THE FIR TREE

THE FIR TREE

Out in the woods stood a nice little Fir Tree. The place he had was a verygood one: the sun shone on him: as to fresh air, there was enough of that, andround him grew many large-sized comrades, pines as well as firs. But thelittle Fir wanted so very much to be a grown-up tree.
He did not think of the warm sun and of the fresh air; he did not care for thelittle cottage children that ran about and prattled when they were in thewoods looking for wild-strawberries. The children often came with a wholepitcher full of berries, or a long row of them threaded on a straw, and satdown near the young tree and said, "Oh, how pretty he is! What a nice littlefir!" But this was what the Tree could not bear to hear.
At the end of a year he had shot up a good deal, and after another year he wasanother long bit taller; for with fir trees one can always tell by the shootshow many years old they are.
"Oh! Were I but such a high tree as the others are," sighed he. "Then I shouldbe able to spread out my branches, and with the tops to look into the wideworld! Then would the birds build nests among my branches: and when there wasa breeze, I could bend with as much stateliness as the others!"
Neither the sunbeams, nor the birds, nor the red clouds which morning andevening sailed above him, gave the little Tree any pleasure.
In winter, when the snow lay glittering on the ground, a hare would often comeleaping along, and jump right over the little Tree. Oh, that made him soangry! But two winters were past, and in the third the Tree was so large thatthe hare was obliged to go round it. "To grow and grow, to get older and betall," thought the Tree--"that, after all, is the most delightful thing in theworld!"
In autumn the wood-cutters always came and felled some of the largest trees.This happened every year; and the young Fir Tree, that had now grown to a verycomely size, trembled at the sight; for the magnificent great trees fell tothe earth with noise and cracking, the branches were lopped off, and the treeslooked long and bare; they were hardly to be recognised; and then they werelaid in carts, and the horses dragged them out of the wood.
Where did they go to? What became of them?
In spring, when the swallows and the storks came, the Tree asked them, "Don'tyou know where they have been taken? Have you not met them anywhere?"
The swallows did not know anything about it; but the Stork looked musing,nodded his head, and said, "Yes; I think I know; I met many ships as I wasflying hither from Egypt; on the ships were magnificent masts, and I ventureto assert that it was they that smelt so of fir. I may congratulate you, forthey lifted themselves on high most majestically!"
"Oh, were I but old enough to fly across the sea! But how does the sea look inreality? What is it like?"
"That would take a long time to explain," said the Stork, and with these wordsoff he went.
"Rejoice in thy growth!" said the Sunbeams. "Rejoice in thy vigorous growth,and in the fresh life that moveth within thee!"
And the Wind kissed the Tree, and the Dew wept tears over him; but the Firunderstood it not.
When Christmas came, quite young trees were cut down: trees which often werenot even as large or of the same age as this Fir Tree, who could never rest,but always wanted to be off. These young trees, and they were always thefinest looking, retained their branches; they were laid on carts, and thehorses drew them out of the wood.
"Where are they going to?" asked the Fir. "They are not taller than I; therewas one indeed that was considerably shorter; and why do they retain all theirbranches? Whither are they taken?"
"We know! We know!" chirped the Sparrows. "We have peeped in at the windows inthe town below! We know whither they are taken! The greatest splendor and thegreatest magnificence one can imagine await them. We peeped through thewindows, and saw them planted in the middle of the warm room and ornamentedwith the most splendid things, with gilded apples, with gingerbread, withtoys, and many hundred lights!"
"And then?" asked the Fir Tree, trembling in every bough. "And then? Whathappens then?"
"We did not see anything more: it was incomparably beautiful."
"I would fain know if I am destined for so glorious a career," cried the Tree,rejoicing. "That is still better than to cross the sea! What a longing do Isuffer! Were Christmas but come! I am now tall, and my branches spread likethe others that were carried off last year! Oh! were I but already on thecart! Were I in the warm room with all the splendor and magnificence! Yes;then something better, something still grander, will surely follow, orwherefore should they thus ornament me? Something better, something stillgrander must follow--but what? Oh, how I long, how I suffer! I do not knowmyself what is the matter with me!"
"Rejoice in our presence!" said the Air and the Sunlight. "Rejoice in thy ownfresh youth!"
But the Tree did not rejoice at all; he grew and grew, and was green bothwinter and summer. People that saw him said, "What a fine tree!" and towardsChristmas he was one of the first that was cut down. The axe struck deep intothe very pith; the Tree fell to the earth with a sigh; he felt a pang--it waslike a swoon; he could not think of happiness, for he was sorrowful at beingseparated from his home, from the place where he had sprung up. He well knewthat he should never see his dear old comrades, the little bushes and flowersaround him, anymore; perhaps not even the birds! The departure was not at allagreeable.
