And when he came back, the tree was so happy she could
hardly speak.”Come, Boy” she whispered, “Come and play”.
”I am too old and sad to play”, said the boy. “I want a boat
that will take me away from here. Can you give me a boat?”
”Cut down my trunk and make a boat”, said the tree. “Then
you can sail away… and be happy”.
And so the boy cut down her trunk
And made a boat and sailed away.
And the tree was happy…
But not really.
Why I Included This Excerpt
This excerpt is the only time that the author shows that the tree is not really happy. It gives and gives to the boy, but it never gets anything in return. The boy does not seem to care about everything that he has been given. We do the same thing with the plants and animals that make it easy for us to live. We cut down forests. We farm for vegetables and kill cows and chickens in droves for our burgers and nuggets. This is not sustainable. Eventually our giving tree, the earth, will be nothing more than a stump. The earth is not happy just like the tree is not happy and we shouldn't pretend.
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