"'Then I'll tell the gardener that he shall not cut the tree
down,' said I."

"'No, no,' said the dear Gabriel, 'that will never do, for if
the tree is not cut down here on the earth, it can never be
planted in paradise.'

Here Brother John stopped short in his story, and began singing
one of his crazy songs, as he gazed with his pale eyes far away
into nothing at all.

"But tell me, Brother John," said little Otto, in a hushed
voice, "what else did the good Angel say to thee?"

Brother John stopped short in his song and began looking from
right to left, and up and down, as though to gather his wits.

"So!" said he, "there was something else that he told me. Tschk!
If I could but think now. Yes, good! This is it - 'Nothing that
has lived,' said he, 'shall ever die, and nothing that has died
shall ever live.'

Otto drew a deep breath. "I would that I might see the beautiful
Angel Gabriel sometime," said he; but Brother John was singing
again and did not seem to hear what he said.

Next to Brother John, the nearest one to the little child was
the good Abbot Otto, for though he had never seen wonderful
things with the eyes of his soul, such as Brother John's had