One of the little ones ran up , and tore off the gold star . ` Look what was left on the ugly old fir-tree ! ' he cried , and stamped on the boughs so that they cracked under his feet . And the tree looked at all the splendour and freshness of the flowers in the garden , and then looked at itself , and wished that it had been left lying in the dark corner of the lumber-room ; it thought of its fresh youth in the wood , of the merry Christmas Eve , and of the little mice who had listened so happily to the story of Humpty Dumpty . ` Too late ! Too late ! ' thought the old tree . ` If only I had enjoyed myself whilst I could . Now all is over and gone . ' And a servant came and cut the tree into small pieces , there was quite a bundle of them ; they flickered brightly under the great copper in the brew-house ; the tree sighed deeply , and each sigh was like a pistol-shot ; so the children who were playing there ran up , and sat in front of the fire , gazing at it , and crying , ` Piff ! puff ! bang ! ' But for each report , which was really a sigh , the tree was thinking of a summer 's day in the wood , or of a winter 's night out there , when the stars were shining ; it thought of Christmas Eve , and of Humpty Dumpty , which was the only story it had heard , or could tell , and then the tree had burnt away . The children played on in the garden , and the youngest had the golden star on his breast , which the tree had worn on the happiest evening of its life ; and now that was past -- and the tree had passed away -- and the story too , all ended and done with . And that 's the way with all stories ! Here our Danish author ends . This is what people call sentiment , and I hope you enjoy it ! Hans , the Mermaid 's Son Translated from the Danish . In a village there once lived a smith called Basmus , who was in a very poor way . He was still a young man , and a strong handsome fellow to boot , but he had many little children and there was little to be earned by his trade .
He was , however , a diligent and hard-working man , and when he had no work XXXXX the smithy he was out at sea fishing , or gathering wreckage on the shore .
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