Creative Association "Ekran"
Hans Christian Andersen THE LITTLE FIR TREE
A glorious little fir tree stood in the forest.
The place where she stood was good - the sun warmed her,
and there was plenty of fresh air.
All round her grew numbers of larger comrades, both firs and pines;
but the little fir was in a great hurry to grow.
"Oh, if I were only a big tree like the others," sighed the little tree,
"then I could spread my branches far out round me
and look out into the wide world with my top!"
And she found no joy in either the sun, nor the birds,
nor in the scarlet clouds that, morning and evening, sailed over her.
Thus passed several years.
Every fall, the woodcutters came into the woods to cut down the biggest trees.
"Do you know where they are taken to?" the tree asked a stork that had flown in.
"Perhaps I do know", said the stork
"When I flew out from Egypt, I met
many new ships with magnificent masts.
I daresay it was them; they smelt of pine.
Many's the time I saluted them. They carried their heads high,
very high!"
"Oh, I do wish I was big enough to fly over the sea too!" sighed the tree.
"You should rejoice in your youth," said the sunbeams.
The wind caressed the tree and the dew shed its tears on her,
But she did not understand that.
When it was winter, very young trees were cut down in the forest.
"Where are they going?" asked the tree, "Where are they being driven?"
"We know where they go," the sparrows twittered.
"We have been in town and peeped through the windows."
"They come in for brilliance and glory greater than you can imagine!
They're planted in the middle of a warm room
and decorated with toys and hundreds of candles.
"And then?" asked the tree.
"Then what?"
"We didn't see any more, but it was marvellous!"
"Maybe I, too, am destined to follow that shining path?" rejoiced the tree.
"Oh, how I yearn, how I yearn...
...to know what will become of me!"
Day passed after day, week after week.
And the tree grew and grew,
And all those who saw her, said, "what a wonderful tree!"
At Christmas time, she was the first of all to be felled.
She awoke when she heard a voice say:
"Tonight she will shine."
"Ah!" thought the Christmas tree, "Let the evening come soon!"
The tree dared not even tremble.
Oh, how terrible it was!
How afraid she was of losing any of her finery!
How astounded she was by all this glitter!
"What are they doing?" thought the tree.
"What will happen next?"
"A story! A story!" cried the children.
And a stout little man told them, the story of Humpty Dumpty,
who tumbled downstairs,
but all the same attained honor
and got himself married to the Princess.
"Yes, yes, sometimes that's the way things go in the world!"
thought the little fir tree and she believed that it was all true,
because it was told by such a nice little man.
And she was glad that the next day they would decorate her again
with candles, toys, gold and fruit.
"Now the dressing will begin again!" rejoiced the tree.
Many days and nights passed,
but no one came to the attic.
"What does that mean?" thought the tree.
"What am I to do here?"
"What can I listen to here?"
"Where do you come from, old tree?" asked the mice.
"I am not at all old," replied the tree.
"There are many trees much older than me."
"Do tell us about the loveliest place in the world.
Have you been there?"
"Have you ever been in the storeroom,
where there are cheeses lying on the shelves and bacon hanging from the ceiling?"
"Where you go in thin, and come out fat?"
"I do not know of such a place," said the tree.
"But I know the forest, where the sun shines and the birds sing."
And she told them all about her own youth.
About how she had been decked out with cakes and candles.
And about Humpty Dumpty, the only story she had heard and memorized word for word.
"Oh, what a lot you've seen!"
"Oh, how happy you've been!" said the mice.
"Happy?" repeated the tree and thought.
"Yes, after all... those were merry days,
But they'll come back! They'll come back!
I'll definitely not miss a chance to be merry
when I am once again taken out into the light!"
"Well, this must be the beginning of a new life," thought the tree.
"Now I'll really start to live!" she rejoiced.
And the fir tree regretted not having stayed in her dark corner of the attic.
She thought of her fresh youth in the forest,
and of the merry Christmas Eve,
and the frisky little mice
who had so enjoyed listening to what she told them.
"Oh, if only I had enjoyed it while I could," said the poor tree.
written & directed by Anatoliy Solin art director Inna Pshenichnaya camera V. Milovanov
music Viktor Babushkin sound Nelli Kudrina narrated by A. Batalov
background artist Igor Mednik animators N, Bazeltseva, V. Sporykhin, S. Sichkar, S. Petetsky
montage L. Rudan script editor V. Medvedovskaya production director L. Barentsova
The End Subs: Aleksandr, Eus, M.R. James, Niffiwan Creative Association for USSR TV, 1984