Santa sleighed us.
The jolly ol' man parked his reindeer on our roof on Christmas Eve, slipped down the chimney, and what to his wondering eyes should appear--but a very territorial tuxedo cat named Miss Sarah Sylvia Cynthia Stout that hissed at him.
Santa eyed the cat and the brass grasshopper ornaments, declared himself ailurophobia-free and orthopterophobia-free, and spun around to race up the chimney.
The tux, who frequently appears on the "naughty list" because she catches and eats butterflies (wings and all), swats buzzing bees, and wonders whether a praying mantis is really praying, preying or just pretending, was not about to share her space by the fireplace.
"Don't you have a job to do, like take the garbage out?" Mr. Claus asked Miss Sarah Sylvia Cynthia Stout.
"Not my job," hissed Miss SSCT. "I do not take the garbage out, and why does everyone keep asking me that?"
"Ho, ho, ho! Well, it's MY JOB to wish you a Merry Christmas!
The cat purred.
And from Bug Squad: Merry Christmas to everyone, from around the world!
- Spanish – ¡Feliz Navidad!
- French – Joyeux Noël!
- German – Frohe Weihnachten!
- Italian – Buon Natale!
- Portuguese – Feliz Natal!
- Romanian – Crăciun Fericit!
- Russian – Счастливого Рождества! (Schastlivogo Rozhdestva!)
- Swedish – God Jul!
- Norwegian – God Jul!
- Danish – Glædelig Jul!
- Finnish – Hyvää Joulua!
- Icelandic – Gleðileg Jól!
- Polish – Wesołych Świąt!
- Dutch – Vrolijk Kerstfeest!
- Croatian – Sretan Božić!
- Czech – Veselé Vánoce!
- Japanese – メリークリスマス！ (Merīkurisumasu!)
- Chinese – 圣诞节快乐! (Shèngdàn jié kuàilè!)
- Korean – 메리 크리스마스! (Meli Keuliseumaseu!)
- Latin – Felicem Natalem Christi!
Irish – Nollaig Shona!
A happy ending: the kitty purred (but didn't promise to stop chasing bugs).
