The Last Dream of the Old Oak

by Hans Christian Andersen

"The Last Dream of the Old Oak Tree", or "Det gamle egetræs sidste drøm" is a children's fantasy story by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. It was first published in 1858. 
"At the edge of the wood, on a cliff above the seashore, stood an old oak tree. It was three hundred and sixty-five years old. But years to a tree are like days to us."
Another Christmas Classic by Ali RIbelli Edizioni.

Genres: Short Stories, Fantasy, Childrens, Fiction, Classics, Christmas

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1858

About the author

Hans Christian Andersen (often referred to in Scandinavia as H.C. Andersen) was a Danish author and poet. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, Andersen is best remembered for his fairy tales. Andersen's popularity is not limited to children; his stories — called eventyr, or "fairy-tales" — express themes that transcend age and nationality.

Andersen's fairy tales, which have been translated into more than 125 languages, have become culturally embedded in the West's collective consciousness, readily accessible to children, but presenting lessons of virtue and resilience in the face of adversity for mature readers as well. Some of his most famous fairy tales include "The Little Mermaid", "The Ugly Duckling", "The Nightingale", "The Emperor's New Clothes" and many more. His stories have inspired plays, ballets, and both live-action and animated films.

Reviews

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

First published in 1858 by none other than Hans Christian Anderson, ‘The Last Dream of the Old Oak’ is a beautiful story about the life of an old oak tree that has stood at the edge of a wood, on a cliff above the seashore for 365 years. The oak had seen much in his life and was a landmark for sailors from around the world.

This was beautiful, with many touching moments, not least where a tiny insect lands on one of his leaves and the old oak expresses sorrow, because the insect only has a lifecycle of just one day. However, the tiny insect argues that they do have the same time to live, only they reckon it differently. "You may have thousands of my days, but I have thousands of moments in which I can be merry and happy”. Delightful!

[Lily]

Note to self: playing Russian roulette with a Hans Christian Andersen collection, by opening it to a random page and reading whichever story you land on, is not a good idea unless you have the time and energy for a good cry. Not even if you see the lighthearted subtitle of "A Christmas Story". If anything, Andersen is here to paint an expansive vision of the day that turns everyday occurrences into something heartbreaking. It's a fairytale that seems to have sprung from the head of Father Zosima from The Brothers Karamazov. (For the Word is for all creation and all creatures, every little life is striving towards the Word, sings glory to God, weeps to Christ, unbeknowest to itself, doing so through the mystery of its sinless life.)

It also surprised me that Andersen seems to have been thinking about a question that scientists have recently thought about too: do all animals perceive time in the same way? Andersen plays with a notion of time that seems almost like an optical illusion, taking on vastly different shapes when viewed from different angles - a notion that might not be far from the truth.

"Well then," said the little fly. "We have the same time to live, only we reckon differently."

[Bionic Jean · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Old Oak Tree's Last Dream "The Last Dream of the Old Oak Tree", or "Det gamle egetræs sidste drøm" is a children's fantasy story by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. It was first published in 1858.

"At the edge of the wood, on a cliff above the seashore, stood an old oak tree. It was three hundred and sixty-five years old. But years to a tree are like days to us."

We humans are awake in the day but asleep at night, whereas trees stay awake through three seasons of the year and sleep through the winter. All through the summer, the oak tree was happy, and felt sad for its friend, the mayfly, whom it knew would only live for one day. How sad it was, the oak tree thought, that the mayfly only had this one day to appreciate all the beauty in the world. But the mayfly would argue,

"Everything is perfect. It's so warm and lovely and I'm quite happy ... You may live thousands of my days, but I have thousands of moments to be happy in. Do you think all the beauty in the world will die when you do?"

It feels exactly the same to a mayfly, the mayfly points out, as the oak tree's span of life feels to it. The oak tree sighs, but does not understand. It repeats this same conversation time and time again, all through the summer, with each generation of mayflies, and they all feel the same way.

As the seasons pass, winter approaches, and the oak tree prepares to sleep for the winter. This time, at Christmas, it has its loveliest dream. In the dream the oak tree knows it is a special day. The church bells ring and despite the time of year, the weather is warm and balmy, as if it was summer. The oak tree begins reliving its life through the dream. Time passes, and the oak tree grows taller and deeper, as it sees every person who ever wandered by, and every plant which ever grew around him. The oak tree marvels at being able to see all the life it has ever known in this one ephemeral moment, and questions how it is possible,

"It was a moment of pure joy."

The answer comes that it is possible in heaven. The oak tree looks down and feels its roots slip from the earth. As it stretches further up, its roots are freed from the ground and the tree floats towards the sky,

"There's nothing to hold me back. I can fly up into the light and the glory, and all that I loved is with me."

Simultaneously, in the Earthly world, a great storm is raging. The wind tears the oak tree up by the roots, and it falls to the ground.

"Its three hundred and sixty-five days are now as a day is to the mayfly."

The tree lies dead, at the foot of the cliff.

Some sailors who survived the storm look over from their ship to the coast, where the oak tree used to grow. They are sad to see it has gone, as they had used it as a landmark for many years. Nothing could replace it. "There's not another like it," they say sorrowfully. They then sing a Christmas carol, and everyone in the ship is uplifted in his own way, by prayer,

"That was the old tree's funeral sermon - short but heartfelt."

This is one of Hans Christian Andersen's very poignant stories. I felt the ending was very downbeat, although for some adults of course the message may be of eternal optimism and hope. It reflects the author's strong Christian beliefs.

