then came two servants in grand livery， and carried the fir-tree into a large and beautifulapartment. On the walls hung pictures， and near the GREat stove stood great china vases，with lions on the lids. There were rocking chairs， silken sofas， large tables， covered withpictures， books， and playthings， worth a great deal of money，—at least， the children saidso. Then the fir-tree was placed in a large tub， full of sand; but green baize hung all aroundit， so that no one could see it was a tub， and it stood on a very handsome carpet. How thefir-tree trembled! “What was going to happen to him now?” Some young ladies came， andthe servants helped them to adorn the tree. On one branch they hung little bags cut out ofcolored paper， and each bag was filled with sweetmeats; from other branches hung gildedapples and walnuts， as if they had grown there; and above， and all round， were hundredsof red， blue， and white tapers， which were fastened on the branches. Dolls， exactly like realbabies， were placed under the green leaves，—the tree had never seen such things before，—and at the very top was fastened a glittering star， made of tinsel. Oh， it was verybeautiful!
“This evening，” they all exclaimed， “how brightit will be!” “Oh， that the evening were come，”thought the tree， “and the tapers lighted! then Ishall know what else is going to happen. Will thetrees of the forest come to see me? I wonder if thesparrows will peep in at the windows as they fly?shall I grow faster here， and keep on all theseornaments summer and winter?” But guessing wasof very little use; it made his bark ache， and thispain is as bad for a slender fir-tree， as headache isfor us. At last the tapers were lighted， and thenwhat a glistening blaze of light the tree presented! It trembled so with joy in all itsbranches， that one of the candles fell among the GREen leaves and burnt some of them. “Help! help!” exclaimed the young ladies， but there was no danger， for they quicklyextinguished the fire. After this， the tree tried not to tremble at all， though the firefrightened him; he was so anxious not to hurt any of the beautiful ornaments， even whiletheir brilliancy dazzled him. And now the folding doors were thrown open， and a troop ofchildren rushed in as if they intended to upset the tree; they were followed more silently bytheir elders. For a moment the little ones stood silent with astonishment， and then theyshouted for joy， till the room rang， and they danced merrily round the tree， while onepresent after another was taken from it.
“What are they doing? What will happen next?” thought the fir. At last the candles burntdown to the branches and were put out. Then the children received permission to plunder thetree.
Oh， how they rushed upon it， till the branches cracked， and had it not been fastenedwith the glistening star to the ceiling， it must have been thrown down. The children thendanced about with their pretty toys， and no one noticed the tree， except the children's maidwho came and peeped among the branches to see if an apple or a fig had been forgotten.
“A story， a story，” cried the children， pulling a little fat man towards the tree.
“Now we shall be in the GREen shade，” said the man， as he seated himself under it， “and the tree will have the pleasure of hearing also， but I shall only relate one story; whatshall it be? Ivede-Avede， or Humpty Dumpty， who fell down stairs， but soon got upagain， and at last married a princess.”
“Ivede-Avede，” cried some. “Humpty Dumpty，” cried others， and there was a fineshouting and crying out. But the fir-tree remained quite still， and thought to himself， “Shall Ihave anything to do with all this?” but he had already amused them as much as they wished.Then the old man told them the story of Humpty Dumpty， how he fell down stairs， and wasraised up again， and married a princess. And the children clapped their hands and cried， “Tellanother， tell another，” for they wanted to hear the story of “Ivede-Avede;” but they onlyhad “Humpty Dumpty.” After this the fir-tree became quite silent and thoughtful; never hadthe birds in the forest told such tales as “Humpty Dumpty，” who fell down stairs， and yetmarried a princess.
“Ah! yes， so it happens in the world，” thought the fir-tree; he believed it all， becauseit was related by such a nice man. “Ah! well，” he thought， “who knows? perhaps I may falldown too， and marry a princess;” and he looked forward joyfully to the next evening，expecting to be again decked out with lights and playthings， gold and fruit. “To-morrow I willnot tremble，” thought he; “I will enjoy all my splendor， and I shall hear the story ofHumpty Dumpty again， and perhaps Ivede-Avede.” And the tree remained quiet andthoughtful all night. In the morning the servants and the housemaid came in. “Now，” thoughtthe fir， “all my splendor is going to begin again.” But they dragged him out of the room andup stairs to the garret， and threw him on the floor， in a dark corner， where no daylightshone， and there they left him. “What does this mean?” thought the tree， “what am I to dohere? I can hear nothing in a place like this，” and he had time enough to think， for days andnights passed and no one came near him， and when at last somebody did come， it was onlyto put away large boxes in a corner. So the tree was completely hidden from sight as if it hadnever existed. “It is winter now，” thought the tree， “the ground is hard and covered withsnow， so that people cannot plant me. I shall be sheltered here， I dare say， until springcomes. How thoughtful and kind everybody is to me! Still I wish this place were not so dark，as well as lonely， with not even a little hare to look at. How pleasant it was out in the forestwhile the snow lay on the ground， when the hare would run by， yes， and jump over metoo， although I did not like it then. Oh! it is terrible lonely here.”
“Squeak， squeak，” said a little mouse， creeping cautiously towards the tree; then cameanother; and they both sniffed at the fir-tree and crept between the branches.
“Oh， it is very cold，” said the little mouse， “or else we should be so comfortable here，shouldn't we， you old fir-tree?”
“I am not old，” said the fir-tree， “there are many who are older than I am.”