This Indian folktale from Rajasthan gives a precious message that one should be careful about what one wishes for because it might come true! Before one wishes for something, he must think twice about what if the wish will be granted.
It’s story time. Are you ready for this children’s story in english about magical tree? It’s available in Gujarati Language too.
There is a state called Rajasthan in this beautiful country, India. And here in Rajasthan lies ‘Thar’ or ‘The Great Indian Desert’! Once upon a time, a traveller was passing through this desert. He was travelling all alone. After walking on the dry, hot sand for a couple of miles, the traveller was tired. He felt thirsty and hungry too. He stopped and looked around, but there was nothing else he could see other than hot burning stretches of sand. There was no village or any kind of shelter he could find. There wasn’t a single tree where the tired traveller could rest.
Now, being very upset he stopped at a place and thought, ‘I wish there’d be a lush green tree in front of me and I could rest under it!’And what he saw!?
There stood a huge tree covered with beautiful, shiny, green foliage (leaves) right in front of him. The traveller felt shocked and surprised altogether because he knew that it was a desert and there was no sign of a single bush a few seconds ago. But, at the same time he also felt good to find a shade where he could rest for a while.The traveller sat under the tree and started thinking, ‘I wish there’d be some cool, clean water so that I could quench (satisfy) my thirst!’ And there it was, a pitcher full of cold water was kept just next to the place he was sitting.
‘Ah!’, astonished the traveller, grabbed the pitcher hastily and drank all of it. In the next few minutes he thought, ‘Water was really satisfying, but I wish I had something to eat!’ Right away, a plate full of delicious variety of food appeared.
The traveller ate as much as he could! All the food he gobbled, made him feel sleepy so, he wished for a bed and he instantly got one. Sleeping on that royal cot the traveller had this thought once again, ‘I wish I had someone to massage my feet, I’ve walked quite a distance since morning!’ And as he was expecting this time, a young lady showed up and started massaging his feet. The traveller was very tired, so soon fell asleep.Actually, the tree he was sleeping under was a “Kalp-Vriksha” (कल्पवृक्ष), a magical tree known for granting all the wishes one does under its shade! Whatever one wishes for comes true under a Kalp-Vriksha!!
After sleeping for some time, the traveller woke up, the lady was still there standing near his feet. He thought to himself, “This can’t be real as I know this is a desert and things can’t appear out of nowhere! There must be something magical behind all this…’
The traveller further thought, ‘Thank God I’ve wished for all the good things to happen. What if I wished that there had been a demon in front of me, almost ready to eat me up!’
And as it happened every time, a demon appeared right before the traveller. The demon roared, ‘Stupid man, get ready for being my prey! I am going to eat you up..’ Howling, the demon sprung on the traveller. Trembling in horror, the traveller thought, ‘O God! I wish this demon would disappear!’ All of a sudden, the demon disappeared and everything was back to normal.
The traveller left the place and started walking. He could not know about the magical powers of that Kalp-Vruksha.
‘What was all that? Was it a dream? Whatever it was, I must be careful about what I think!!’
Thinking of what happened, the traveller went on his way…
The End.
How about reading more stories from Grandma’s Bag of stories?
