Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1881-12-23
THE OLD OAKs LAST DREAM.
A Christnaas Fancy.
BY HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN.


In the forest high up on the steep shore,
hard by the open sea-coast, stood a very old
oak tree Il was exactly three hundred and
sixty-fivc years old but that long time was
not more for the tree than Just as many days
would be to us men. We 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 win
ter comes. Winter is its time for rest, its
night after the long day, which is called
spring, summer and autumn.
On many a warm summer day the ephem-
era, the fly that lives but for a day, had
danced around his ciown-had lived, en-
joyed, and felt happy; and then rested for II
moment in quiet bliss, the tiny creature, on
one Of the great fresh oak leaves and then
the tree always said:
Poor little thing Your whole life is but
single day How very short it's quite
melancholy! ~
melancholy! Why do you say that ~
the ephemera would then always reply at
is wonderfully bright, warm and beautiful all
around me, and that makes me rejoice ~
"But only one day, and then it's all doncl'
"Done !" repeated the ephemera. 'What' S
the meaning of donel Are you done, toof''
''No; shall perhaps live for thousands of
your days, and my day is whole seasons
long! It's something so long that you can't
at all manage to reckon II out. "
"No; then don't understand you. You
say you have thousands of my days; but /
have thousands of moments, in which can
be merry and happy. Docs all the beauty Of
this world cease when you die
a al. 80 .E.s.1
last much longer-far longer than can pos
sibly think "
"Well, then, we have the same time, only
we reckon differently"
And the ephemera danced and iloated in
the air, and rejOiced in her delicate wings Of
gauze and velvet, and rejoiced in the balmy
breezes laden with the fragrance of meadows
and Of wild roses and clder-howers, of the
garden hedges, wild thyme, and mint, and
daisies; the scent Of these was all so strong
that the ephemera was almost intoxicated.
The day was long 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 enjoyment. The deli
cate wings would not carry il any more, and
quietly and slowly it glided down upon the
soft grass-blade, nodded its head as well as it
could nod, and went quietly to sleep-and
was dead.
''Poor little ephemera!" said the oak.
"That was terribly short life. ="
And on every summer day the same dance
was repeated, the same question and answer,
and the same sleep The same thing was
repeated through whole generations of eph-
emeras all of them felt equally merry and
equally happy.
The old oak stood there awake through the
spring morning, the noon of summer, and the
evening Of autumn; and its time Of rest, its
night, was coming on apace. Winter was
approaching. Already the storms were sing
ing their good night, good night !" Here
fell leaf and there fell a leaf.
''We1l rock you and dandle you'll Go to
sleep, go to sleepi 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 joy. Sleep sweetly, sleep
sweetly It's your three hundred and sixty
fifth night. Properly speaking, you're only
STRIPPING as yet. Sleep sweetly The
clouds strew down snow there will be quite
coverlet, warm and protecting, around
your feet. Sweet sleep to you, and pleasant
dreamsn
And the oak tree stood there, denuded OF
all its leaves, to sleep through the long win
ter, and TO dream many dream, always
about something that had happened to it
Just as in the dreams of men.
The great oak had once been small-in-
| deed an acorn had been its cradle. Accord
ing TO human com Dutation ii was now in its
fourth century. 1t was the greatest and best
tree in the forest its crown lowered fan
above all the other trees, and could be de-
serted from afar across the sea, 50 that il
served as a landmark to the sailors the tree
had no idea how many eyes were in the habit
of seeking il. High up in its green summit
the woOd-pigeou 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 passage
came and rested there, before they flew away
across the sea but now it was winter, anC
the tree stood there leafess, so that everyone
could see how gnarled and crooked the
branches were that shot forth from its trunk
| Crows and rocks came and took their seat by
turns in the boughs and spoke of the hare
| times which were beginning and of the diff
Guilty of getting a living through the winter
1t was just at the holy Christmas time
when the tree dreamed its most glorious
dream.
The tree had distinct feeling of the fes
| tive time, and fancled he heard the bell
ringing from the churches all around ant
yet it seemed as if it were fine summer
day mild and warm. Fresh and green ht
spread out his mighty crown; the sunbeamI
played among the twigs and leaves the ali
was full of the fragrance of herbs and bios
SONS gay butterflies chased each other Il
and fro. The ephemeral insects danced a
if all the world were created merely for then
to dance and be merry in. All that the tire,
had experienced for years and years, ant
that had happened around him, seemed t
pass by him again as in festive pageant
He saw the knights of ancient days ride by
with their noble danes on gallant steeds
with plumes waving in their bonnets anC
falcons on their wrists. The hunting horn
sounded, and the dogs barked. He saw hos
tile warriors in colored jenkins and Will