The Anxious Leaf
Once upon a time a little leaf was
heard to sigh and cry, as leaves often do when a gentle wind is about. And the twig said, "What
is the
matter, little leaf?" And the leaf said, "The
wind just told me that one
day it would pull me off and throw me down to die on the
ground!"
The twig told it to the branch
on which it grew, and the branch told it
to the tree. And when the tree heard it, it rustled all
over, and sent
back word to the leaf, "Do not be afraid. Hold on
tightly, and you shall
not go till you want to."
And so the leaf stopped sighing, but went on nestling
and singing. Every
time the tree shook itself and stirred up all its leaves,
the branches
shook themselves, and the little twig shook itself, and
the little leaf
danced up and down merrily, as if nothing could ever pull
it off. And so
it grew all summer long, till October.
And when the bright days of autumn
came the little leaf saw all the
leaves around becoming very beautiful. Some were yellow
and some
scarlet, and some striped with both colors. Then it asked
the tree what
it meant. And the tree said, "All these leaves are
getting ready to fly
away, and they have put on these beautiful colors because
of joy."
Then the little leaf began to
want to go, too, and grew very beautiful
in thinking of it, and when it was very gay in color it
saw that the
branches of the tree had no bright color in them, and so
the leaf said, "O branches! why are you lead-color
and we golden?"
"We must keep on our work-clothes,
for our life is not done - but your
clothes are for holiday, because your tasks are over," said
the
branches.
Just then a little puff of wind came, and the leaf let
go, without
thinking of it, and the wind took it up and turned it over
and over, and
whirled it like a spark of fire in the air, and then it
dropped gently
down under the edge of the fence, among hundreds of leaves,
and fell
into a dream, and it never waked up to tell what it dreamed
about. |
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