Part - I

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 tree top, ate the apples, took a nap under the shadow... He 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 everyday. One day, the boy came back to the tree and he looked sad. "Come and play with me," the tree asked the boy.

"I am no longer a kid; I don't play around trees anymore." The boy replied, "I want toys. I need money to buy them." "Sorry, but I don't have money... but you can pick all my apples and sell them. So, you will have money." The boy was so excited. He grabbed all the apples on the tree and left happily. The boy never came back after he picked the apples. The tree was sad. One day, the boy returned and the tree was so excited. "Come and play with me" the tree said. "I don't have time to play. I have to work for my family. We need a house for shelter. Can you help me?" "Sorry, but I don't have a house. However, you can chop off my branches to build your house. The boy cut all the branches of the tree and left happily. The tree was glad to see him happy but the boy never came back since then.

The tree was again lonely and sad. One hot summer day, the boy returned and the tree was delighted. Come and play with me!" the tree said. "I am sad and getting old. I want to go sailing to relax myself. Can you give me a boat?" "Use my trunk to build your boat. You can sail far away and be happy." So, the boy cut the tree trunk to make a boat. He went sailing and never showed up for a long time. Finally, the boy returned after he left for so many years. "Sorry, my boy. But I don't have anything for you anymore. No more apples for you." the tress said.

"I don't have teeth to bite" the boy replied. "No more trunk for you to climb on". "I am too old for that now" the boy said. "I really can't give you anything ... the only thing left is my dying roots," the tree said with tears. "I don't need much now, just a place to rest. I am tired after all these years." The boy replied. "Good! Old tree roots are the best place to lean on and rest. Come, sit down with me and rest." The boy sat down and the tree was glad and smiled with tears...

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* Contributed by -
Murli Menon, is the President of phenoMenon consultants Inc, Ahmedabad, which conducts stress management workshops for senior managers based on Indian, Buddhist, Zen & Tibetan scriptures. He is also the author of "ZeNLP-the power to succeed" (available at amazon.com).