l begin again," thought the Fir. But they
dragged him out of the room, and up the stairs into the loft; 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 hear now, I wonder?" And he leaned against the wall, lost in
reverie. Time enough had he, too, 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 a corner out of the way.
There stood the Tree quite hidden; it seemed as if he had been entirely
forgotten.

"'Tis now winter out of doors!" thought the Tree. "The earth is hard and
covered with snow; men cannot plant me now, and therefore I have been
put up here under shelter till the springtime comes! How thoughtful that
is! How kind man is, after all! If it only were not so dark here, and so
terribly lonely! Not even a hare. And out in the woods it was so
pleasant, 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
really 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 sniffed about the
Fir-tree, and rustled among the branches.

"It is dreadfully cold," said the Mouse. "But for that, it would be
delightful here, old Fir, wouldn't it?"

"I am by no means old," said the Fir-tree. "There's many a one
considerably older than I am."

"Where do you come from," asked the Mice; "and what can you do?" They
were so extremely curious. "Tell us about the most beautiful spot on the
earth. Have you never been there? Were you never in the larder, where
cheeses lie on the shelves, 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 woods, where the
sun shines, 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 and said:

"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,
in reality 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 fortunate