THE LAST DREAM OF THE OLD OAK TREE.docx

1、THE LAST DREAM OF THE OLD OAK TREETHE LAST DREAM OF THE OLD OAK TREE A CHRISTMAS TALE IN the forest，high up on the steep shore，hard by the open sea coast，stood a very old Oak TreeIt was exactly three hundred and sixty-five years old，but that long time was not more for the Tree than just as many days

2、 would be to us menWe wake by day and sleep through the night，and then we have our dreams：it is different with the Tree，which keeps awake through three seasons of the year，and does not get its sleep till winter comesWinter is its time for rest，its night after the long day which is called spring，summ

3、er，and autumn On many a warm summer day the Ephemera，the fly that lives but for a day， had danced around his crownhad lived，enjoyed，and felt happy；and then the tiny creature had rested for a moment in quiet bliss on one of the great fresh Oak leaves；and then the Tree always said， “Poor little thing！

4、Your whole life is but a single day！How very short！Its quite melancholy” “Melancholy！Why do you say that？”the Ephemera would then always reply“Its wonderfully bright，warm，and beautiful all around me，and that makes me rejoice” “But only one day，and then its all done！” “Done！”repeated the Ephemera“Wha

5、ts the meanin of done？Are you done，too？” “No；I shall perhaps live for thousands of your days，and my day is whole seasons long！Its something so long，that you cant at all manage to reckon it out” “No？then I dont understand youYou say you have thousands of my days；but I have thousands of moments，in whi

6、ch I can be merry and happyDoes all the beauty of this world cease when you die？” “No，”replied the Tree；“it will certainly last much longerfar longer than I can possibly think” “Well，then，we have the same time，only that we reckon differently” And the Ephemera danced and floated in the air，and rejoic

7、ed in her delicate wings of gauze and velvet，and rejoiced in the balmy breezes laden with the fragrance of the meadows and of wild roses and elder flowers，of the garden hedges，wild thyme，and mint，and daisies；the scent of these was all so strong that the Ephemera was almost intoxicatedThe day was lon

8、g and beautiful，full of joy and of sweet feeling，and when the sun sank low the little fly felt very agreeably tired of all its happiness and enjoymentThe delicate wings would not carry it any more，and quietly and slowly if glided down upon the soft grass-blade，nodded its head as well as it could nod

9、，and went quietly to sleepand was dead “Poor little Ephemera！”said the Oak“That was a terribly short life！” And on every summer day the same dance was repeated，the same question and answer，and the same sleepThe same thing was repeated through whole generations of Ephemerae，and all of them felt equal

10、ly merry and equally happy The Oak stood there awake through the spring mornin，the noon of summer，and the evening of autumn；and its time of rest，its night，was coming on apaceWinter was approaching Already the storms were singing their“good night！good night！”Here fell a leaf，and there fell a leaf “We

11、 pull！See if you can sleep！We sing you to sleep，we shake you to sleep，but it does you good in your old twigs，does it not？They seem to crack for very joySleep sweetly！Sleep sweetly！Its your three hundred and sixtyfifth nightProperly speaking，youre only a year old yet！Sleep sweetly！The clouds strew do

12、wn snow，there will be quite a coverlet，warm and protectin，around your feetSweet sleep to you，and pleasant dreams！” And the old Oak Tree stood there，stripped of all its 1eaves，to sleep through the long winter，and to dream many a dream，always about something that had happened to it，just as in the drea

13、ms of men The great Oak Tree had once been smallindeed，an acorn had been its cradleAccording to human commaputation，it was now in its fourth centuryIt was the greatest and best tree in the forest；its crown towered far above all the other trees，and could be descried from afar across the sea，so that i

14、t served as a landmark to the sailors：the Tree had no idea how many eyes were in the habit of seeking itHigh up in its green summit the woodpigeon built her nest，and the cuckoo sat in its boughs and sang his song；and in autumn，when the leaves looked like thin plates of copper，the birds of passape ca

15、me and rested there，before they flew away across the sea；but now it was winter，and the Tree stood there leafless，so that every one could see how gnarled and crooked the branches were that shot forth from its trunkCrows and rooks came and took their seat by turns in the boughs，and spoke of the hard t

16、imes which were beginning，and of the difficulty of getting a living in winter It was just at the holy Christmas time，when the Tree dreamed its most glorious dream The Tree had a distinct feeling of the festive time，and fancied he heard the bells ringing from the churches all around；and yet it seemed

