THE SELFISH FARMER

 

 

Once there lived a farmer who owned a number of gardens and fields in his living place. Among them he liked his garden of fruit trees in it. There were variety of fruits in his garden. He took great care of them.

Daily he used to visit his garden and he counted the fruits in each tree. He noticed that one apple tree had gone barren. He waited for a month to see whether the tree was bearing fruits. But it no longer bore any fruits.

Now, on seeing the apple-tree useless, the farmer decided to cut it down. One morning he came to the garden with an axe and got ready to cut down the apple tree. At that time the birds living on that tree begged the farmer, “Please spare this tree sir.” On hearing this the farmer was surprised to see that there were many birds living in that tree. Though it did not hear fruits it provided shelter to many birds.

 

 

The birds again pleaded the farmer not to cut down the tree. They cried, “If you cut this tree, we will have to go elsewhere. It will deprive you and your fellow men of our merry notes when you are at work here.”

But the selfish farmer didn’t need to the plea of the birds. Instead he had turned a deaf-ear and started to struck down the tree with his axe. A few  strokes of the axe discovered a hollow in the stem of the tree. It had a large honey-comb inside it.

The farmer was delighted at his finding. He threw down his axe and said to himself, “This tree is really worthy. I must not cut it down.”

 

MORAL: MOST MEN GO BY GAIN, NOT BY MORAL.