Once upon a time, two little seeds lived in the soil of a beautiful village.
The people of the village gave them water, took care of them, and the sunlight embraced them like a kind mother.
The seeds gradually sprouted and turned green.
Some time passed. Now the two small seeds had grown into two mighty trees.
One became an apple tree and the other became an orange tree.
It was summertime, and the trees bore fruit abundantly. The orange tree said, “How beautiful my fruit is… I won’t give them to anyone, they are all mine.
” The apple tree said, “But I like to give my fruit to the kind people of our village.” The orange tree asked, “Why? They are on your branches, they are yours, you worked hard to bear fruit!”
The apple tree replied, “But if the people of the village were not here, if they wouldn’t give us water and take care of us, we could never bear fruit… To repay their efforts, we should give them our fruit.”
The villagers moved towards the two trees to pick their fruit.
The apple tree humbly lowered its branches so everyone could easily pick its fruit. The villagers picked the apples.
Then they went to the orange tree to pick its fruit, but it pulled back its branches and did not allow them to pick its fruit.
Days passed… The children only played around the apple tree, and the farmers rested in its shade, but no one went towards the orange tree, and it was left all alone.
Eventually, some of the oranges dried up on the tree, and some fell and rotted. It cried and said, “What do I do now with all this dried and rotten fruit?”
The apple tree said, “You didn’t listen to me!
If you had shared your fruit, this wouldn’t have happened.
” Spring came, and the orange tree didn’t bear much fruit, but the apple tree bore more fruit than the previous spring.
The orange tree was sad and said, “I think I made a mistake… You were right… I should have listened to you.
” The apple tree said, “Yes, my friend, if you had shared your oranges, you would have been even more fruitful than last spring… Don’t think that by giving away your fruit, you lose something…
QUESTION
Why do you think the apple tree bears more fruit than it did last spring?
What do you think would happen if an orange tree shared its fruits?