December 9
The ambitious man is never where he is. His desire always runs ahead of the hour, and so he lives in none — neither in the one that was, nor in the one to come.
The Characters (freely rendered)
Up in the Attic
The ambitious man is never where he is. His desire always runs ahead of the hour, and so he lives in none — neither in the one that was, nor in the one to come.
In the forest the fir tree had wanted to grow tall. Later it wanted to go away, to a house where candles burned on its branches. When at last it stood there decorated, it was already thinking of the next evening: then it would enjoy everything properly.
The next morning they carried it up to the attic. Mice came to it there. It told them about the forest and about Christmas Eve. The mice marvelled at how beautiful its life had been. As it told them, it thought so too.
One day the mice brought two rats along. The rats didn't like its stories. In the end the mice stayed away as well. Now the tree thought of how lovely it had been when they sat among its branches and listened.
