` It 's frightfully cold , ' said the little mice . ` How nice it is to be here ! Do n't you think so too , you old fir-tree ? ' ` I 'm not at all old , ' said the tree ; ` there are many much older than I am . ' ` Where do you come from ? ' asked the mice , ` and what do you know ? ' They were extremely inquisitive . ` Do tell us about the most beautiful place in the world . Is that where you come from ? Have you been in the storeroom , where cheeses lie on the shelves , and hams hang from the ceiling , where one dances on tallow candles , and where one goes in thin and comes out fat ? ' ' I know nothing about that , ' said the tree . ` But I know the wood , where the sun shines , and the birds sing . ' And then it told them all about its young days , and the little mice had never heard anything like that before , and they listened with all their ears , and said : ` Oh , how much you have seen ! How lucky you have been ! ' ` I ? ' said the fir-tree , and then it thought over what it had told them . ` Yes , on the whole those were very happy times . ' But then it went on to tell them about Christmas Eve , when it had been adorned with sweet-meats and tapers . ` Oh ! ' said the little mice , ` how lucky you have been , you old fir-tree ! '
` I 'm not XXXXX all old ' said the tree . '
about at before in like on over that to with