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.
