Page 73 - Moral Stories Vol 6

Once there was a Peepal tree in a village that was very old. No one knew just how old it was and the elders of the village said that it had seemed
just as old even when they were children.
Everyone in the village loved the Peepal tree and there were many stories about it, and superstitions1 too. They said that if anyone argued or called names near the Peepal tree, that person would get sick. If you threw litter on the ground near the Peepal, before long you would hear some bad news. And if anyone were to break off a branch, they said, would be punished severely.
There were happy superstitions too- mothers would bring their newborn babies to the tree, so that they would grow up healthy. The villagers even brought sick people to touch the trunk of the Peepal, so that some of its strength would be passed along to them. Sometimes Peepal really did help. More often things turned out well just because that's what the people really wanted. They all had a great respect for the old Peepal tree.
One day a new owner moved into the house next to the Peepal tree. He didn't know anything about the tree and decided to cut it down as soon as he settled in his new home.
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