1. Here is another tall tree with tapering trunk. Can this be a spruce or a pine? It is a tree that commands our attention at a distance, and gives character to the whole landscape. It is the tree that forms a great feature in the German forests, and it reigns especially in the famous Black Forest, where all the dwarfs and the elves of the German stories are to be found. I can almost fancy I see one of the little elves now sitting astride one of its cones high in the air. This tree is the Balsam Fir.

2. Reach down some of its leaves, and you will see how they differ from the spruce. They are broader, and look as if they might be formed of two grown together. They are more crowded, too, than those of the spruce. Starting on every side of the stem, they bend upwards where the branch is horizontal, so as to seem to form but two rows, but are pressed together on the upper side. In the bark lies concealed some of the peculiar balsam of the fi r, that spreads a pleasant fragrance. Their beauty arises from the regularity of their symmetrical heads. The trunk, too, is perfectly even and straight, and tapers rapidly to the top.

8. It cuts in upon the landscape with its nearly horizontal branches, giving a picturesque character wherever it appears, Even if some bird or insect has greedily eaten up its leading shoot, which constitutes the pride of all the members of this family, the two buds on either side of the leading bud vie with each other in growing, till they form a double header, and the tree, though not so symmetrical, is equally picturesque. The cones are erect near the ends of the upper branches, tapering a little, with the ends rounded. They stand in great numbers, and with their purple scales look like a cluster of candles on a majestic chandelier.

4. Do not tell me that you have picked its cones, for I shall be forced, though reluctantly, to contradict you. The cones of the pine and the spruce set free the seeds they conceal, which have little wings to carry them out into the world, and then, with all their scales perfect, they drop to the ground. But

in the cones of the fi r the scales and the seeds fall away together, and leave

on the tree only the tapering little spike round which they were formed. Therefore, to find a perfect fir cone you must be adventurous enough to climb the tree, or else cut it down.

5. Which of these trees could we spare from the landscape? If we call the white pine the king of our woods, the hemlock should stand for the queen, and a group of balsam fi r would answer for the princes. The pines and the fi rs stand as sentinels along the lines of the hills, guarding the valleys,—the pines solitary watchmen, the fi rst clambering up in bands, while the hemlock lingers in the woods, or sends its foreign cousins into our gardens and grounds, or the squares and parks of our cities. The Norway spruce, which is very ornamental, and is cultivated in this way, is a cousin of the balsam fi r. Its cones are large and light brown, and pendent. Its leaves differ from those of the cultivated spruces, as they are not arranged so fl atly on the stem, but the leaves are crowded on the twigs, and the twigs on the branches.

6. I must not forget one peculiarity of this pine family: it is, that they have no hesitation about telling their age! The oaks and the maples, the trees of the “truly leaf” sort, are not so outspoken. After they are dead, by their works you can tell their age; after cutting across their trunks, you can count the rings that year after year they have formed round the center. But the pines tell their history as they grow. They form each year a fresh whorl of leaves.

7. Thus each year’s growth is marked between each whorl of branches; so, by counting the stages of branches, you can reckon the life of the tree. And its history is further told by the varying length of the trunk between the branches, or of the branches themselves. If this space is smaller, if the branches are shorter than they should be, or the needles shorter, then you know there was a year of famine, there was a want of rain, or a late frost checked the young buds.

8. To this family, too, belonged the trees of the old coal period. For all the black mines of coal were once stately trees; but ages have passed away, burying them up in earth, far under the ground, changing them from growing trees into stone. What a change indeed! It took such a long, long time, too. Do you think that the pine-wood kindlings that we bring in and lay in the grate to light up the fi re with, reco gni ze their very great-great-grandfathers in the shining black stones of coal that they are to kindle into a fl ame?

