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THE PINE TREE
BY HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN (TRANSLATED)
I
WHEN IT WAS LITTLE
Out in the woods stood such a nice little Pine
Tree: he had a good place; the sun could get at
him; there was fresh air enough; and round him
grew many big comrades, both pines and firs.
But the little Pine 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 the little cottage-children
who ran about and prattled when they were looking
for wild strawberries and raspberries. Often
they came with a whole jug full, or had their
strawberries strung on a straw, and sat down near the
little Tree and said, ``Oh, what a nice little fellow!''
This was what the Tree could not bear to hear.
The year after he had shot up a good deal, and
the next year after he was still bigger; for with
pine trees one can always tell by the shoots how
many years old they are.
``Oh, were I but such a big tree as the others
are,'' sighed the little Tree. ``Then I could
spread my branches so far, and with the tops look
out into the wide world! Birds would build nests
among my branches; and when there was a
breeze, I could nod as grandly as the others
there.''
He had no delight at all in the sunshine, or in
the birds, or the red clouds which morning and
evening sailed above him.
When now it was winter and the snow all
around lay glittering white, a hare would often
come leaping along, and jump right over the little
Tree. Oh, that made him so angry! But two
winters went by, and with the third the Tree was
so big that the hare had to go round it. ``Oh,
to grow, to grow, to become big and old, and be
tall,'' thought the Tree: ``that, after all, is the
most delightful thing in the world!''
In autumn the wood-cutters always came and
felled some of the largest trees. This happened
every year, and the young Pine Tree, that was
now quite well grown, trembled at the sight; for
the great stately trees fell to the earth with noise
and cracking, the branches were lopped off, and
the trees looked quite bare, they were so long and
thin; you would hardly know them for trees, and
then they were laid on carts, and horses dragged
them out of the wood.
Where did they go to? What became of them?
In spring, when the Swallow and the Stork
came, the Tree asked them, ``Don't you know
where they have been taken? Have you not met
them anywhere?''
The Swallow did not know anything about it;
but the Stork looked doubtful, nodded his head,
and said, ``Yes; I have it; I met many new ships
as I was flying from Egypt; on the ships were
splendid masts, and I dare say it was they that
smelt so of pine. 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. ``And then? What
happens then?''
``We did not see anything more: it beat everything!''
``I wonder if I am to sparkle like that!'' cried
the Tree, rejoicing. ``That is still better than to
go over the sea! How I do suffer for very longing!
Were Christmas but come! I am now tall, and
stretch out like the others that were carried off
last year! Oh, if I were already on the cart! I
wish I were in the warm room with all the splendor
and brightness. And then? Yes; then will come
something better, something still grander, or why
should they dress me out so? There must come
something better, something still grander,--but
what? Oh, how I long, how I suffer! I do not
know myself what is the matter with me!''
``Rejoice in us!'' said the Air and the Sunlight;
``rejoice in thy fresh youth out here in the open
air!''
But the Tree did not rejoice at all; he grew and
grew; and he stood there in all his greenery; rich
green was he winter and summer. People that
saw him said, ``That's a fine tree!'' and toward
Christmas he was the first that was cut down.
The axe struck deep into the very pith; the Tree
fell to the earth with a sigh: he felt a pang--it
was like a swoon; he could not think of happiness,
for he was sad at being parted from his home,
from the place where he had sprung up. He well
knew that he should never see his dear old comrades,
the little bushes and flowers around him,
any more; perhaps not even the birds! The setting
off was not at all pleasant.
The Tree only came to himself when he was
unloaded in a courtyard with other trees, and
heard a man say, ``That one is splendid! we don't
want the others.'' Then two servants came in
rich livery and carried the Pine Tree into a large
and splendid room. Portraits were hanging on
the walls, and near the white porcelain stove
stood two large Chinese vases with lions on the
covers. There, too, were large easy-chairs, silken
sofas, large tables full of picture-books, and full of
toys worth a hundred times a hundred dollars--
at least so the children said. And the Pine Tree
was stuck upright in a cask filled with sand: but
no one could see that it was a cask, for green cloth
was hung all around it, and it stood on a gayly
colored carpet. Oh, how the Tree quivered!
What was to happen? The servants, as well as the
young ladies, dressed it. On one branch there
hung little nets cut out of colored paper; each net
was filled with sugar-plums; gilded apples and
walnuts hung as though they grew tightly there,
and more than a hundred little red, blue, and white
tapers were stuck fast into the branches. Dolls
that looked for all the world like men--the Tree
had never seen such things before--fluttered
among the leaves, and at the very top a large star
of gold tinsel was fixed. It was really splendid--
splendid beyond telling.
``This evening!'' said they all; ``how it will
shine this evening!''
