Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1896-05-04
The Oak Tree and the Ivy.

In the greenwood stood a mighty
oak. So majestic was he that all who
came that way paused to admire his
strength and beauty, and all the Other
trees of the greenwood acknowledged
him to their monarch.
Now it came to pass that the ivy
loved the oak tree, and inclining her
graceful tendriIs where he stood, she
| crept about his feet and twined her
self around his sturdy and knotted
trunk. And the oak tree pitied the
ivy.
Obi" he cried, laughing boisterous-
ly, but good naturedly, ooh! SO you
love me, do you, little vine? Very
we'll, then; play about my feet, and I
will keep the storms from you, and
tell you pretty stories about the
clouds, the birds and the stars
The ivy marvelled greatly at the
strange stories the oak tree told; they
were stories the oak tree heard from
the wind that loitered about his lofty
head and whispered to the leaves of
his topmost branches. Sometimes the
story was about the great ocean in
the east, sometimes of the broad
prairies in the west, sometimes of the
ice king who lived in the north, and
sometimes of the flower queen who
dwelled in the south. Then, too, the
moon told a story to the oak tree
every night-or at least every night
she came to the greenwood, which
was very often, for the greenwood is
very charming spot, as we all know.
And the oak tree repeated to the ivy
every story the moon told and every
song the stars sang.
"Pray, what are the winds saying
now?" or "What song is that hear?'
the ivy would ask; and then the oak
tree would repeat the story or the
song, and the ivy would listen in
great wonderment.
Whenever the storms came the oak
tree cried to the little ivy: "Cling
close to me and no harm shall befall
you. See how strong I am! The
tempest does not so much as stir me
i mock it's fury!"
Then seeing how strong and brave
he was the ivy Rugged him closely;
his brown, rugged breast protected
her from every harm and she was Sc
cure.
Years went by; how quickly they
few-spring, summer, winter, and
then spring again, summer, winter
as elsewhere And now the ivy was
no longer a weakly little vine to ex-
cite the passer by. Her thousand
beautiful arms had twined hither and
thither around the oak tree, covering
his brown and knotty trunk, shooting
forth a bright, delicious foliage, and
far up among his lower
branches. Then the oak trees pity
grew into love for the ivy, and the
ivy was filled with a great joy. And
the oak tree and the ivy were wed
one June night, and there was a great
celebration in the greenwood; and
there was the most beautiful music,
in which the pine trees, the crickets,
the katydids, the frogs and the night
lngales joined in pleasing harmony.
The oak tree was always good and
gentle to the ivy. "There is storm
coming over the hills" he would say.
''The east wind tells me so; the swal-
lows fly low in the air and the sky is
dark. Cling close to me, my beloved
and no harm shall befal YOU" .,
Then, confidentially and with an al
ways growing love the ivy would
cling more closely to the oak tree and
no harm came to her.
"How good the oak tree is to the
ivy!" said the other trees of the
greenwood. The ivy heard them, and
she loved the oak tree more and more.
And although the ivy was now
the most outrageous and luxuriant
vine in all the greenwood, the oak
tree regarded her still as the tender
little thing he had laughingly called
to his feet that spring day many years
oefore-the same little ivy he had told
about the stars, the clouds and the
birds. And, just as patiently as in
those days, he had told her of those
things he now repeated other tales
the winds whispered to his topmost
tales of the ocean in the
east, the prairies in the west, the ice
king in the north and the flowers and
the flower queen of the south. Nest
ing up on his brave breast and in his
stout arms the ivy heard him tell
these wondrous things, and she never
vearied with the listening.
"How the oak tree loves her!" said
5he ash. ''The lazy vine has naught