The Fir-Tree

The Fir Tree (Danish Grantræet ) is a literary fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen. The tale was together with the fairy tale The Snow Queen for the first time on 21 December 1844 by Andersen in the book edition Nye Eventyr. Første Bind. Andes Samling ( New Abenteteur, Volume One, Second Collection ) from the publisher CA Reitzel in Copenhagen published. The story is systematic and schematic.

Action

The tale is about the life of a small fir tree and his wishes. On three stages, we accompany him in his short life. When he stands as a small tree in the forest, it is his greatest desire to finally be as large as many of the trees that are in his neighborhood. He firmly believes that only then his life would really begin. If it were larger, the birds would build nests in its branches. They contribute to him that some of the felled trees mast trees were on a ship and once he imagines how far you could look there. And some trees are placed beautifully decorated as a Christmas tree in the room. Also, he likes that. Enjoyment of his present life he can not find, although he often hears the message around them: " Rejoice in thy youth. Rejoice ours! Rejoice in thy fresh youth. "Little tree but lives only for him vorschwebende in the spirit of the future that were previously known only from hearsay.

After spending five years in the forest, his life takes a dramatic turn around Christmas. He was elected as the Christmas tree and enjoy. The beats go deep into Mark and he suffers. The journey on which he is now, is cumbersome, and the separation from all that was dear to him in the forest, hurts. But then he is looking forward to what is coming. What will happen on Christmas Eve? Whether there probably trees come out of the forest to admire him? In the afternoon of the great day he will richly decorated and is the center of the evening. When you have plundered him, but no one noticed him. After all, he is still able to enjoy the story of his grandfather, the the tale of Humpty Dumpty told the children, who fell down the stairs and still got the princess, and the like, he also hopes for himself and is looking forward to the next day and on the what happens then. When you pick him up the next day and turns off in a dark corner in the attic, he is at a loss. Now, in the third phase of his life, he has enough time to think about his past life. Full of longing he remembers how beautiful life in the forest. The mice who visit him, tells of his life in the forest and be amazed her how much beauty he has seen by my "How happy you must have been! " And he has to tell them of it, and is only now conscious again how nice it was back when he was allowed to live freely in the forest. However, he has not given up hope that there will be good times yet in his other life, and secretly hopes that he Humpty Dumpty will get a princess like. The rats also visit him, do not like the story of Humpty Dumpty, they would rather hear stories pantry. So gradually the audience stay away and once again the fir must recognize " how happy she once was. " Even the mice that had always listened to her so attentively, missing the fir, later she realizes that actually " quite pretty " was. However, the tree remains hopeful for the future and the day when it is brought out again, so appreciates his future completely wrong.

When it 's time and you bring him outside, he rejoices: Now life begins again, not realizing that now is the last stage of his life has begun. He noted that around him everything is green in fresh spring colors and flowers and must realize how old he has become and how his brown needles trickle down and remembers again the good times that he had: " Gone! over! Had I but rejoiced when I still could! Gone! over! " And then rushes the ax down on him and he is chopped into small pieces. Until the end he remembers the time when he was still beautiful until only ash was small remains of it. Finally, it is said prosaically that it is now with the tree over, " and the story too; over, over - and so it goes with all the stories! "

Analysis

The tree, which is the focus of the narrative, is the only thinking character of the story. He presents himself as her tragic, stupid hero who misses his life almost until the end. The contrast between what the tree thinks and what the reader knows (and some creatures tell him ), determines the narrative; this contrast is so clear that the omniscient narrator does not comment on them. The four life stages of the tree consist of his time in the forest, his rise to the Christmas tree, his deportation to the attic and ultimately its descent to firewood. Only when he is discharged, he begins to understand that he did not know to appreciate what he had. And only when it is inevitable, he abandoned his foolish hopes and speak the key words: " Gone! over! " These words shape the narrative until the final comment. The life of the young fir is only touched upon during the time as a Christmas tree, as well as the time on the dark attic and the last day of life of the tree more time is allowed. This is the time in which are to fulfill the hopes of the tree in the foreground. This time is needed to tell how the tree chasing something he never achieved at the end to realize his mistake, as it is already too late.

Film and audio book

On 15 October 2010 appeared in Polyband a film adaptation of The Christmas tree as an animator on DVD along with Andersen's fairy tale film adaptation of The Snowman & The Springer.

In the publishing Universal Family was published in 2009 an audiobook edition of Der Tannenbaum and other Winter's Tale (ISBN 9783829105231 ).