"THE BARREN TREE"

"THE BARREN TREE" (author unknown)

There was a tree in the forest, an olive tree called Amalia. Sadly, she was barren, and that pained her greatly. Unlike her mates, she never bore any fruit ever since she came of age.

Amalia was insulted, mocked and called useless by the other trees in the forest. They taunted her too many times; shouted at her and threw rotten fruits at her due to her inability to produce fruits.

One day, a king and his woodcutters came to the forest to cut down a big tree for a building project. The king asked the trees as loudly as possible,

"We've come to cut down a useless tree! So tell us, which tree is useless?"

All the trees pointed at Amalia and began to wail,

"It's Amalia! It's Amalia! She is entirely useless and worthless! She has been struck down by a terrible curse! She has not bore a single fruit in her whole life! Cut her down! Cut her!"

Without hesitation, the king ordered his woodcutters to cut down Amalia. However, just as they were about to slash her with an axe, Amalia pleaded,

"Please, don't kill me, I'm begging you! I may be barren, but I swear I'm not useless. Why not ask the animals? If they say I'm useless, then cut me down!"

The king and his woodcutters stopped for a moment. The king called all the nearby animals and asked as loudly as possible,

"Hey, animals, I want to ask you all a simple question! Is Amalia a useless tree?"

At once, the monkey hollered,

"Amalia has been a tremendous help to me. She provides a home for me and my family! We are very grateful to her!"

The bird chirped,

"Amalia is extremely helpful to me. She let me build my nests on her strong branches. I can't thank her enough!"

The squirrel whistled,

"Amalia has been a big help to me and my brother this winter. She let us sleep inside her hollow to stay warm. We are deeply indebted to her for her help!"

The deer bleated,

"Amalia has been incredibly helpful to me and the herd. On hot summer days, we come to her shade to take a rest. She has been such a blessing!"

Upon hearing all that, the king smiled widely and exclaimed,

"Wow, you're such a useful tree, Amalia! You don't deserve to be cut down! We'll just look for another tree to cut down!"

MORAL OF THE STORY:

Truly, in this world, there is no one person who is useless. The notion that some people are useless or that others are more important is pure fallacy, everyone has different roles to play, time and opportunity happens to us. And at the right time, our usefulness will unfold. Every bad situation will have something positive. Even a dead clock shows correct time twice a day. Learning to appreciate other people can play a vital role in erasing the mindset that they are not useful, this can help to remind them of their self worth, how valuable they can be and teach them to make the most of themselves.

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