English for Students

The Jealous Tree

The Jealous Tree :


Once, a man's feet struck against a large stone on a path. He picked it up and placed it under a tree. A while later, a painter came to paint a painting under that tree. As he left, some red paint fell on the stone and looked like vermilion.


Sometimes later, a flower seller sat under that tree to make a flower garland. When she got up to leave, some flowers fell near the stone. The people thought that the stone was some God's idol and started worshipping it.


The tree grew jealous. He thought, "People come to offer prayers to the stone. Before this, they used to come to sit in my shade."


So, the tree picked the stone and flung it far away. When the people came to offer prayers, they found the stone missing. They said, "If God has left this place, then this place must be unholy and so is this tree."


So they cut down the tree. With its dying breath, the tree thought, "Ah! Now I am getting punished for being jealous."

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