The Magic Tree [antikvár]

THE INVINCIBLE FOREST I'll begin by telling you a story that I heard from the trees themselves. They say there once lived a wicked sorcerer who was so evil-tempered that he hated even himself, so you can imagine how he hated others. The longer he lived, the more nasty he became. Once he went for a walk in the forest and, looking at the trees there, turned red with fury. "How dared you grow taller than I?!" he stormed. Then he called the Wind and commanded: "Swoop down on the trees and make them fall!" The Wind swept down on the forest and started to blow with all its might. All day long it battled with the trees, all day long it tried to make them fall. But the minute it slackened, the trees straightened up again. By evening the Wind was tired out and implored the sorcerer: "I've no more strength left. Please let me go." Then the wicked sorcerer turned to the Frost for aid. "Be a good fellow and freeze those trees to death for me, will you?" The Frost did its very best, and made the weather so cold that it got the flu itself. But the trees were none the worse for it. Then the evil old man remembered about the greedy caterpillars. "They are just the ones to help me!" he exclaimed overjoyed. But the trees did not wait for the caterpillars to eat their leaves. They put out a reliable guard and drove the greedy caterpillars away.