A Court was being held by Judge Grizzly Bear;
The Wolf, the fox and the cheetah were there.
The prisoner, a woodcutter, trembled with fear;
A strong case against him was filed by the deer.
As the jury of leopards came and sat on one side,
"Stand up!" said the judge, "You're about to be tried.
You enter our jungle whenever you please,
And day after day you cut off our trees.
Our home and our shelter you just take away;
Soon our children will not have a single place to play.
Have you ever stopped to think how we feel
When you come to our jungle to loot and steal?
How would you like it if we did the same,
Broke down your homes and set them aflame?"
At last the woodcutter spoke - his voice full of shame,
"I have just understood how much I am to blame.
I have only been thinking of myself all along,
And without meaning to have done you great wrong.
I don't just want to beg forgiveness of everyone,
But want to find out how to undo what I've done;
To make amends if anyone just shows me the way,
I'll work towards it till my dying day."
The jury listened, the judge nodded his head;
"We see you are sorry for what you've done," he said.
"We'll tell you how you can make up for your deeds;
Under that big tree lie ten bags of seeds.
Plant them and tend them, let each become a tree;
Then your punishment is over - you will be free."
Said the woodcutter, "That's fair - I'll do what I can."
He took the first bag, And walked off, a wiser man.
- Meena
The Wolf, the fox and the cheetah were there.
The prisoner, a woodcutter, trembled with fear;
A strong case against him was filed by the deer.
As the jury of leopards came and sat on one side,
"Stand up!" said the judge, "You're about to be tried.
You enter our jungle whenever you please,
And day after day you cut off our trees.
Our home and our shelter you just take away;
Soon our children will not have a single place to play.
Have you ever stopped to think how we feel
When you come to our jungle to loot and steal?
How would you like it if we did the same,
Broke down your homes and set them aflame?"
At last the woodcutter spoke - his voice full of shame,
"I have just understood how much I am to blame.
I have only been thinking of myself all along,
And without meaning to have done you great wrong.
I don't just want to beg forgiveness of everyone,
But want to find out how to undo what I've done;
To make amends if anyone just shows me the way,
I'll work towards it till my dying day."
The jury listened, the judge nodded his head;
"We see you are sorry for what you've done," he said.
"We'll tell you how you can make up for your deeds;
Under that big tree lie ten bags of seeds.
Plant them and tend them, let each become a tree;
Then your punishment is over - you will be free."
Said the woodcutter, "That's fair - I'll do what I can."
He took the first bag, And walked off, a wiser man.
- Meena
No comments:
Post a Comment