The Tree only came to himself when he was unloaded in a court-yard with theother trees, and heard a man say, "That one is splendid! We don't want theothers." Then two servants came in rich livery and carried the Fir Tree into alarge and splendid drawing-room. Portraits were hanging on the walls, and nearthe white porcelain stove stood two large Chinese vases with lions on thecovers. There, too, were large easy-chairs, silken sofas, large tables full ofpicture-books and full of toys, worth hundreds and hundreds of crowns--atleast the children said so. And the Fir Tree was stuck upright in a cask thatwas filled with sand; but no one could see that it was a cask, for green clothwas hung all round it, and it stood on a large gaily-colored carpet. Oh! howthe Tree quivered! What was to happen? The servants, as well as the youngladies, decorated it. On one branch there hung little nets cut out of coloredpaper, and each net was filled with sugarplums; and among the other boughsgilded apples and walnuts were suspended, looking as though they had grownthere, and little blue and white tapers were placed among the leaves. Dollsthat looked for all the world like men--the Tree had never beheld suchbefore--were seen among the foliage, and at the very top a large star of goldtinsel was fixed. It was really splendid--beyond description splendid.
"This evening!" they all said. "How it will shine this evening!"
"Oh!" thought the Tree. "If the evening were but come! If the tapers were butlighted! And then I wonder what will happen! Perhaps the other trees from theforest will come to look at me! Perhaps the sparrows will beat against thewindowpanes! I wonder if I shall take root here, and winter and summer standcovered with ornaments!"
He knew very much about the matter--but he was so impatient that for sheerlonging he got a pain in his back, and this with trees is the same thing as aheadache with us.
The candles were now lighted--what brightness! What splendor! The Treetrembled so in every bough that one of the tapers set fire to the foliage. Itblazed up famously.
"Help! Help!" cried the young ladies, and they quickly put out the fire.
Now the Tree did not even dare tremble. What a state he was in! He was souneasy lest he should lose something of his splendor, that he was quitebewildered amidst the glare and brightness; when suddenly both folding-doorsopened and a troop of children rushed in as if they would upset the Tree. Theolder persons followed quietly; the little ones stood quite still. But it wasonly for a moment; then they shouted that the whole place re-echoed with theirrejoicing; they danced round the Tree, and one present after the other waspulled off.
"What are they about?" thought the Tree. "What is to happen now!" And thelights burned down to the very branches, and as they burned down they were putout one after the other, and then the children had permission to plunder theTree. So they fell upon it with such violence that all its branches cracked;if it had not been fixed firmly in the ground, it would certainly have tumbleddown.
The children danced about with their beautiful playthings; no one looked atthe Tree except the old nurse, who peeped between the branches; but it wasonly to see if there was a fig or an apple left that had been forgotten.
"A story! A story!" cried the children, drawing a little fat man towards theTree. He seated himself under it and said, "Now we are in the shade, and theTree can listen too. But I shall tell only one story. Now which will you have;that about Ivedy-Avedy, or about Humpy-Dumpy, who tumbled downstairs, and yetafter all came to the throne and married the princess?"
"Ivedy-Avedy," cried some; "Humpy-Dumpy," cried the others. There was such abawling and screaming--the Fir Tree alone was silent, and he thought tohimself, "Am I not to bawl with the rest? Am I to do nothing whatever?" for hewas one of the company, and had done what he had to do.
And the man told about Humpy-Dumpy that tumbled down, who notwithstanding cameto the throne, and at last married the princess. And the children clappedtheir hands, and cried. "Oh, go on! Do go on!" They wanted to hear aboutIvedy-Avedy too, but the little man only told them about Humpy-Dumpy. The FirTree stood quite still and absorbed in thought; the birds in the wood hadnever related the like of this. "Humpy-Dumpy fell downstairs, and yet hemarried the princess! Yes, yes! That's the way of the world!" thought the FirTree, and believed it all, because the man who told the story was sogood-looking. "Well, well! who knows, perhaps I may fall downstairs, too, andget a princess as wife!" And he looked forward with joy to the morrow, whenhe hoped to be decked out again with lights, playthings, fruits, and tinsel.
"I won't tremble to-morrow!" thought the Fir Tree. "I will enjoy to the fullall my splendor! To-morrow I shall hear again the story of Humpy-Dumpy, andperhaps that of Ivedy-Avedy too." And the whole night the Tree stood still andin deep thought.
In the morning the servant and the housemaid came in.
"Now then the splendor will begin again," thought the Fir. But they draggedhim out of the room, and up the stairs into the loft: and here, in a darkcorner, where no daylight could enter, they left him. "What's the meaning ofthis?" thought the Tree. "What am I to do here? What shall I hear now, Iwonder?" And he leaned against the wall lost in reverie. Time enough had hetoo for his reflections; for days and nights passed on, and nobody came up;and when at last somebody did come, it was only to put some great trunks in acorner, out of the way. There stood the Tree quite hidden; it seemed as if hehad been entirely forgotten.