9. It is very hard to leave this family. I have told you a very little about three of its principal members. There are, besides, the Arbor Vitae the Cedars, the Juniper, the Cypresses, and the Yew. I shall have to leave them for you to study yourselves. You must go to the sea-shore and look at the Red Cedar, (it belongs to the junipers,) and the Juniper itself, and see how the branches contort themselves against the salt breeze. They are stout fellows. I think they must learn a little of their fi rmness from the great rocks that they clasp with their roots. The needles of the cedar spread themselves out to look like a fan-like leaf, and the juniper puts on purplish berries. Beaten by the winds, they look as if they had lived forever, with their torn trunks and ragged limbs, but they keep ever green still.

10. The juniper-tree is dear to children, from the old German story of the step-mother and the juniper-tree. And they can smell the red cedar, in the wood of the pencils they use. Such a useful family as this is! I must leave you to recall to yourselves how the pines furnish the tall masts for our ships. Far away in the harbors of foreign cities these tall masts stand like another forest. The hemlock and larch furnish bark for tanning. The Indian cuts his canoe from the white spruce. The firs give healing balsams. Pitch, resins, balsams,—these are the spices that fl avor our Northern woods.

11. You see how little I have been able to tell, and how much there is to tell, how much for you to look at and find out for yourselves. You do not know these trees yet; you have only made their acquaintance, and can bow to them when you meet them in the street. If you shake hands with a pine, you can look and see whether he has two, three, or fi ve needles in his sheath, and will know accordingly whether he is red, black, or white pine. But don’t fancy you know a great deal, and “set up” upon it, else you will show you have not got so far as to understand the meaning of the saying, “Very few know how much they must know in order to know how little they know.”

中文阅读

1. 还有一株参天大树，树干尖削。这是云杉或松树吗？这株树大老远就引起了我们的注意，它给这幅美景增添了不少色彩。德国森林以这种树为主要特色，它们统治着德国的森林，尤其是著名的黑森林——德国故事中的小矮人和侏儒都出自黑森林。我觉得自己仿佛看到半空中一个小侏儒现在正高高地骑在球果上。这株树就是香脂冷杉。

2. 伸手从高处摘几片叶子下来，你会发现它们跟云杉的叶子差别有多大。香脂冷杉的叶子更宽，看上去像两片生在一起的。而且，香脂冷杉的叶子比云杉的叶子生得更密集。香脂冷杉枝干的每一侧都生着叶子，叶子朝上弯着，而树枝是水平生长的，看上去就像是两排，但是到了上端，它们又被挤到一起。香脂冷杉的树皮里藏着冷杉特有的香脂，散发出沁人心脾的芳香。它们的美来自它们匀称的树冠那种对称。此外，它们的树干光滑平直，极速尖削着冲向顶端。

3. 香脂冷杉几近水平的树枝在这幅美景中显得尤为突出，只要有冷杉出现的地方，就有美丽如画的风景。这个家族的所有成员都以自己的树冠为傲，就算鸟儿或昆虫贪婪地吃掉它树冠新发的幼芽，树冠两旁的萌芽也会比赛着生长，看谁长得更高，最后形成双冠。而那株冷杉虽然不那么对称了，还是一样的美丽别致。球果竖立着生在上端树枝的末端附近，稍稍有些尖削，末端浑圆。香脂冷杉结出的球果不计其数，它们披着紫色的鳞片，就像一株巨型枝形吊灯上那一簇簇的蜡烛。

4. 别跟我说你捡到过香脂冷杉的球果，因为就算我不情愿，也得反驳你。松树和云杉的球果将里面藏着的种子释放出来，种子长着小小的翅膀，可以随风飞向世界各地。等种子都飞走了，球果才落到地上，鳞片完好无损。但是，冷杉的球果生在尖削的小刺突旁，它落下时带着鳞片和种子一同坠下，枝头只剩那个小刺突。因此，要想找一个完整的冷杉球果，你得冒着风险爬到树上去摘，或者干脆把它砍倒。

