danced and floated in the air, rejoicing in her delicate wings of gauze and
velvet, rejoicing in the balmy breezes, laden with the fragrance of clover-
fields and wild roses, elder-blossoms and honeysuckle, from the garden
hedges, wild thyme, primroses, and mint, and the scent of all these was so
strong that the perfume almost intoxicated the little fly. The long and
beautiful day had been so full of joy and sweet delights, that when the sun
sank low it felt tired of all its happiness and enjoyment. Its wings could
sustain it no longer, and gently and slowly it glided down upon the soft
waving blades of grass, nodded its little head as well as it could nod, and
slept peacefully and sweetly. The fly was dead.
“Poor little Ephemera!” said the oak; “what a terribly short life!” And so,
on every summer day the dance was repeated, the same questions asked,
and the same answers given. The same thing was continued through many
generations of Ephemera; all of them felt equally merry and equally happy.
The oak remained awake through the morning of spring, the noon of
summer, and the evening of autumn; its time of rest, its night drew nigh-
winter was coming. Already the storms were singing, “Good-night, good-
night.” Here fell a leaf and there fell a leaf. “We will rock you and lull you.
Go to sleep, go to sleep. We will sing you to sleep, and shake you to sleep,
and it will do your old twigs good; they will even crackle with pleasure.
Sleep sweetly, sleep sweetly, it is your three-hundred-and-sixty-fifth night.
Correctly speaking, you are but a youngster in the world. Sleep sweetly, the
clouds will drop snow upon you, which will be quite a cover-lid, warm and
sheltering to your feet. Sweet sleep to you, and pleasant dreams.” And there
stood the oak, stripped of all its leaves, left to rest during the whole of a
long winter, and to dream many dreams of events that had happened in its
life, as in the dreams of men. The great tree had once been small; indeed, in
its cradle it had been an acorn. According to human computation, it was
now in the fourth century of its existence. It was the largest and best tree in
the forest. Its summit towered above all the other trees, and could be seen
far out at sea, so that it served as a landmark to the sailors. It had no idea
how many eyes looked eagerly for it. In its topmost branches the wood-
