THE CAT I don't know what is the matter with them; but things are beginning to look badly.... THE OAK Silence!... What we have to decide is which of us shall have the honour of striking the first blow, who shall ward off from, our tops the greatest danger that has threatened us since the birth of Man.... THE FIR-TREE That honour falls to you, our king and our patriarch.... THE OAK Is that the Fir-tree speaking?... Alas, I am too old!... I am blind and infirm and my numbed arms no longer obey me.... No, to you, brother, ever green, ever upright, to you, who have witnessed the birth of most of these trees, to you be the glory, in default of myself, of the noble act of our deliverance.... THE FIR-TREE I thank you, venerable father.... But as I shall, in any case, have the honour of burying the two victims, I should be afraid of arousing the just jealousy of my colleagues; and I think that, next to ourselves, the oldest and the worthiest and the one that owns the best club is the Beech.... THE BEECH You know I am worm-eaten and my club is no longer to be relied upon.... But the Elm and the Cypress have powerful weapons.... THE ELM I should be only too pleased; but I can hardly stand upright.... A mole twisted my great toe last night.... THE CYPRESS As for me, I am ready.... But, like my brother, the Fir-tree, I shall have, if not the privilege of burying them, at least the advantage of weeping over their tomb.... It would be an unlawful plurality of offices.... Ask the Poplar.... THE POPLAR Me?... Are you serious?... Why, my wood is more tender than the flesh of a child!... And, besides, I don't know what's the matter with me.... I am shivering with fever.... Just look at my leaves.... I must have caught cold at sunrise this morning.... THE OAK (_bursting out with indignation_) You are afraid of Man!... Even those unprotected and unarmed little children inspire you with the mysterious terror which has always made us the slaves that we are!... Enough of this! Things being as they are and the opportunity unequalled, I shall go forth alone, old, crippled, trembling, blind as I am, against the hereditary enemy!... Where is he?... (_Groping with his stick, he moves towards_ TYLTYL.) TYLTYL (_taking his knife from his pocket_) Is it me he's after, that old one, with his big stick?... ALL THE TREES (_uttering a cry of alarm at the sight of the knife, they step in between and hold back the_ OAK) The knife!... Take care!... The knife!... THE OAK (_struggling_) Let me be!... What does it matter?... The knife or the axe!... Who's holding me back?... What! Are you all here?... What! You all want to.... (_Flinging down his_ _stick_) Well, so be it!... Shame upon us!... Let the Animals deliver us!... THE BULL That's right!... I'll see to It!... And with one blow of the horns!...