And the fir tree was planted in a big tub filled with sand；but no one could see it was a tub，for it was covered with green cloth，and stood on a great many-colored carpet.How the tree trembled！What was going to happen？Men servants and young ladies began to decorate it.On the branches they hung little nets cut out of colored paper，every net filled with sweets；gilded apples and walnuts hung down as if they grew there，and more than a hundred red，blue，and white candles were fastened to the branches.Dolls that looked exactly like real live children—the tree had never seen anything of the sort before—floated among the green branches，and up at the top was fixed a large star of gold tinsel；it was magnificent beyond words！
“Tonight，”they all said，“tonight it will be lit up.”
“Oh！”thought the tree.“If only it were already night！If only the candles were already lit！And later—what will happen then？Will trees from the forest come and look at me？Will the sparrows peep in at the windows？Shall I grow roots here and keep my decorations winter and summer？”
How little it knew！All those longings had brought on a very bad barkache—and it is just as bad for a tree to have a barkache as it is for us to have a headache.
At last the candles were lighted.What a blaze of splendor！The tree trembled so much in all its branches that one of the candles set fire to a twig—and what a scorching pain that was！
“Oh，dear！”cried the young ladies，and they quickly put out the fire.Now the tree did not even dare to quiver—it was awful！It was so afraid of losing some of its decorations，and felt quite overwhelmed with all that splendor...And now at last the folding doors were flung open and dozens of noisy children came tumbling in as if they were going to upset the whole tree.The older people followed more calmly behind.The little ones stood quite speechless，but only for a minute—then they shrieked again with excitement，danced joyfully round it，and took down one present after another.
“What are they doing？”thought the tree.“What is going to happen？”The candles burnt right down to the branches and were put out as fast as they were burnt；then the children were allowed to plunder the tree.They rushed at it with such force that all the branches creaked；if it had not been fastened to the ceiling by the string and the gold star，it would have toppled over.The children danced round and round with their beautiful toys.No one looked at the tree except the old nurse who was peering about among the branches to see if by any chance a fig or an apple had not been forgotten.
“A story！A story！”demanded the children，pulling a little fat man towards the tree，and he sat down just beneath it.“Here we are in the green wood，”he said，“and it will do the tree a lot of good to listen.But I shall only tell one story.Would you like the one about Hey-diddle-diddle，or the one about Humpty-dumpty who fell down the stairs，and yet ascended the throne and married the Princess？”
“Hey-diddle-diddle，”cried some of them；“Humpty-dumpty，”cried others；and there was a great deal of shrieking and shouting.Only the fir tree stood quite silent，and thought，“Am I not to be in this at all？Am I not to take part in anything？”But it had been in the evening's fun.It had played its part.
So the little fat man told about Humpty-dumpty who fell down the stairs and yet ascended the throne and married the Princess.And the children clapped their hands，shouting，“Another！another！”for they wanted the story of Hey-diddle-diddle too，but they had to be content with Humpty-dumpty.
The fir tree stood quite silent and thoughtful—never had the birds in the forest told such a story as that.“Humpty-dumpty fell down the stairs and yet married the Princess.Well！Well！that's the way things happen in the world，”thought the fir tree，believing it must all have been true，because such a nice man had told the story.“Well，who knows？I，too，may fall downstairs and win my Princess！”And it looked forward to being decorated again the next day with candles and toys，tinsel and fruit.
“Tomorrow I shall not tremble，”it thought.“I shall rejoice in all my splendor.Tomorrow I shall hear the story of Humpty-dumpty again，and perhaps the one about Hey-diddle-diddle too.”And it remained quiet and thoughtful all night.
In the morning the man came in with one of the servants.
“Now the festivities are going to begin again，”thought the tree.But they dragged it out of the room，up the stairs to the attic，and there they put it in a dark corner where no daylight penetrated.“What does this mean？”thought the tree.“What am I to do in this place？What am I to hear？”And it leant against the wall，lost in deep thought...It had time enough，for days and nights went by，and nobody came up.When at last someone did come，it was only to move some big boxes into the corner.The tree was so well hidden away that one might think it had been quite forgotten.
“It's winter outside now，”thought the tree.“The ground is hard and covered with snow；I cannot be planted now，and that is probably why I am to be sheltered here until the springtime.How considerate of them！How kind people are！I only wish it weren't so dark here and so terribly lonely—not even a little hare！After all，it was nice in the forest when the snow covered the ground，and the hare sped by—yes，even when it jumped over me it was fun，but I didn't think so then.This loneliness is perfectly unbearable！”
“’Eak！’Eak！”squeaked a little mouse just then，running out on the floor，and followed by another one.They sniffed at the fir tree，slipping in and out among the branches.