I went up to the beautiful tree in admiration.

Then suddenly a hundred axes appeared in the air, wielded by unseen hands, and struck the poor tree with such violence that the branches one by one fell to the ground, and at last the trunk itself was felled.

If you think it grieved me you are mistaken.

On the contrary, I was delighted with the flashing hatchets and the flying splinters.

When at last nothing was left but the roots in the tub of earth, I perceived that the tree was rising to new life.