said the oak; "what a terribly shortlife!" And so, on every summer day the dance was repeated, the samequestions asked, and the same answers given. The same thing wascontinued through many generations of Ephemera; all of them feltequally merry and equally happy.
  The oak remained awake through the morning of spring, the noonof summer, and the evening of autumn; its time of rest, its night drewnigh- winter was coming. Already the storms were singing, "Good-night,good-night." Here fell a leaf and there fell a leaf. "We will rock youand lull you. Go to sleep, go to sleep. We will sing you to sleep, andshake you to sleep, and it will do your old twigs good; they will evencrackle with pleasure. Sleep sweetly, sleep sweetly, it is yourthree-hundred-and-sixty-fifth night. Correctly speaking, you are but ayoungster in the world. Sleep sweetly, the clouds will drop snowupon you, which will be quite a cover-lid, warm and sheltering to yourfeet. Sweet sleep to you, and pleasant dreams." And there stood theoak, stripped of all its leaves, left to rest during the whole of along winter, and to dream many dreams of events that had happened inits life, as in the dreams of men. The great tree had once been small;indeed, in its cradle it had been an acorn. According to humancomputation, it was now in the fourth century of its existence. It wasthe largest and best tree in the forest. Its summit towered aboveall the other trees, and could be seen far out at sea, so that itserved as a landmark to the sailors. It had no idea how many eyeslooked eagerly for it. In its topmost branches the wood-pigeon builther nest, and the cuckoo carried out his usual vocal performances, andhis well-known notes echoed amid the boughs; and in autumn, when theleaves looked like beaten copper plates, the birds of passage wouldcome and rest upon the branches before taking their flight acrossthe sea. But now it was winter, the tree stood leafless, so that everyone could see how crooked and bent were the branches that sprang forthfrom the trunk. Crows and rooks came by turns and sat on them, andtalked of the hard times which were beginning, and how difficult itwas in winter to obtain food.
  It was just about holy Christmas time that the tree dreamed adream. The tree had, doubtless, a kind of feeling that the festivetime had arrived, and in his dream fancied he heard the bellsringing from all the churches round, and yet it seemed to him to bea beautiful summer's day, mild and warm. His mighty summits wascrowned with spreading fresh green foliage; the sunbeams playedamong the leaves and branches, and the air was full of fragrancefrom herb and blossom; painted butterflies chased each other; thesummer flies danced around him, as if the world had been createdmerely for them to dance and be merry in. All that had happened to thetree during every year of his life seemed to pass before him, as ina festive procession. He saw the knights of olden times and nobleladies ride by through the wood on their gallant steeds, with plumeswaving in their hats, and falcons on their wrists. The hunting hornsounded, and the dogs barked. He saw hostile warriors, in coloreddresses and glittering armor, with spear and halberd, pitching theirtents, and anon striking them. The watchfires again blazed, and mensang and slept under the hospitable shelter of the tree. He saw loversmeet in quiet happiness near him in the moonshine, and carve theinitials of their names in the grayish-green bark on his trunk.Once, but long years had intervened since then, guitars and Eolianharps had been hung on his boughs by merry travellers; now they seemedto hang there again, and he could hear their marvellous tones. Thewood-pigeons cooed as if to explain the feelings of the tree, andthe cuckoo called out to tell him how many summer days he had yet tolive. Then it seemed as if new life was thrilling through everyfibre of root and stem and leaf, rising even to the highestbranches. The tree felt itself stretching and spreading out, whilethrough the root beneath the earth ran the warm vigor of life. As hegrew higher and still higher, with increased strength, his topmostboughs became broader and fuller; and in proportion to his growth,so was his self-satisfaction increased, and with it arose a joyouslonging to grow higher and higher, to reach even to the warm, brightsun itself. Already had his topmost branches pierced the clouds, whichfloated beneath them like troops of birds of passage, or large whiteswans; every leaf seemed gifted with sight, as if it possessed eyes tosee. The stars became visible in broad daylight, large andsparkling, like clear and gentle eyes. They recalled to the memory thewell-known look in the eyes of a child, or in the eyes of lovers whohad once met beneath the branches of the old oak. These were wonderfuland happy moments for the old tree, full of peace and joy; and yet,amidst all this happiness, the tree felt a yearning, longing desirethat all the other trees, bushes, herbs, and flowers beneath him,might be able also to rise higher, as he had done, and to see all thissplendor, and experience the same happiness. The grand, majestic oakcould not be quite happy in the midst of his enjoyment, while allthe rest, both great and small, were not with him. And this feeling ofyearning trembled through every branch, through every leaf, aswarmly and fervently as if they had been the fibres of a humanheart. The summit of the tree waved to and fro, and bent downwardsas if in his silent longing he sought for something. Then there cameto him the fragrance of thyme, followed by the more powerful scentof honeysuckle and violets; and he fancied he heard the note of thecuckoo. At length his longing was satisfied. Up through the cloudscame the green summits of the forest trees, and beneath him, the oaksaw them rising, and growing higher and higher. Bush and herb shotupward, and some even tore themselves up by the roots to rise morequickly. The birch-tree was the quickest of all. Like a lightningflash the slender stem shot upwards in a zigzag line, the branchesspreading around it like green gauze and banners. Every native ofthe wood, even to the brown and feathery rushes, grew with the rest,while the birds ascended with the melody of song. On a blade of grass,that fluttered in the air like a long, green ribbon, sat agrasshopper, cleaning his wings with his legs. May beetles hummed, thebees murmured, the birds sang, each in his own way; the air was filledwith the sounds of song and gladness."
  "But where is the little blue flower that grows by the water?"