``Oh,'' thought the Tree, ``if it were only
evening! If the tapers were but lighted! And then I
wonder what will happen! I wonder if the other
trees from the forest will come to look at me!
I wonder if the sparrows will beat against the
window-panes! I wonder if I shall take root here,
and stand dressed so winter and summer!''
Aye, aye, much he knew about the matter! but
he had a real back-ache for sheer longing, and a
back-ache with trees is the same thing as a head-
ache with us.
III
CHRISTMAS IN THE HOUSE
The candles were now lighted. What brightness!
What splendor! The Tree trembled so in
every bough that one of the tapers set fire to a
green branch. It blazed up splendidly.
Now the Tree did not even dare to tremble.
That was a fright! He was so afraid of losing
something of all his finery, that he was quite
confused amidst the glare and brightness; and now
both folding-doors opened, and a troop of children
rushed in as if they would tip the whole Tree over.
The older folks came quietly behind; the little
ones stood quite still, but only for a moment, then
they shouted so that the whole place echoed their
shouts, they danced round the Tree, and one
present after another was pulled off.
``What are they about?'' thought the Tree.
``What is to happen now?'' And the lights burned
down to the very branches, and as they burned
down they were put out one after the other, and
then the children had leave to plunder the Tree.
Oh, they rushed upon it so that it cracked in all its
limbs; if its tip-top with the gold star on it had
not been fastened to the ceiling, it would have
tumbled over.
The children danced about with their pretty
toys; no one looked at the Tree except the old
nurse, who peeped in among the branches; but it
was only to see if there was a fig or an apple that
had been forgotten.
``A story! a story!'' cried the children, and they
dragged a little fat man toward the Tree. He sat
down under it, and said, ``Now we are in the
shade, and the Tree can hear very well too. But I
shall tell only one story. Now which will you
have: that about Ivedy-Avedy, or about Klumpy-
Dumpy who tumbled downstairs, and came to the
throne after all, and married the princess?''
``Ivedy-Avedy,'' cried some; ``Klumpy-
Dumpy,'' cried the others. There was such a
bawling and screaming!--the Pine Tree alone
was silent, and he thought to himself, ``Am I not
to bawl with the rest?--am I to do nothing
whatever?''--for he was one of them, and he had done
what he had to do.
And the man told about Klumpy-Dumpy who
tumbled downstairs, and came to the throne after
all, and married the princess. And the children
clapped their hands, and cried out, ``Go on, go
on!'' They wanted to hear about Ivedy-Avedy
too, but the little man only told them about
Klumpy-Dumpy. The Pine Tree stood quite still
and thoughtful: the birds in the wood had never
told anything like this. ``Klumpy-Dumpy fell
downstairs, and yet he married the princess! Yes,
yes, that's the way of the world!'' thought the
Pine Tree, and he believed it all, because it was
such a nice man who told the story.
``Well, well! who knows, perhaps I may fall
downstairs, too, and so get a princess!'' And he
looked forward with joy to the next day when he
should be decked out with lights and toys, fruits
and tinsel.
``To-morrow I won't tremble!'' thought the
Pine Tree. ``I will enjoy to the full all my
splendor! To-morrow I shall hear again the story of
Klumpy-Dumpy, and perhaps that of Ivedy-
Avedy too.'' And the whole night the Tree stood
still in deep thought.
In the morning the servant and the maid came in.
IV
IN THE ATTIC
``Now all the finery will begin again,'' thought
the Pine. But they dragged him out of the room,
and up the stairs into the attic; and here in a dark
corner, where no daylight could enter, they left
him. ``What's the meaning of this?'' thought the
Tree. ``What am I to do here? What shall I see
and hear now, I wonder?'' And he leaned against
the wall and stood and thought and thought.
And plenty of time he had, for days and nights
passed, and nobody came up; and when at last
somebody did come, it was only to put some great
trunks in the corner. There stood the Tree quite
hidden; it seemed as if he had been entirely forgotten.
``'T is now winter out-of-doors!'' thought the
Tree. ``The earth is hard and covered with snow;
men cannot plant me now; therefore I have been
put up here under cover till spring! How thoughtful
that is! How good men are, after all! If it
were not so dark here, and so terribly lonely! Not
even a hare. Out there it was so pleasant in the
woods, when the snow was on the ground, and the
hare leaped by; yes--even when he jumped over
me; but I did not like it then. It is terribly lonely
here!''
``Squeak! squeak!'' said a little Mouse at the
same moment, peeping out of his hole. And then
another little one came. They snuffed about the
Pine Tree, and rustled among the branches.
``It is dreadfully cold,'' said the little Mouse.
``But for that, it would be delightful here, old
Pine, wouldn't it!''
