A king had four sons. To teach them an important lesson he decided to ask them to visit a cherry tree in the deep forest of their kingdom.
During the peak winter, he asked his eldest son to go and see the tree and write a description of the tree. The prince came back and told that the tree is barren, old, and hopeless. Not even birds are coming near the tree. It looks useless and maybe it is better to cut it down and use the wood before it rots.
During the middle of the spring, the king asked his second son to visit the tree and write a description of the tree. The prince came back and told that the tree is not barren, rather it is full of beautiful cherry blossoms and looks young and promising. The tree is surrounded by butterflies and bees who are enjoying its flowers.
Then, in the summer the king sent his third son to go to see the tree and come back with a description. When the prince returned, he told that there are no blossoms, rather the tree is loaded with delicious cherries and looked mature and valuable. Many birds are living on the tree and are enjoying the fruits.
Finally, in autumn the king asked his youngest son to visit the tree and bring back a description of the tree. The prince returned and described that the tree now has no fruit or flowers as his brothers described. But it looks beautiful with its colored leaves with lovely shades of gold, red and orange. It looks like an ideal object for a painting.
Then the wise king asked his sons “What did you learn from this experience?”
The other three princes were still thinking when the youngest son shared his understanding:
- Like the tree, we experience different seasons of life and we are greatly affected by them.
- We should not judge our life based on only the current season in our life.
- Every season has a purpose.
- No matter whatever the current season is, it will change again.