you hear him? Dancer just said hello!" Mrs. Claus looked at Santa, then at Dancer, and then back at Santa. "Santa, dear, all I heard was a bell!"  And that was when Santa realized something truly extraordinary.

 

The bells held a very special kind of magic! 

 

To everyone else, they made the sweetest jingling sounds. But to Santa, each little ring carried the voice of one of his beloved reindeer. And there was something else Santa soon discovered. No two bells sounded exactly alike. Each had its own beautiful, unmistakable voice. Some were soft and gentle, others bright and cheerful, and a few were quite loud indeed!