വി. പി. എസ്. ഹയർസെക്കന്ററി സ്കൂൾ വെങ്ങാനൂർ/അക്ഷരവൃക്ഷം/THE SINGING FIR TREE
THE SINGING FIR TREE
Once upon a time there lived a wood Carver in a village in Switzerland. He was highly skilled at carving sacred figures.There was a church nearby his house. One evening the church bell rang for an hour of prayer as usual. At that time the wood Carver heard someone singing along with the clang of bells. He wondered who was this singer. He thought that the song came from the nearby dense forest. The singing stopped as soon as the church bell stopped ringing. The next day also the same incident happened.The anxious wood Carver asked his neighbors whether they heard the song. The other villagers admitted that they had. The wood Carver was determined to solve the mystery .Next day during the prayer time he heard the song, he climbed the hill and proceeded to the forest where he saw a big fir tree which was hundreds of years old and the song came from that tree. When the tree fell silent, the wood Carver ran to the village and told the others about this mystery. The wood Carver visited the tree everyday.He became obsessed with the idea of making a carving out of it. It would be the most magnificent figure he had ever carved. The priests of the church and villagers agreed to have the tree cut. The woodcutters were sad as they sawed through the magnificent tree. They dragged it down to the valley with the help of horses. The master Carver cut himself a huge block from the heart of the tree and made a statue of Virgin Mary by working day and night without food or sleep. At last the work was completed and people from distant lands came to see the figure of the Holy Mother from wood. People gasped in admiration at the masterpiece and declared that no artist had ever made Mary look so beautiful and live. The wood Carver presented the figure to the church. The priest took it and placed it on the altars as the people watched in silent awe. Then suddenly the wooden figure of Mary opened it's mouth and once more the stirring tones of the fir tree were heard.The people stood rooted to the ground as they heard the sweet song. But that was the last time the fir tree ever sang.
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