The Boy and the Apple Tree
A long time ago, there was a huge apple tree. A little boy loved to come and play around it everyday. He climbed to the treetop, ate the apples, and took a nap under the shadow.
The boy loved the tree and the tree loved to play with him. Time went by, the little boy had grown up and he no longer played around the tree every day.
One day, the boy came back to the tree and he looked sad. “Come and play with me,” the tree invited the boy to cheer him up.
“No, I am no longer a kid. I do not play around trees anymore” the boy replied. “I want toys. I need money to buy them.”
“Sorry, but I do not have money. Ummm, but you can pick all my apples and sell them. So, you will have money.”
The boy was excited. He grabbed all the apples on the tree and left happily. The boy never came back after he had picked all the apples. The tree was sad.
One day, the boy, who now turned into a man, returned and the tree was excited. “Come and play with me!” the tree said.
“I do not have time to play. I have to work for my family. We need a house for shelter. Can you help me?”
“Sorry, but I do not have any house. Umm, but you can chop off my branches to build your house.”
So the man cut all the branches of the tree and left happily. The tree was glad to see the young man happy, but the man never came back since then. The tree was again lonely and sad.
Then, one hot summer day the man returned and the tree was delighted. “Come and play with me!” the tree said.
“I am getting old. I want to go sailing to relax myself. Can you give me a boat?” the man asked.
“Use my trunk to build your boat.
You can sail far away and be happy.”
So the man cut the tree trunk to make a boat. He went sailing and never showed up for a very long time. Finally, after so many years the man returned.
“Sorry, my boy,” the tree said apologetically. “But I do not have anything for you anymore. No more apples for you.”
“No problem, I do not have any teeth to bite anymore,” the now ageing man replied.
“I have no more trunk for you to climb on.”
“I am too old to climb now,” the man said.
“But I really cannot give you anything,” the tree tearfully tried to explain. “The only thing left of me are my dying roots.”
“I do not need much now, just a place to rest. I am tired after all these years,” the man replied wearily.
“Good! Old tree roots are the best place to lean on and rest, come sit down with me and rest.” The man sat down and the tree was glad and smiled affectionately.
This is a story of everyone. The tree is like our parents. When we were young, we loved to play with Mom and Dad. When we grow up, we leave them; only come to them when we need something or when we are in trouble. No matter what, our parents will always be there and give everything they could just to make us happy.
You may think the boy is cruel to the tree, but that is how all of us treat our parents. We take them for granted; we usually are not grateful for their efforts for us – until it’s too late.