It was the week before Christmas. A bitterly cold, stormy wind howled mercilessly across the land. In the middle of a row of fields that stretched along a road, there was a fenced-in meadow with lots of magnificent fir trees. They ranged from large to small, from thick to thin. In the middle of the meadow stood a small fir tree. As fate would have it, it did not grow any taller or as magnificent as its friends. On the contrary, it remained small and dainty. However, believe it or not, it was the most beautiful Christmas tree of all.
One day, two cars stopped in front of the meadow. A tall man got out of the car, followed by a family. From the stories of the other fir trees, the little fir tree knew that the time had come: when the people arrived, the fir trees would leave the meadow one by one to take a warm place in the living rooms of the families and celebrate a merry feast with them. The tall man opened the gate and entered the meadow with the others. The fir trees began to shout wildly.
"Take me, I'm so big and magnificent," cried one of the fir trees.
"No, take me, I'm so high and mighty," shouted another.
Each of them wanted to show off their best side. Everyone knew that only one of them could win over the family.
The family slowly wandered through the rows of Christmas trees, inspecting each one. Until they reached the little Christmas tree. The little Christmas tree was beaming and made itself as big as it could.
The daughter of the family called out: "Dad, why don't we take this Christmas tree?"
For a few seconds, the father checked the little Christmas tree carefully. The little Christmas tree was literally bursting with excitement.
"Will I get a home now?" he asked himself.
But after a few moments, the father shook his head: "I'm sorry my darling, but this one is too small, we need a big magnificent tree."
With these words, the family walked past the little Christmas tree. The little fir tree looked sadly to the ground.
"Don't be sad little Christmas tree, you'll find another family," his neighbor cheered him up. A few minutes later, the little Christmas tree heard the joyful cries of one of his colleagues, who was taken home by the family.
And so the days before Christmas passed: crowds of families walked through the rows in search of their Christmas tree. Again and again, the little Christmas tree hoped that it would be the chosen one, but in vain. Again and again the families stood in front of him and admired him, but instead of him they took another Christmas tree. Their reasons were either that it was too small or too delicate. The meadow emptied more and more until the day came when the penultimate tree was taken away. The little fir tree looked dejectedly after his friend. Now he stood alone in the huge meadow. The wind whipped mercilessly through its branches. He lost all hope of ever standing in a warm living room and experiencing Christmas. The days went by when no one entered the meadow and the little Christmas tree stood alone and sad in the middle of the meadow. Hope seemed lost.
"Nobody wants me. Why would they want such a small tree?" sniffled the little Christmas tree.
But on Christmas morning, when the little Christmas tree had already given up hope, he saw two cars stop in front of the meadow. A little girl jumped out of the car and ran to the fence, followed by her parents. The tall man who owned the meadow opened the gate and let his customers in. The little fir tree looked at the family for a moment, but didn't pay them much attention as he was convinced that he would still be standing here at the end of the day. The little girl was the first to reach the little Christmas tree. She stood in front of the tree with a friendly smile. A few seconds later, the adults also reached the little Christmas tree.
"You really weren't exaggerating. The Christmas tree is really very small," said the father of the family. "Small, but beautiful," added the mother.
"Nobody wanted the little tree, even though it was the most beautiful of all. I was expecting it to be the first thing someone would take," said the owner.
"The tree is really small. I don't know if it's what we're looking for," replied the father of the family.
The little girl, who had been standing quietly in front of the small Christmas tree the whole time, started to giggle.
"Mom, Dad look, the tree is as big as me. Can we take it with us? Please!!!!"
The father looked uncertainly at his wife. Little Tannenbaum, who had been more or less following the events the whole time, remembered the first day when all his friends were still there and had fought for the family. He stood up confidently and hoped that he would finally get a home. The parents exchanged a few glances until the father turned to the salesman and said: "We'll take him."
And so the little Christmas tree lived to see a human Christmas after all.
