Chapter 2
A few days prior to Christmas, Mr. and Mrs. Brown walked over to Mr. Curry's house. For days, they had heard Paddington's constant chatter about Santa Claus. He would not stop and talked for hours on end about the fat jolly man. Therefore, Mr. and Mrs. Brown thought that it would be nice if Paddington actually had an encounter with Santa. Mr. Brown was not fit enough to try it, so they figured that Mr. Curry would be suitable for the job. Also, if Mr. Curry did the favor for the Browns, it would also help spark a friendship between Paddington and him.
But when Mr. Curry heard of the Browns' proposal, he flatly rejected it. "No!" he snapped. "There is no way I am going out of my way to do that bear any favors!"
"Come on, Mr. Curry," said Mr. Brown. "Paddington is a very young bear. He needs some joy and Christmas cheer in his life."
"Then why don't you just do it yourself?" grunted Mr. Curry.
"I'm too large to fit through the chimney. You know that. Plus, my arthritis hinders me from doing a lot of difficult muscle movement," Mr. Brown said.
Mr. Curry looked to Mrs. Brown. "Then why don't you do it?"
"Mr. Curry, why would I do it? That's the daftest thing I've ever heard of!" Mrs. Brown said.
Mr. Curry snorted. "Oh, all right, I guess I'll do a favor for that bear. But don't expect me to be happy about it!"
"The very least you could do is say a 'ho ho ho'," said Mr. Brown.
"Ho ho ho, Merry Christmas," snorted Mr. Curry. "Bah humbug!"
"You're playing Santa, not Ebenezer Scrooge!" reminded Mrs. Brown.
The Browns left Mr. Curry's house, listening to him moaning to himself. When they returned home, they saw that Paddington was looking up the chimney.
"Paddington, Santa comes on Christmas Eve," reminded Mrs. Brown.
"And that isn't for a few days yet," said Mr. Brown.
"By the way, Paddington, how would you get a chance to meet the real life Santa?" asked Mrs. Brown.
"That would be terrific!" said Paddington. He bounced up and down and did cartwheels all around the room. He laughed and giggled in joy. The Browns smiled at each other, knowing they'd made Paddington very happy indeed.
Days later, Christmas Eve arrived. Paddington was still thinking of ways to trap Santa. "Hmm…maybe I could lure him with one of my marmalade sandwiches. No, too risky. Or maybe instead, I'll burn a roaring fire so he won't come down the chimney, and I'll catch him on the roof. No, that's also too risky." Paddington licked his lips with excitement. "Wait a minute! I've got just the plan!" When the Browns went to sleep, Paddington set up his trap and lounged on the sofa, waiting for Santa's arrival.