Short Bed Time Stories - 4
There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn not to
judge things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go
and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away. The first son
went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in summer, and
the youngest son in the fall.
When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to
describe what they had seen. The first son said that the tree was ugly,
bent, and twisted. The second son said no it was covered with green
buds and full of promise. The third son disagreed; he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled
so sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen. The last son
disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfillment.
The man then explained to his sons that they were all right, because they had each seen but only
one season in the tree’s life. He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one
season, and that the essence of who they are and the pleasure, joy, and love that come from that
life can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons are up.
