I wish you joy, for they lifted
themselves on high in fine style!''
``Oh, were I but old enough to fly across the sea!
How does the sea really look? and what is it like?''
``Aye, that takes a long time to tell,'' said the
Stork, and away he went.
``Rejoice in thy youth!'' said the Sunbeams,
``rejoice in thy hearty growth, and in the young
life that is in thee!''
And the Wind kissed the Tree, and the Dew
wept tears over him, but the Pine Tree understood it not.
II
CHRISTMAS IN THE WOODS
When Christmas came, quite young trees were
cut down; trees which were not even so large or of
the same age as this Pine Tree, who had no rest or
peace, but always wanted to be off. These young
trees, and they were always the finest looking,
always kept their branches; they were laid on
carts, and the horses drew them out of the wood.
``Where are they going to?'' asked the Pine
Tree. ``They are not taller than I; there was one,
indeed, that was much shorter;--and why do
they keep all their branches? Where are they
carrying them to?''
``We know! we know!'' chirped the Sparrows.
``We have peeped in at the windows down there in
the town. We know where they are carrying them
to. Oh, they are going to where it is as bright and
splendid as you can think! We peeped through
the windows, and saw them planted in the middle
of the warm room, and dressed with the most
splendid things,--with gilded apples, with
gingerbread, with toys and many hundred lights!''
``And then?'' asked the Pine Tree, and he
trembled in every bough.
Pages:
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272