I felt that the early theme of the story was clear for children. It is already quite a profound one to grasp, without the additional difficult one, which necessitates such a sad ending. I know that others may disagree, however.

Touching three stars, in my opinion, for the wonderful imagery and general idea of the story.

[Margot Meanders · Rating 4 out of 5]

"You may have thousands of my days, but I have thousands of moments in which I can be merry and happy. Does all the beauty of the world cease when you die?"

A beautiful, poetic take on beauty and shortness of life. A reflective story and a favourite.

[Gem ✿Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ✿ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this short story, I think it reminds us to look for the beauty regardless of our circumstances. It's all a matter of perspective.

[Vaishali · Rating 2 out of 5]

Despite the thoughtful quote below, this just didn't hold my interest :(

“ We wake by day and sleep by night, and then we have our dreams. It is different with the tree; it is obliged to keep awake through three seasons of the year and does not get any sleep till winter comes. Winter is its time for rest—its night after the long day of spring, summer, and autumn.>”

[K. Anna Kraft · Rating 3 out of 5]

I tried to arrange my thoughts on this short story into a haiku:

"The fullness of life
Isn't in longevity,
So much as joy felt."

[anemoska · Rating 5 out of 5]

𝑶𝒏 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒂 𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒎 𝒔𝒖𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒓, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑬𝒑𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒂, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒆𝒙𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒂 𝒅𝒂𝒚, 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒇𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒐𝒂𝒌, 𝒆𝒏𝒋𝒐𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒇, 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕, 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒚 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒉 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒔𝒂𝒚, “𝑷𝒐𝒐𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆! 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒚. 𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒕. 𝑰𝒕 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒚.”

“𝑴𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒚! 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏?” 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒍𝒚. “𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒐 𝒘𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒎, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒖𝒍, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒎𝒆 𝒋𝒐𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒔.”

“𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓.”

“𝑶𝒗𝒆𝒓!” 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒍𝒚; “𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓? 𝑨𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐𝒐?”

“𝑵𝒐; 𝑰 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒂𝒚𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈; 𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒌𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒕.”

“𝑵𝒐? 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒅𝒂𝒚𝒔, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚. 𝑫𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒄𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒊𝒆?”

“𝑵𝒐,” 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒆; “𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓,— 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒐𝒇.”

“𝑾𝒆𝒍𝒍, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏,” 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒇𝒍𝒚, “𝒘𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆; 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒌𝒐𝒏 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒚.”
_____________________

OKAY. I don't know if this is going to be an objective review but that's okay. Tbh, I DON'T READ A LOT OF SHORT STORIES FOR THE PAST YEARS, however, I think this yet TO BE THE BEST SHORT STORY I HAVE EVER READ this far that made me shed tears. TWICE. That's right. Hans Andersen's preference of words to this story was simply captivating and very nostalgic to me, especially when you have immense interest in nature that simply makes you realize how fortunate you are to live. Both reading and listening to its audiobook is the best thing that ever happened to me this winter.

[Amelia Bujar · Rating 2 out of 5]

FULL REVIEW ON MY WEBSITE
https://thebookcornerchronicles.com/2...

I gotta be honest here and say that after reading all of the stories written by Hans Christian Andersen, this one wasn’t the best.

This story doesn’t have any moral, reading it as an adult isn’t as fun as it would be for a child.

All of the characters here was pretty flat, but it is acceptable because it is a short story which means we don’t have a lot of time to get to know the characters in it

The writing style here was okay. But I can’t say a lot about it because it is a short story so of course we don’t get a lot here.

[grimseilah☆ · Rating 4 out of 5]

(i'm doing research for a side project)

it's a fairy tale alright, very simple and to the point in its own flowery way, that really makes me think about how much prose has grown in these almost two centuries later. and wonder if this is a growth i really appreciate for how often pretty language's been used to distract from stories with little to no foundation or one that is thoroughly terrible... and how that's even a common complaint now, maybe we need a bit of a return to basics?

[Gabingy · Rating 1 out of 5]

💠 Leído en físico

Voy a ser muy sincera, este cuento lo siento como un "El hada del saúco" parte II. No tengo mucho que decir del cuento porque, al igual que el anterior, ya no lo recuerdo. Incluso ni siquiera sé si puede ser catalogado como un cuento porque su estilo es más descriptivo, reflexivo y hasta filosófico. No puedo decir más, es un escrito que no resonó conmigo.

[Monika]

HCA Classic Fairy Tales

[Elinor Loredan]

This one has astounding imagery and points to the resurrection as well as the emptiness of joy without those we love to share it with.

[Sophie Bowns · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful!

[Sofía · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quiero estar en un bosque descrito por él.

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't enjoy this one as much but I might just be too tired to full /understand/ it

[Kelly Ewing · Rating 5 out of 5]

The poor dream, at least he passed with happy thoughts. its a shame he didnt know how he had affected the people around him.

[chris :) · Rating 3 out of 5]

again, for a short story, i couldn't get too into this. but i liked its discussion about life and the beauty we can find even in life's briefness.

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great short story about enjoying life in the moment from a 400 year old tree compared to a day old mayfly.

[Michel Gavran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful Christmas story of hope and dreams. Loved how Oak tree wished for all those moments he experienced in his many years to be present and how writer saw this as symbolism of heaven.

[Lia]

Traditional Lit #7

The Last Dream of the Old Oak was about a very old oak tree, 365 years to be precise, that saw the seasons change year after year. He asked a fly that landed on one of his branches one day what it's like to live only one day, and the fly told him it's not about the time you live but the moments to get to witness during it. The oak then had a dream that he grew tall enough to be above the clouds and got to witness everything beautiful that he missed.