In one garden, next to the hazel tree, there grew a peach tree. Every now and then it glanced with envy at its neighbor's branches, generously strewn with nuts.
- Why does he have so many fruits, and I have so few? - the foolish tree did not stop grumbling. - Is this fair? Let me have the same number of peaches! How am I worse than him?
- Don’t covet someone else’s! - an old plum tree growing nearby once told him. - Don’t you see what a strong trunk and flexible branches the hazel tree has? Instead of grumbling and envying in vain, try to grow good, juicy peaches.
But the peach tree, blinded by black envy, did not want to listen to the good advice of the plum tree, and no arguments had any effect on it. It immediately ordered its roots to dig deeper into the ground and extract as much life-giving juices and moisture as possible. It ordered the branches not to skimp on the ovary, and the flowers to turn into fruits. When the flowering time passed, the tree found itself hung with ripening fruits to the very top.
Filled with juice, the peaches grew heavier day by day, and the branches were unable to support their weight.
And then one day the tree groaned from the strain, the trunk broke with a crash, and the ripe peaches fell to the ground, where they soon rotted at the foot of the imperturbable hazel tree.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru