Friendship

Once there was a boy who used to play in a shade of a tree. One day, the boy sat leaning against its trunk: he cried and sighed, ' I am hungry '. 'Eat my fruit', said the tree kindly. And it bent down one of its branches. The little boy had his fill of the fruit and felt satisfied. Long years passed and the boy grew up. Then once again he sat under the tree with a look of dejection and hopelessness. 'What is it ?'

The tree asked .' My wedding day is barely a week away and I nowhere to live '. 

'Cut down my branches and build your self a house, ' said the tree. The young man set to work immediately. Time passed and now the young man was a sailor. And once again he sat under the tree with a look of remorse on it. Asked what the matter was, he pleaded, 'My captain is cruel, so to survive, I must own a ship.' Cut down my trunk and build a ship.' 

The sailor grew old, but once again he returned to the tree with a laden expression on his face. It was a cold and the sailor leaned on his stick trembling. 

'Make a fire of me ', said the stump of the tree. It soon burnt in the fire, softly humming a tune.