The Story of a Foolish Tree

Evening Post, Issue 28, 1 August 1936, Page 20

The Story of a Foolish Tree

By A. Glover

IT was one of those clear sparkling mornings. The grass, white with frostspangles, glittered and shone with a hundred colours, the crazy pavements gave forth a shining light, andevery leaf and stem glistened in the glow of the rising- sun. The earth, brown and damp, frost-rimed, pressed closer to the plant roots, keeping them warm and snug, for even plants take cbld on these'frosty mornings... ' , !. ' ■-.. Blue Gum stood, straight and strong; her smooth trunk dappled with sunshine, her leaf tips <warm and red in the golden light. But Blue Gum wasn't happy: Sh«'leaned over to Pine and whispered, "I'm sick of this." • Pine, dark and green, shook himself and all his needles shone forth like tiny Silver spears. "Sick of what?" His voice was deep. It woke the birds, and such a twittering and a chatter arose that Pine couldn't hear whac Blue Gum was saying. He smiled happily. , The birds were friendly things. They kept one young with their quarrels and noise, their friendships and singing and fun. i But Blue Gum frowned. "Those wretched birds. Make them stop." And the sharpness of her'voice reached Pine, and the birds heard her too, and were suddenly silent;;^ The whole garden, was silent. Daphne, like white stars, gazed sorrowfully up, and Violet peeped from under her leaves with shining tears in her eyes. ■ ■■' ' ■ -■; •*•:.■,. - , . \ _ ■' ■'•• ;; "Yes,"'Blue Gum .Went on. "I'm sick of this. Every year, season after season, I have to work. ■. Making leaves and flowers and seeds isn't an easy job, and I can never'get a proper sleep. What's a.night? No good at all. I want months and months. Look at Silver Beech and Copper Beech and 0ak:...;. all snoring. It's most unfair. And Cherry . . . and even some of your 'Wyn' relations; Pine . . . all sleeping/There's Willow, warm and comfortable in her bed,'having the loveliest, sleep while you and I work. It's most unfair." ■ Pohutukawa, hearing Blue Gum's voice, cleared his throat. "Think how beautiful you -are, Blue Gum, whilst all'those others are only twigs and sticks. Your pale green, your pink, and those glorious blossoms . . would you change them with any of the others?" Blue Gum was very bad tempered now. "Of course. I might be beautiful now, but wait till the spring, they all: have the loveliest new dresses, and^here are we,-just the same, year in, year out. My flowers are nice, but think of Cherry's blossoms, and Copper Beech's lovely foliage, and Willow's catkins. Oh dear, I think I'm very unlucky." And she sighed so heartily that all the other trees sighed too, and such a wailing and a noise had never' been heard in-the garden before. .-■'"■■.-".:'■ Violet was frightened. She hid her trembling head under her leaves. Blue Gum was wicked.' So tall and graceful and green . . . how happy she should be. Now if she was little and insignificant, with only a sweet perfume to commend her,.she might have something to growl about. But so lofty. . . . Violet shook her heavy head. Then Blue Gum said a terrible thing. "I'm going to sleep!" It was shocking. This wicked tree. Pine roused himself! "I don't think you should, Blue Gum. Nature has made you as you are. Winter can be a dismal thing. But surely our staying green makes it a happier season. Cherry and Willow and all those who sleep would gladly work' if they had been made that way, Some of us, perhaps we are stronger, are asked to work, and after all, we' can sleep every night!" ' ~ '' "You're a coward," Blue Gum called out to him. "You and' all the others who work. What do I care for old Nature? I'm going to sleep." And she shut her eyes and drowsed off. ..'-.. • The 'garden was still that day. No bird whistled, no flower lifted its head . . . and the steady breathing of Blue Gum filled them all with fear. When Nature found out, some dreadful thing would happen. So the days passed, and one by one, slowly but surely, brown crept into the leaves of the Blue Gum, curled them, and scorched them. One by one they dropped, fluttering sadly down to the shuddering earth. No one wanted them so they died quietly and Violet wept softly. Gradually as the days grew colder and the nights longer, Blue Gum lost all her beauty and stood a bare gaunt-branched thing, ugly and sullen. Sometimes-in her sleep she shivered, and Pine shook his head. "She'll die," he told the garden. "Nature will never forgive her, and she will never wake up." "She is cold," Pohutukawa answered.. "Her sleep is troubled and she shudders and shivers. She is a foolish tree." So winter passed. ■

