Chapter 27
The Fir TreeFAR down in the forest, where the warm sun and the fresh
air made a sweet resting-place, grew a pretty little fir-tree; and
yet it was not happy, it wished so much to be tall like its
companions—the pines and firs which grew around it. The sun shone,
and the soft air fluttered its leaves, and the little peasant
children passed by, prattling merrily, but the fir-tree heeded them
not. Sometimes the children would bring a large basket of
raspberries or strawberries, wreathed on a straw, and seat
themselves near the fir-tree, and say, "Is it not a pretty little
tree?" which made it feel more unhappy than before. And yet all
this while the tree grew a notch or joint taller every year; for by
the number of joints in the stem of a fir-tree we can discover its
a