"'Tis now winter out-of-doors!" thought the Tree. "The earth is hard andcovered with snow; men cannot plant me now, and therefore I have been put uphere under shelter till the spring-time comes! How thoughtful that is! Howkind man is, after all! If it only were not so dark here, and so terriblylonely! Not even a hare! And out in the woods it was so pleasant, when thesnow was on the ground, and the hare leaped by; yes--even when he jumped overme; but I did not like it then! It is really terribly lonely here!"
"Squeak! Squeak!" said a little Mouse, at the same moment, peeping out of hishole. And then another little one came. They snuffed about the Fir Tree, andrustled among the branches.
"It is dreadfully cold," said the Mouse. "But for that, it would be delightfulhere, old Fir, wouldn't it?"
"I am by no means old," said the Fir Tree. "There's many a one considerablyolder than I am."
"Where do you come from," asked the Mice; "and what can you do?" They were soextremely curious. "Tell us about the most beautiful spot on the earth. Haveyou never been there? Were you never in the larder, where cheeses lie on theshelves, and hams hang from above; where one dances about on tallow candles:that place where one enters lean, and comes out again fat and portly?"
"I know no such place," said the Tree. "But I know the wood, where the sunshines and where the little birds sing." And then he told all about his youth;and the little Mice had never heard the like before; and they listened andsaid,
"Well, to be sure! How much you have seen! How happy you must have been!"
"I!" said the Fir Tree, thinking over what he had himself related. "Yes, inreality those were happy times." And then he told about Christmas-eve, when hewas decked out with cakes and candles.
"Oh," said the little Mice, "how fortunate you have been, old Fir Tree!"
"I am by no means old," said he. "I came from the wood this winter; I am in myprime, and am only rather short for my age."
"What delightful stories you know," said the Mice: and the next night theycame with four other little Mice, who were to hear what the Tree recounted:and the more he related, the more he remembered himself; and it appeared as ifthose times had really been happy times. "But they may still come--they maystill come! Humpy-Dumpy fell downstairs, and yet he got a princess!" and hethought at the moment of a nice little Birch Tree growing out in the woods: tothe Fir, that would be a real charming princess.
"Who is Humpy-Dumpy?" asked the Mice. So then the Fir Tree told the wholefairy tale, for he could remember every single word of it; and the little Micejumped for joy up to the very top of the Tree. Next night two more Mice came,and on Sunday two Rats even; but they said the stories were not interesting,which vexed the little Mice; and they, too, now began to think them not sovery amusing either.
"Do you know only one story?" asked the Rats.
"Only that one," answered the Tree. "I heard it on my happiest evening; but Idid not then know how happy I was."
"It is a very stupid story! Don't you know one about bacon and tallow candles?Can't you tell any larder stories?"
"No," said the Tree.
"Then good-bye," said the Rats; and they went home.
At last the little Mice stayed away also; and the Tree sighed: "After all, itwas very pleasant when the sleek little Mice sat round me, and listened towhat I told them. Now that too is over. But I will take good care to enjoymyself when I am brought out again."
But when was that to be? Why, one morning there came a quantity of people andset to work in the loft. The trunks were moved, the tree was pulled out andthrown--rather hard, it is true--down on the floor, but a man drew him towardsthe stairs, where the daylight shone.
"Now a merry life will begin again," thought the Tree. He felt the fresh air,the first sunbeam--and now he was out in the courtyard. All passed so quickly,there was so much going on around him, the Tree quite forgot to look tohimself. The court adjoined a garden, and all was in flower; the roses hung sofresh and odorous over the balustrade, the lindens were in blossom, theSwallows flew by, and said, "Quirre-vit! My husband is come!" but it was notthe Fir Tree that they meant.
"Now, then, I shall really enjoy life," said he exultingly, and spread out hisbranches; but, alas, they were all withered and yellow! It was in a cornerthat he lay, among weeds and nettles. The golden star of tinsel was still onthe top of the Tree, and glittered in the sunshine.
In the court-yard some of the merry children were playing who had danced atChristmas round the Fir Tree, and were so glad at the sight of him. One of theyoungest ran and tore off the golden star.
"Only look what is still on the ugly old Christmas tree!" said he, tramplingon the branches, so that they all cracked beneath his feet.
And the Tree beheld all the beauty of the flowers, and the freshness in thegarden; he beheld himself, and wished he had remained in his dark corner inthe loft; he thought of his first youth in the wood, of the merryChristmas-eve, and of the little Mice who had listened with so much pleasureto the story of Humpy-Dumpy.
"'Tis over--'tis past!" said the poor Tree. "Had I but rejoiced when I hadreason to do so! But now 'tis past, 'tis past!"
And the gardener's boy chopped the Tree into small pieces; there was a wholeheap lying there. The wood flamed up splendidly under the large brewingcopper, and it sighed so deeply! Each sigh was like a shot.
The boys played about in the court, and the youngest wore the gold star on hisbreast which the Tree had had on the happiest evening of his life. However,that was over now--the Tree gone, the story at an end. All, all wasover--every tale must end at last.