5. 从这幅美景中，我们还能选出哪株树？如果我们把白松称为丛林的国王，那铁杉就是丛林的王后，而香脂冷杉就是王子。松树和冷杉就像沿着山边站岗的哨兵，守卫着山谷——松树是孤独的守望者，最先爬上山峦；而铁杉或在丛林中徘徊，或将国外的表亲送进我们的花园和庭院，送进我们城市的广场和公园。十分具有观赏价值的挪威云杉是香脂冷杉的表亲，就是以这样的方式栽培的。它的球果硕大，呈浅棕色，往下垂着。它的叶子不同于栽培云杉的叶子，不是扁平地生在枝干上，而是簇生在小枝上，小枝簇生在树枝上。

6. 松树家族还有一个特性，我可不能忘：它们会毫不迟疑地说出自己的年龄！那些长着“真叶子”的橡树和枫树可不那么坦率直言。你只能在它们死后通过木材的构造说出它们的年龄：把它们的树干锯开，数一数它们的年轮。因为年复一年，它们会从中心长出一圈又一圈年轮。但是，松树活着的时候就会坦率地说出自己的历史年代。它们每年都长出一圈新的枝叶。

7. 就这样，每年的生长情况就标注在每圈树枝中间的那段树干上，你只要数一数有几圈树枝，就可以算出树木的年龄。此外，从每圈树枝中间不同的树干长度或树枝本身的不同长度还可以看出它的生长历史。如果哪圈树枝之间的树干长度较短，或者这圈树枝比正常情况下更短，或者树枝上的松针比较短，那你就可以得出结论：这一年要么闹了饥荒，要么雨水不足，要么嫩芽遭了晚霜。

8. 这个家族也属于古老的聚煤期树种。所有黑色的煤矿都曾经是威严的参天大树，然而，时代变迁，将它们深深埋入地下，将它们从活生生的大树变成石头。世事真是无常！当然，沧海桑田的过程也十分漫长。你觉得，我们抱进屋子、放入火炉、点燃火焰的松木引火物，能认出它们将要点燃的那些闪闪发亮的黑色煤石中它们的曾曾曾祖父吗？

9. 离开这个家族真的很难。我只跟你讲了它最主要的三个成员，也只讲了一丁点儿。除了这三名成员，这个家族还有侧柏、雪松、杜松、柏树和紫杉。我要把这些树种留给你自己去研究。你应该到海滨去看看红雪松（属于杜松的一种），去看看香柏，看看那些树枝是怎样扭弯了自己对抗海风的。它们都是矮胖结实的家伙。它们根部紧紧抱着巨大的岩石，我想，它们肯定从脚下岩石那里学到了一点儿坚固的品性。雪松的松针伸展开来，就像一把扇叶，而杜松长出略带紫色的浆果。海风肆虐，而它们似乎一直都活着，尽管它们树干撕裂，枝干参差，却一直都保持着苍翠的身姿。

10. 对孩子们来说，杜松十分亲切，他们听过关于继母和杜松的德国老故事。孩子们还能嗅出红雪松的味道，他们用的铅笔杆就取材于红雪松。这个家族用处真是太多了，我应该让你自己去回忆一下我们船舶上那些用松木打造的高耸的桅杆。在遥远的异乡都市，那些高耸的桅杆俨然就是一片森林。铁杉和落叶松可以提供鞣革用的树皮。印第安人用白云杉制造独木舟。冷杉会生长出用于治病的香脂。沥青、树脂、香脂的气息充溢着我们北部的丛林。

11. 我能说的太少太少，要说的还有很多很多，留待你自己观察研究的也还有很多很多。你还不了解这些树；你只认得个大概，走在大街上的时候，你可以弯下腰对它们鞠躬。如果你跟松树握握手，就能看到它一个叶鞘里有几枚松针，两枚、三枚还是五枚，从而知道它是红松、黑松还是白松。但是，可别以为自己懂得很多，去“卖弄”自己的所知，否则你就会露拙，显示自己不懂那个俗语的意思：“很少有人知道，为了了解自己的所知多么微不足道，他们必须要知道多少东西。” xFo/S7EOuvpSKGxc9kHfP94q3u4NDOm18EbKuDlgtkpCipOu3nkHubyQv49oH2GP