THE MAGIC MANGO TREE

(Courtesy: Developed from the Outline in Bhavan’s English Course Book for Standard I, By Prism Publications)

Once upon a time, there lived three mango trees in the edge of a village. They were called Minni, Minnu and Monnu. They had fruits all round the year. They could also speak. So they became very popular as the magic mango trees. The birds built nest on the huge trees and squirrels ate mangoes with children who played under its shade every evening. The trees also joined the animals, birds and kids with funny faces and sounds…

One day, two wood cutters were going through the village in a horse cart. They were returning from the forest after having fixed the trees for next slumbering. Suddenly they saw Minnu, Minni and Monnu. They had not seen such huge trees of valuable timber for quite sometime. So they became very happy. They stopped the cart and jumped out. They went around the trees and assessed its girth and height. They were amazed. “Oh, we have won a lottery;” they exclaimed! Since the tree was on the outskirts of the village, they decided to cut down the same before someone else came to know about it. They parked the cart near the bushes and came down with their axe.

Minni, Minnu and Monnu sensed the danger. They got frightened. It was an isolated time. All kids are at school. Elders have gone for their own work. Birds have gone in search of food for their young ones. All animals have gone to the forest for their routine morning visits. “Alas, there isn’t anyone around to neither help us nor save us!!!” Monnu, the youngest became very gloomy. There were only some small animals nearby. They were helpless too. So they remained sad and silent.

Minni and Minnu decided to put up a brave front. They made faces and rolled their eyes and put out their tongue as the wood cutters approached them. Minnu also made loud noises. The wood cutters were surprised. So, they stood and stared at the trees for sometime and then at each other. They thought they were dreaming. “We have been cutting trees for years. Never had we had such an experience,” they thought. Slowly they regained their composure and decided to cut down the trees.

They started hitting on Minnu’s trunk. Tears rolled down her eyes and blood was oozing out of the injury…Now, the wood cutters were really taken aback. They suspected themselves to be in a haunted place…However, they were so greedy that they didn’t want to leave the trees either. So, they recouped their courage and started hitting with maximum force.

Now Minnu could not bear it any longer. She yelled at the pitch of her voice. “Dear friends, two strangers are trying to kill me. Please come and save us. Its paining very much…”Minni and Monnu also joined her in screaming and the sound became louder and louder…
Huge eagle, Kalaa, who lived on the tree, heard them from a distance. She flew at a rapid pace. On reaching the spot, she grasped the situation quickly with clarity. She came down at full speed and pecked at the men. They cried in pain. She kept on pecking until they dropped their weapons and made them run around.

Children heard these loud noises and they also came running to their playing area. They saw Kaala chasing two men. They saw the axes lying on the ground and blood oozing out from Minnu’s trunk. Soon, the boys joined Kaala in the game and chased the men into their carts and out of the village. Meantime the girls ran around and gathered materials to clean the wound and apply medicine. They tied it with a good band aid. The little ones hugged Minnu and showered all their love on her.

As Kalaa and the boys returned, all kids and animals formed a circle around the trees and started singing and dancing happily.

Finally, they stood in attention and took an oath: “Trees are God’s gift to man. They have life. It’s cruel to hurt them. They give us flowers, fruits, food, fuel and fibre. They help us breathe fresh air. They bring us rains. They also collect and store enough water underground. They are shelter to many small animals and birds. Uses of trees are many…We shall always protect them…” They jointly moved forward and hugged Minnu, Minni and Monnu to console them.

“LONG LIVE OUR TREES
LONG LIVE MOTHER NATURE…”