The Oak And The Reed

: MODERN FABLES
: Boys And Girls Bookshelf

ADAPTED FROM THE FRENCH OF LA FONTAINE





One day the Oak said to the Reed: "Nature has been indeed unkind to you.

She has made you so weak that even the tiniest bird that flies bends you

to earth beneath her little weight. The gentlest breeze that scarcely

moves the surface of the lake has power to bend your head.



"My head, which rises like a mountain, is not content to stop the

lazing rays of sunshine, but braves even the tempest; the wind that to

you seems to be a hurricane, to me is but a gentle sigh of wind at

eventide.



"If you had grown beneath the shelter of my leafy crown, with which I

cover all the ground around, I would have saved you from the storms

which make you suffer. Alas, you are most often found along the marshy

borders of the kingdom of the winds. Nature, it seems to me, has been to

you unjust."



"Your pity," said the Reed, "comes from good nature, but have no care

for me. The winds for me hold far less danger than they hold for you. I

bend but do not break. You have till now resisted all their powerful

blows and never bent your back. But wait the end."



Just as the gentle little Reed ended these words, a great north wind

rushed down from the horizon and flung itself on them with fury. The

Reed bent low before it, but the tree defied the anger of the blast and

held its head upright. But the strong wind drew back, doubled its force,

and with a furious rush tore up the oak tree by its mighty roots.



The blast passed on and in the quiet that it left behind, the Reed

raised up her head, and looking sadly at the giant tree whose stately

head lay in the waters of the stream, she sadly said:



"It is often well to bend before the storms that threaten us."