oughs by merry travelers; now they seemed to hang
there again, and their marvelous notes sounded again. The wood pigeons
cooed as if to express the feelings of the tree, and the cuckoo called
out to tell it how many summer days it had yet to live.

Then it appeared to it that new life was thrilling through every fiber
of root and stem and leaf, rising even to its highest branches. The tree
felt itself stretching and spreading out, while through the root beneath
the earth ran the warm vigor of life. As it grew higher and still higher
and its strength increased, the topmost boughs became broader and
fuller; and in proportion to its growth its self-satisfaction increased,
and there came a joyous longing to grow higher and higher--to reach even
to the warm, bright sun itself.

Already had its topmost branches pierced the clouds, which floated
beneath them like troops of birds of passage or large white swans; every
leaf seemed gifted with sight, as if it possessed eyes to see. The stars
became visible in broad daylight, large and sparkling, like clear and
gentle eyes. They brought to the tree's memory the light that it had
seen in the eyes of a child and in the eyes of lovers who had once met
beneath the branches of the old oak.

These were wonderful and happy moments for the old oak, full of peace
and joy; and yet amidst all this happiness, the tree felt a yearning
desire that all the other trees, bushes, herbs, and flowers beneath it
might also be able to rise higher, to see all this splendor and
experience the same happiness. The grand, majestic oak could not be
quite happy in its enjoyment until all the rest, both great and small,
could share it. And this feeling of yearning trembled through every
branch, through every leaf, as warmly and fervently as through a human
heart.

The summit of the tree waved to and fro and bent downwards, as if in its
silent longing it sought something. Then there came to it the fragrance
of thyme and the more powerful scent of honeysuckle and violets, and the
tree fancied it heard the note of the cuckoo.

At length its longing was satisfied. Up through the clouds came the
green summits of the forest trees, and the oak watched them rising
higher and higher. Bush and herb shot upward, and some even tore
themselves up by the roots to rise more quickly. The quickest of all was
the birch tree. Like a lightning flash the slender stem shot upwards in
a zigzag line, the branches spreading round