ot at all agreeable.

The Tree only came to itself when it was unloaded in a yard, with
other trees, and heard a man say:

"This one is famous; we only want this one!"

Now two servants came in gay liveries, and carried the Fir Tree into
a large, beautiful parlor. All around the walls hung pictures, and by
the great stove stood large Chinese vases with lions on the covers;
there were rocking-chairs, silken sofas, great tables covered with
picture books, and toys worth a hundred times a hundred dollars, at
least the children said so. And the Fir Tree was put into a great tub
filled with sand; but no one could see that it was a tub, for it
was hung round with green cloth, and stood on a large, many-colored
carpet. Oh, how the Tree trembled! What was to happen now? The
servants, and the young ladies also, decked it out. On one branch they
hung little nets, cut out of colored paper; every net was filled
with sweetmeats; golden apples and walnuts hung down, as if they grew
there, and more than a hundred little candles, red, white, and blue,
were fastened to the different boughs. Dolls that looked exactly like
real people--the tree had never seen such before--swung among the
foliage, and high on the summit of the tree was fixed a tinsel star.
It was splendid, particularly splendid.

"This evening," said all, "this evening it will shine."

"Oh," thought the Tree, "that it were evening already! Oh, that the
lights may be soon lit up! When may that be done? I wonder if trees
will come out of the forest to look at me? Will the sparrows fly
against the panes? Shall I grow fast here, and stand adorned in
summer and winter?"

Yes, he did not guess badly. But he had a complete backache from
mere longing, and the backache is just as bad for a Tree as the
headache for a person.

At last the candles were lighted. What a brilliance, what splendor!
The Tree trembled so in all its branches that one of the candles set
fire to a green twig, and it was scorched.

"Heaven preserve us!" cried the young ladies; and they hastily put the
fire out.

Now the Tree might not even tremble. Oh, that was terrible! It was
so afraid of setting fire to some of its ornaments, and it was quite
bewildered with all the brilliance. And now the folding doors were
thrown open, and a number of children rushed in as if they would
have overturned the whole Tree; the older people followed more
deliberately. The little ones stood quite silent, but only for