Tales Classic Level 2 Amrita and the Trees OXFORD
Here is Amrita. And here is her village. It is hot in the village. It is very hot. Amrita loves the tree. The beautiful, big, green tree. 'I love you, tree,' says Amrita. "I love your green leaves. They keep me
cool.
There is a forest near the
village. A forest of trees. And there is a desert. A desert of hot, hot sand. Amrita doesn't play in the desert. It is too hot there. Much too hot.
But she often plays in the forest.
It is cool there. Nice and cool.
One day men come. They come with axes. 'The king wants wood!' they say.
The king wants wood! The men from
the village must go. Amrita's father
must go. They must go and chop down the
trees. The beautiful forest trees.
"Why?" cries Amrita. "Why?" "Stop it!
' she cries. But the men don't hear her. The king wants wood. So the men don't listen. They chop and chop and chop. Stop it!
Then it rains. It rains a lot. It rains and rains. There are no trees to hold the mud. So mud and water fill the river. And then the river floods. The river floods the village.
'Help!' cry the villagers. 'Cling to the tree! Cling to the branches of the big tree! Houses float away. Animals float away. The villagers cling to the tree. They cling to the branches of the big
tree. And their village floats. Their village floats away. Help!
Cling to the tree!
Then there is mud. Mud.
Mud. Mud. And now everyone must work. They must build. They must build the village again.
They must plant. They must plant new trees. "Grow quickly, trees!" they say. "Grow quickly. Grow tall. '
Grow quickly, trees! The
villagers build their village again. And
the new trees grow big and strong.
Amrita grows too. She gets married. And everyone dances. They dance around the big tree. They dance and sing. Everyone is happy. And everything is beautiful.
Then Amrita has
children. And her children love the
tree. The beautiful, big, green
tree. The forest trees are big and
strong. And Amrita's children play there
often. It is cool there. Nice and cool. But they don't play in the desert. It is too hot there. Much too hot.
Sometimes the wind is
strong. The wind is strong and it blows
the sand. The sand tries to go to the
village. But the forest trees are
there. So it can't. A little sand comes through the door. And Amrita sends it away. She sends it back outside. 'Thank you, forest trees!' she says.
'You help us in many ways. Thank
you, forest trees!
The king wants more
wood! Then one day men come again. They come from the king. "The king wants more wood! ' they say. Get up and help us. "Get up!
' they say to the village men. 'Get up and help us. We must chop down all the trees. '
No! You can't have our trees. At first nobody speaks. Nobody says anything. "Get up!" say the king's men. Slowly the men get up.
"No! ' says Amrita. 'You can't have our trees. We need our trees. You can't chop them down! '
The king wants them. He can't have them! "Be quiet, woman!" say the king's men. "The king wants
them. ' 'No!' says Amrita.
'He can't have them!' Let's start
work! "Be quiet, woman!" they say. "Take your children home! "Right! Let's start work! Let's chop
this tree first."
'No!' Amrita's cries. She runs to the tree. She puts her arms around it. 'You can't chop it down! "" Stand
away!' shout the king's men. You can't chop it down! 'No!'
says Amrita. Then the villagers
run. They each run to a tree. And Amrita's children run to a tree. They put their arms around it. Stand away!
No!
No! Move away from the trees! The king's men are angry. 'Move away from the trees!' they shout.
'No!' Amrita shouts. 'No!'
shout all the villagers. 'No! No!
NO! 'No!' say Amrita's little children. "No! No! NO! No! No! NO!
This is wrong. "This is wrong, 'say the king's
men." These people need their trees.
It is wrong to take them. We must
go to another place. "Take some of those trees. Then the people speak.
'Look! There is a forest over there. Across the desert. Look! There is no
village over there. Take some of those trees."
Yes, take some of those
trees, says Amrita. 'But not all of
them. "And remember to give. Don't
just take. Give. Give back. Take some trees and then .. plant more trees. Tell
this to the king. ' Don't just take. And
they do ... Yes ... they do.
