The Tree and a Boy: A Story About Parents
~ Author Unknown ~
 |
| inmagine.com |
There was a very young boy, who used
to spend time playing by a tree. One day he got bored and he said to the tree,
"I'm bored, I've played with these toys too many times!" The tree
replied, "OK, you can climb up on me and play on my branches." The
boy got really happy with this suggestion and he had a lot of fun playing and
sitting high up, on the branches of the tree.
When he started school, he spent more
time away from the tree, but one day he came back to it, and the tree was
overjoyed to see its young companion, and it encouraged him to climb on, but he
refused. "My clothes are going to get dirty if I climb up on you." So
the tree thought for a while, and said, "OK, bring a rope and tie it to
me, and you can use my branches as a swing." The boy liked that idea, so
he did that too, and would come back every other day to sit for a while on that
swing. Whenever he used to get hot, the tree told him to rest in its shade.
As he got older, and moved on to
college, times became harder on him and he ran short of food, so he went back
to the tree which he had stopped visiting for a long time. The tree recognized
him immediately and welcomed him, but he was hungry and complained to the tree,
"I don’t have any food to eat; my stomach is cringing with hunger."
So the tree said, "Pull down my branches and take off the fruit, and fill
yourself up." The young guy didn’t even hesitate, but jumped up and tore
off one of the smaller branches and ate to his fill. Over the weeks, he tore
off all the branches and ate all the fruit.
After the fruits had all gone, he
went away and didn’t come back to the tree. When he reached his middle ages, he
came back to the tree and said to it, "I have been very successful in
life. I have earned a lot of money, I have a huge house and I have found a
great wife. Now I want to travel and see the world." The tree was now very
old, but to help its longtime companion, it didn’t wait, and said, "Bring
a saw, cut off my trunk and make a boat. Then you will see the wonders of the
world." So again, without hesitation the man cut down the tree. The same
tree which he had played on, ate its fruit, laid in its shade; he cut it down
and made a boat. As soon as it was finished, he sailed away and wasn’t seen by
his people again.
One day, an old man, walked past the
tree. It hadn’t recovered from the time he had cut it down. He went up to the
tree, but didn’t say anything. He felt the tears coming down from his eyes.
This time the tree spoke in a faint voice, "I'm sorry. I don’t have a
trunk for you to climb, nor fruit for you to eat, nor branches of shade for you
to lie in. All I have now are my deep roots." The old man whispered,
"That's fine. Tree roots are the best place to lie down, snuggle up and
sleep after a long life."
The tree symbolizes our parents, and
the boy symbolizes us. The moral of the story is that we use our parents
like tissue paper, and use them all up, and don’t even give thanks, but
they stay with us till the very end.
-------------------------
Have a good, interesting, inspiring
story? Let me know!
Smile, Laugh and Enjoy Your Day!!
-------------------------
Note: In addition to writing my own blogs / stories, I also like to search for
stories and other inspiring / motivating / encouraging things from around the
World Wide Web. If you see an article or story that you have written and want
it removed, please feel free to let me know. I do try to give credit to the
people and/or web sites that I find the information when I can.