``I am by no means old,'' said the Pine Tree.
``There are many a good deal older than I am.''
``Where do you come from?'' asked the Mice;
``and what can you do?'' They were so very
curious. ``Tell us about the most beautiful spot
on earth. Have you been there? Were you ever in
the larder, where cheeses lie on the shelves, and
hams hang from above; where one dances about
on tallow candles; where one goes in lean and
comes out fat?''
``I don't know that place,'' said the Tree.
``But I know the wood where the sun shines, and
where the little birds sing.''
And then he told his story from his youth up;
and the little Mice had never heard the like
before; and they listened and said,
``Well, to be sure! How much you have seen!
How happy you must have been!''
``I!'' said the Pine Tree, and he thought over
what he had himself told. ``Yes, really those
were happy times.'' And then he told about
Christmas Eve, when he was decked out with
cakes and candles.
``Oh,'' said the little Mice, ``how lucky you have
been, old Pine Tree!''
``I am not at all old,'' said he. ``I came from
the wood this winter; I am in my prime, and am
only rather short of my age.''
``What delightful stories you know!'' said the
Mice: and the next night they came with four
other little Mice, who were to hear what the Tree
had to tell; and the more he told, the more plainly
he remembered all himself; and he thought:
``That was a merry time! But it can come! it can
come! Klumpy-Dumpy fell down stairs, and yet
he got a princess! Maybe I can get a princess
too!'' And all of a sudden he thought of a nice
little Birch Tree growing out in the woods: to the
Pine, that would be a really charming princess.
``Who is Klumpy-Dumpy?'' asked the little
Mice.
So then the Pine Tree told the whole fairy tale,
for he could remember every single word of it; and
the little Mice jumped 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 amusing, which vexed the little
Mice, because they, too, now began to think
them not so very amusing either.
``Do you know only that one story?'' asked the
Rats.
``Only that one!'' answered the Tree. ``I heard
it on my happiest evening; but I did 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.
``Thank you, then,'' said the Rats; and they
went home.
At last the little Mice stayed away also; and
the Tree sighed: ``After all, it was very pleasant
when the sleek little Mice sat round me and heard
what I told them. Now that too is over. But I
will take good care to enjoy myself when I am
brought out again.''
But when was that to be? Why, it was one
morning when there came a number of people and
set to work in the loft. The trunks were moved,
the tree was pulled out and thrown down; they
knocked him upon the floor, but a man drew him
at once toward the stairs, where the daylight shone.
V
OUT OF DOORS AGAIN
``Now life begins again,'' thought the Tree. He
felt the fresh air, the first sunbeam,--and now
he was out in the courtyard. All passed so quickly
that the Tree quite forgot to look to himself, there
was so much going on around him. The court
adjoined a garden, and all was in flower; the roses
hung over the fence, so fresh and smelling so
sweetly; the lindens were in blossom, the Swallows
flew by, and said, ``Quirre-virre-vit! my husband
is come!'' But it was not the Pine Tree that they
meant.
``Now, I shall really live,'' said he with joy, and
spread out his branches; dear! dear! they were all
dry and yellow. It was in a corner among weeds
and nettles that he lay. The golden star of tinsel
was still on top of the Tree, and shone in the
bright sunshine.
In the courtyard a few of the merry children
were playing who had danced at Christmas
round the Tree, and were so glad at the sight of
him. One of the littlest ran and tore off the golden
star.
``See what is still on the ugly old Christmas
Tree!'' said he, and he trampled on the branches,
so that they cracked under his feet.
And the Tree saw all the beauty of the flowers,
and the freshness in the garden; he saw himself,
and he wished he had stayed in his dark corner in
the attic: he thought of his fresh youth in the
wood, of the merry Christmas Eve, and of the
little Mice who had heard so gladly the story of
Klumpy-Dumpy.
``Gone! gone!'' said the poor Tree. ``Had I but
been happy when I could be. Gone! gone!''
And the gardener's boy came and chopped the
Tree into small pieces; there was a whole heap
lying there. The wood flamed up finely under
the large brewing kettle, and it sighed so deeply!
Each sigh was like a little shot. So the children
ran to where it lay and sat down before the fire,
and peeped in at the blaze, and shouted ``Piff!
paff!'' But at every snap there was a deep sigh.
The Tree was thinking of summer days in the
wood, and of winter nights when the stars shone;
it was thinking of Christmas Eve and Klumpy-
Dumpy, the only fairy tale it had heard and knew
how to tell,--and so the Tree burned out.
The boys played about in the court, and the
youngest wore the gold star on his breast which
the Tree had worn on the happiest evening of his
life. Now, that was gone, the Tree was gone, and
gone too was the story. All, all was gone, and
that's the way with all stories. |
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