The Proud Red Rose
One beautiful spring day a red rose blossomed in a forest. As the rose looked around, a pine tree nearby said, “What a beautiful flower! I wish I was that lovely.” Another tree said, “Dear pine, do not be sad. We cannot have everything.”
The rose turned and remarked, “It seems that I am the most beautiful flower in this forest.”
A sunflower raised its yellow head and asked, “Why do you say that? In this forest there are many beautiful flowers. You are just one of them.”
The red rose replied, “I see everyone looking at me and admiring me.” Then the rose looked at a cactus and said, “Look at that ugly plant full of thorns!”
The pine tree said, “Red rose, what kind of talk is this? Who can say what beauty is? You have thorns too.”
The proud red rose looked angrily at the pine and said, “I thought you had good taste! You do not know what beauty is at all. You cannot compare my thorns to that of the cactus.”
“What a proud flower,” thought the trees.
The rose tried to move its roots away from the cactus, but it could not move. As the days passed, the red rose would look at the cactus and say insulting things, like ‘this plant is useless. How sorry I am to be his neighbor.’
The cactus never got upset and even tried to advise the rose, saying, “God did not create any form of life without a purpose.”
Spring passed, and the weather became very warm. Life became difficult in the forest, as there was no rain. The red rose began to wilt.
One day the rose saw sparrows stick their beaks into the cactus and then fly away, refreshed. This was puzzling, and the red rose asked the pine tree what the birds were doing. The pine tree explained that the birds were getting water from the cactus.
“Does it not hurt when they make holes?” asked the rose.
“Yes, but the cactus does not like to see the birds suffer,” replied the pine.
The rose opened its eyes in wonder and exclaimed, “The cactus has water?”
“Yes, you can also drink from it. The sparrow can bring water to you if you ask the cactus for help.”
The red rose felt too ashamed to ask for water from the cactus, but finally it did ask for help. The cactus kindly agreed. The birds filled their beaks with water and watered the rose’s roots.
Thus the rose learned a lesson and never judged anyone by their appearance again.