17、 as if it were a fine summers day，mild and warmFresh and green he spread out his mighty crown；the sunbeams played among the twigs and the leaves；the air was full of the fragrance of herbs and blossoms；gay butterflies chased each other to and froThe ephemeral insects danced as if all the world were c

18、reated merely for them to dance and be merry inAll that the Tree had experienced for years and years，and that had happened around him，seemed to pass by him again，as in a festive pageantHe saw the knights of ancient days ride by with their noble dames on gallant steeds，with plumes waving in their bon

19、nets and falcons on their wristsThe hunting horn sounded，and the dogs barkedHe saw hostile warriors in coloured jerkins and with shining weapons，with spear and halberd，pitching their tents and striking them againThe watchfires flamed up anew，and men sang and slept under the branches of the TreeHe sa

20、w loving couples meeting near his trunk，happily，in the moonshine；and they cut the initials of their names in the greygreen back of his stemOncebut long years had rolled by since thencitherns and Aeolian harps had been hung up on his boughs by merry wanderers；now they hung there again，and once again

21、they sounded in tones of marvellous sweetnessThe wood-pigeons cooed，as if they were telling what the Tree felt in all this，and the cuckco called out to tell him how many summer days he had yet to live Then it appeared to him as if new life were rippling down into the remotest fibre of his root，and m

22、ounting up into his highest branches，to the tops of the leavesThe Tree felt that he was stretching and spreading himself，and through his root he felt that there was life and warmth even in the ground itselfHe left his strength increase，he grew higher，his stem shot up unceasingly，and he grew more and

23、 more，his crown became fuller and spread out；and in proportion as the Tree grew，he felt his happiness increase，and his joyous hope that he should reach even higherquite up to the warm brilliant sun Already had he grown high up above the clouds，which floated past beneath his crown like dark troops of

24、 passagebirds，or like great white swansAnd every leaf of the Tree had the gift of sight，as if it had eyes wherewith to see：the stars became visible in broad daylight，great and sparkling；each of them sparkled like a pair of eyes，mild and clearThey recalled to his memory well-known gentle eyes，eyes of

25、 children，eyes of lovers，who had met beneath his boughs It was a marvellous spectacle，and one full of happiness and joy！And yet amid all this happiness the Tree felt a longing，a yearning desire that all other trees of the wood beneath him，and all the bushes，and herbs，and flowers，might be able to ris

26、e with him，that they too might see this splendour and experience this joyThe great majestic Oak was not quite happy in his happiness，while he had not them all，great and little，about him；and this feeling of yearning trembled through his every twig，through his every leaf，warmly and fervently as throug

27、h a human heart The crown of the Tree waved to and fro，as if he sought something in his silent longing，and he looked downThen he felt the fragrance of woodruff，and soon afterwards the more powerful scent of honeysuckle and violets；and he fancied he heard the cuckoo answering him Yes，through the clou

28、ds the green summits of the forest came peering up，and under himself the Oak saw the other trees，as they grew and raised themselves aloftBushes and herbs shot up high，and some tore themselves up bodily by the roots to rise the quickerThe birch was the quickest of allLike a white streak of lightning，

29、its slender stem shot upwards in a zigzag line，and the branches spread around it like green gauze and like banners；the whole woodland natives，even to the brownplumed rushes，grew up with the rest，and the birds came too，and sang；and on the grassblade that fluttered aloft like a long silken ribbon into

30、 the air，sat the grasshopper cleaning his wings with his leg；the May beetles hummed，and the bees murmured，and every bird sang in his appointed manner；all was song and sound of gladness up into the high heaven “But the little blue flower by the waterside，where is that？”said the Oak；“and the purple be

31、llflower and the daisy？”For，you see，the old Oak Tree wanted to have them all about him “We are here！We are here！”was shouted and sung in reply “But the beautiful woodruff of last summerand in the last year there was certainly a place here covered with lilies of the valley！And the wild apple tree tha

32、t Lossomed so splendidly！And all the glory of the wood that came year by yearif that had only lived and remained till now，then it might have been here now！” “We are here！We are here！”replied voices still higher in the air It seemed as if they had flown on before “Why，that is beautiful，indescribably beautiful！”exclaimed the old Oak Tree，rejoicingly“I have them all around me，great and small；not one has been forgotten！How can so much happiness be imagined？How can it be possible？” “In heaven it can be