Into a great tree a small worm did go   It wormed it's way inwards and soon it did grow   The tree was unhappy but what could it do?    It stood there in silence: the worm grew and grew   The tree was unhappy but what could it say   The worm kept on growing the tree sank away      The worm was so greedy it ate more each day   And each day it ate more the tree shrank away   The worm was so loathsome it felt no disgrace   The birds had been silenced the sun shunned that place   And all of the forest grew fearful to see   What terrible fate lay in store for the tree      The worm grew so monstrous it's greed knew no bounds   The smell was so awful if poisoned the ground   And all of the creatures that lived in the wood   Were sickened and starving the worm spoiled their food   The birds would not sing and the sun could not shine   The forest lay dirty and blackened with grime      Now down in the forest a young man went riding   He passed by the great tree and saw it was dying   The leaves and the bark were all rotten and rife   The tree had been poisoned and drained for it's life   He stripped of a piece of the bark of the tree   And straight'way he know what the right cure should be      The man built a fire and chopped down the tree   The worm started screaming it could not break free   It trashed and it lashed but it could net break loose   Trapped in that tree like a thief in a noose   The worm burst asunder a vile smelling crust   He hacked it to pieces and burnt it to dust      The forest seemed clearer and peacful at last   Like after a storm when the rainclouds have passed   And although the great tree was fallen and dead   They knew from the ashes a new life would spread   Yes although the great tree had fallen and died   They knew from the ashes a new one would thrive      Now years may have passed since the tale I have told   Yet the truth of this story does still seem to hold   Although from a great tree a small worm may grow   That eats it with poison and tortures it's soul   The worm can be killed yet the tree be not dead   For from the roots of the elder a new life will spread