• The Snail and the Rose Tree

    Andersen's Fairy Tales
    In a cozy corner of a big, green garden, where the sunbeams danced on the leaves, stood a beautiful Rose Tree. It was covered in lovely pink roses that smelled like sweet perfume. And right nearby, under a big green leaf, lived a Snail. He was a slow and thoughtful Snail, who carried his house on his back.

    The Rose Tree loved to show off its beautiful flowers. "Look at me!" its blossoms seemed to whisper to the wind. "Aren't I lovely?"

    The Snail, peeking out from under his leaf, would often watch the Rose Tree. "Hmph," he'd think to himself. "Always blooming, always giving away your scent and your petals. What good does that do you in the long run?"

    One sunny morning, the Snail decided to speak up. "Excuse me, Rose Tree," he said, his voice a little slimy and slow. "You are very pretty, it's true. But what do you have to show for it, besides those flowers that will soon fade?"

    The Rose Tree rustled its leaves gently. "I give joy," it replied. "And later, I will have little red berries, called rose hips, full of seeds for new rose trees."

    The Snail scoffed, or at least, he tried to. It came out as a sort of gurgle. "Joy? Seeds? Bah! I have much more inside me. The world just isn't ready for it yet. I have a whole world within my shell, a world of important thoughts. One day, I will show the world. I will... spit something amazing! Something the world has never seen!"

    The Rose Tree just smiled with its pink blossoms and continued to soak up the sun.

    Summer turned into autumn. The Rose Tree's flowers faded, but then bright red rose hips appeared, just as it had said. Birds came and ate some, scattering the seeds. The Snail, meanwhile, pulled himself deep into his shell as the weather got colder. "I'm still thinking," he mumbled to himself. "My big moment is coming."

    Spring came again! The Rose Tree burst into bloom, even more beautiful than before. Little birds built nests in its branches. Bees buzzed happily around its flowers.

    The Snail slowly came out of his shell. He looked at the Rose Tree. "Still just showing off," he grumbled. "I'm still working on my great contribution. It takes time, you know. Important things take time."

    Many years went by. The Rose Tree grew taller and stronger. New little rose bushes even started to grow nearby, from the seeds it had scattered. Every spring it bloomed, every summer it offered shade, and every autumn it provided rose hips.

    And the Snail? Well, the Snail was still there. He was older now, and even slower. He still hadn't "spit" anything amazing. He was still just thinking about it, telling himself how much he had to offer the world, if only the world would wait.

    One day, the Snail just... wasn't there anymore. He had become part of the earth, just a little bit of soil under the leaves. He never did show the world what was inside him, because he spent all his time thinking and none of his time doing.

    But the Rose Tree? Oh, it kept blooming every year. It shared its beauty and its sweet smell with everyone – the children who played in the garden, the birds, the bees. And its seeds grew into new rose trees, spreading more beauty all around, all because it simply did what it was meant to do, day after day.

    1478 Views