At last the spring months'were upon them, and. warmth came slowly into the sun. .The sleeping trees awoke, stretching themselves, throwing their arms above their heads and murmuring, "Ah, it is "good to be awake." But the Blue Gum had not stirred. ; : ' Tiny buds peeped forth. The thrushes and blackbirds whistled, "Spring i is here. Spring is here," and all was astir and'wakeful. ~ I _ Pine and Pohutukawa, a little tired of their long vigil, watched, with quiet smiles, this bother and bustle. Every year it pleased them. It was their relief. The new leaves sprouted, tender green, darkening to olive, bronze to sage, and now at last they could rest, content in knowing that the 'beauty of the garden was assured. : So used had they become .to Blue Gum's greyness that they had not noticed that she still slept. ' " . . But the busy Cherry, one day, glancing about her, saw the gaunt branches. ' ■ "Good gracious. Whatever happened to Blue Gum?" The whole garden stopped working, and the Copper Beech threw ud her hands. "How sad." Willow wept. Pine, tired and worn out, explained. "But how dreadful. Is she dead?" Oak inquired. *• "No. Only asleep." . "But she looks dead." "Is that how we look when we are asleep?" Silver Beech asked. Pohutukawa nodded. "Yes. But Nature has said that you should.be so. Blue Gum is going against Nature, so she is ugly and unsightly." But Silver Beech sighed. "How lucky you are, Pohutukawa, that you remain fresh and green all through the winter months." "Blue Gum did not think she was lucky." . So they sighed. . . . But work must go on, and the trees forgot the wickedness of Blue Gum in their bustling industry. Then one day a terrible thing happened. The Owner of the garden came to see his trees, and looking up he saw the ugliness of Blue Gum. He called his wife. "Look at that." s - "Oh, poor thing. The winter must have been too severe."' "Yes. I thought gums were hardy enough. Well, that tree spoils the garden. It'll have to come down." , "Poor thing." The lady looked quite sad, then her face brightened. "We can burn it, though. Gum smells so nice, burning." When they had gone there was a chatter and a afcurry. Blue Gum dead. Blue Gum burned. It couldn't be. At last Pine had an idea. He called the bird king. "Tell your people to come and sing in the garden. Tell them to sit on the Blue Gum's boughs and wake her." The bird king agreed. He summoned his finest whistlers, and pointed to the gaunt tree. "Sing your best and loudest. Wake her up." t : In a moment the garden was filled with a pulsing -sound, a plaintive whistle which deepened to a commanding song. The'trees watched, breathless. Was Blue Gum really dead? , .; No. She stirred. She opened her eyes,- she gazed, bewildered, at her naked branches, at the whistling birds. "Quickly. . . . Quickly. . . ." Pine roared. "Stir yourself. Make your leaves as fast as you can. The Owner of the garden is coming to have you chopped down and burned." Blue Gum's eyes were wide with fear. She shook herself, and every bird left her. She saw, then, her terrible ugliness. Tears trickled down her ■face. v ' Pohutukawa called to her. "Stop wasting time, unless you want to die." "Oh, no, no. Oh, I have been so silly. I feel so sick and hungry, and I look so odd, with even Cherry and Willow and Copper Beech dressed What shall I do?" ~ "Make your leaves," they all called to her. "Yes. Yes, I will." And she started at once in a terrified bustle. But the trees were kind. They sent her the most nourishing earth. Roots trailed under the ground taking with them strength, and finding Blue Gum's roots, gave her help in her frenzy. So, when the Owner of the garden came with his saw and axe and rope, he was amazed. "Not dead after all. Well, I'm glad. I liked that gum. It cheered me up in the winter time." Blue Gum sighed. She had been a very foolish tree.