http://www.aesopfables.com/cgi/aesop1.cgi?hca&a27snip....
FAR down in the forest, where the warm sun and the fresh
air made a sweet resting-place, grew a pretty little fir-tree;
and yet it was not happy, it wished so much to be tall like
its companions- the pines and firs which grew around it. The
sun shone, and the soft air fluttered its leaves, and the
little peasant children passed by, prattling merrily, but the
fir-tree heeded them not. Sometimes the children would bring a
large basket of raspberries or strawberries, wreathed on a
straw, and seat themselves near the fir-tree, and say, "Is it
not a pretty little tree?" which made it feel more unhappy
than before. And yet all this while the tree grew a notch or
joint taller every year; for by the number of joints in the
stem of a fir-tree we can discover its age. Still, as it grew,
it complained, "Oh! how I wish I were as tall as the other
trees, then I would spread out my branches on every side, and
my top would over-look the wide world. I should have the birds
building their nests on my boughs, and when the wind blew, I
should bow with stately dignity like my tall companions." The
tree was so discontented, that it took no pleasure in the warm
sunshine, the birds, or the rosy clouds that floated over it
morning and evening. Sometimes, in winter, when the snow lay
white and glittering on the ground, a hare would come
springing along, and jump right over the little tree; and then
how mortified it would feel! Two winters passed,...............
You can read the rest of the story at this link
http://www.aesopfables.com/cgi/aesop1.cgi?hca&a27
