and left happily. The tree was glad to see him happy but the man didn’t return afterwards. The tree was again lonely and sad. One hot summer day, the man 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 man cut the tree trunk to make a boat. He went sailing and didn’t return for a long time. Finally, the man returned after he had been gone for many years. “Sorry, my boy, but I don’t have anything for you anymore.
No more mangoes to give you.” the tree said. “I don’t have teeth to bite,” the man replied. “No more trunk for you to climb on.” “I am too old for that now,” the man said. “I really can’t give you anything− the only thing left is my dying roots,” the tree said with sadness.
“I don’t need much now, just a place to rest. I am tired after all these years,” the man replied. “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. The tree in the story represents our parents. When we are young, we love to play with them. When we grow up, we leave them and only return when we need help.
Parents sacrifice everything for us, like the tree. All experiences teach us something. A valuable lesson can be learnt from these stories. The short story then can be equated with situations in life and values can be established, which in turn motivate us.
The moral and ethical principles imparted through these short stories help in influencing behaviour and priorities in life. 12th Communicative English Book.indb Page parable (n) - a simple story with a moral assessing (v) - form an opinion of enlisted (v) - enrolled haul