Once
upon a time…
...there
was an acorn that wanted to be an oak tree.
The
tallest tree in the forest was the great oak tree. Its massive roots
were twined among the boulders alongside the river. Its strong
branches were home to many forest creatures. Its leafy crest towered
above the rest of the trees of the forest and seemed to touch heaven.
The acorn
wanted to be an oak tree.
When the
acorn expressed this desire to one of his friends, the other acorn
laughed. “Have you seen yourself lately midget? You could never be
an oak tree.” And he went away, still chuckling.
Another
acorn overhead the conversation.
“You
can be an oak tree,” he said.
“I
can?”, said the first acorn. “Please tell me how.”
“You
must do oak tree exercises every morning and every night” replied
the other. “If you practice enough, you will become a very great
oak tree.”
The acorn
began that very night. He exercised with all his might. Every day
when he woke up and was still an acorn he said to himself “I will
work even harder today. Then surely, tomorrow I will be an oak tree.
But he
never was.
One day
the acorn was in the middle of his exercises when a squirrel came by.
“What are you doing?” asked the squirrel. “I am doing my
exercises, so I may grow into a great oak tree,” replied the acorn.
“But I have been working for a long time and I don't feel any more
like an oak tree than before”.
“The
material world will not help you come an oak tree,” said the
squirrel with a wise expression.
“Then
how am I to become an oak tree?,” asked the acorn.
“You
must go to the Great Mountain and think oak tree thoughts for
seventy-nine days and seventy-nine nights. On the morning of the
eightieth day your soul will have absorbed the fullness of oakness
and you will find yourself to be an oak tree.”
So the
acorn traveled through many dangers to the Great Mountain. He climbed
to the summit where the icy winds whistle and emptied his mind of
everything but oak trees for seventy-nine days and seventy-nine
nights. But when the sun rose on the eightieth day, he was still an
acorn.
The acorn
climbed down the mountain and made his way back home. He passed
through a great city and saw a large building filled with books. “Maybe
one of those books will tell me what I need to know to become an oak
tree” thought the acorn. So he
enrolled himself as a student in the oak tree school and studied with
all diligence. The acorn
studied at the university for many years. In time he became an
expert, and taught classes on oak trees. But he grew old, and his cap
became dusty and brittle and he was no closer to being an oak tree.
“I will go home to the forest,” said the acorn. “There at least
I can look at the oak tree even if I cannot become one.”
The acorn
returned to the forest and went to the great oak tree. “You are so
beautiful,” he said to the oak tree. “But I have searched my
whole life, and now I know that I will never be anything more than an
acorn.” And a silver tear fell from the acorn to the ground.
“Why
are you crying?” said a voice suddenly. The acorn looked up, and
saw the oak tree fairy sitting next to him. “I am crying because
all my life I have tried to become an oak tree, and now I know that
it is impossible”.
The oak
fairy looked thoughtful. “Do you know where you come from acorn?”.
“No,” said the acorn peevishly, feeling the fairy was intruding.
“You came from the oak tree. You were designed to grow into an oak
tree”.
“Well
I haven't,” said the acorn.
“Of
course not,” replied the fairy. “For that you have to die”.
“I
have to die!?” cried the acorn aghast. “What if I don't want to?”
“Then
you will never become an oak tree” said the fairy matter of factly.
The acorn
thought for a moment. “I want to be an oak tree more than
anything,” he said. “Show me how to die”. “Let me bury you in
the ground,” said the fairy. So the acorn let the fairy cover him
with the velvet darkness of the soil, and fell asleep.
When the
acorn awoke, he was confused. No longer was he a small nut, but he
was not a great tree either. “What have you done!” he said to the
fairy in outrage. The fairy raised an eyebrow. “You are now an oak
tree”, he stated. “Did you think that you would be a big tree
overnight?”
“O,”
said the acorn. “How do I grow?”
“Drink
in the sun and rain. And take your acorn cap off. You won't be able
to grow wearing it.”
The acorn
did as the fairy said. He took off his acorn cap. He drank in the sun
and rain.
Days, and
weeks, and seasons, and years passed.
And in
time…
The former
acorn grew into a mighty oak.
His roots
twined among the boulders by the river.
His
branches housed forest creatures.
And his
leafy crest seemed to touch heaven.
 |
| Photo: Bing Images |
