Once, a king was riding a horse. On
the outskirt of a village he saw a
very old man planting a mango
sapling. He wondered, ‘What is the
use of planting the sapling when the
old man can survive only for a
couple of years?’
His curiosity grew. He went to the
man and asked him the question
that was giving him trouble. He asked: “Do you think you will live
long enough to eat the fruits of this
sapling when it grows into a tree?”
“Oh! No. I don’t expect to live so
long. I’m a doddering old man and
can die any day.” The answer of the
old man was plain enough.
“Then why are you planting the
sapling which will not give benefit to
you?” asked the king.
The old man came with a simple
answer: “I ate the fruits of the trees
that my grandfather planted. I am
planting this sapling so that my grandchildren may eat fruits.”
The king appreciated the old man and rode away with the determination to get many fruit trees planted.
Moral
Planting fruit trees to ensure
the health and happiness of the posterity.
