The Two Gardeners

Years ago, there lived on opposite sides of the field two women, each of whom tended gardens. The older woman, a wife, had a garden furnished with full, fruit bearing trees, laden with apples and berries. The younger woman, a maiden, was not so fortunate, as she had no fully grown plants of her own.

Often the two women would encounter moments at which they were inclined to look over to the other side of the field, but rarely would the couple ever meet. Despite their distance, each woman was envious of the other's garden, finding that her's was not as elegant as her opposite's.

One day, as the wife looked across the field, she noticed a magnificent plant that absolutely captivated her and her imagination. It was of a bright fuscia color, bearing the ripest of fruit. It was unlike anything she had ever seen before. Compared to this new fruit, her old apples and berries were almost repulsive. The wife loosed a sigh of regret upon realizing that the plant was beyond her reach, in the garden of the maiden.

As that day was coming to an end, the wife tripped on a root as she walked toward her home. Upon examining the obstacle, she found that it was not a root but a budding tree, with the same shape and color as the tree she had seen earlier. Rapturous, the wife set to work immediately to ensure that this sapling would grow into a mighty tree that would produce the mysterious fruits which she so desired.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the field, the maiden struggled to raise an apple tree from the rocky earth. Day after day, the maiden would care for the apple tree saplings, but to no avail. The only thing that could seem to grow was a strange fuscia colored plant with what looked to be blue apples. Though the maiden could live off of this fruit, she was still frustrated knowing that these were strange fruits and not real apples, as she felt she should have been growing.

Time passed and both gardens grew. The wife was very pleased at how quickly her new tree had grown. In fact, the wife's tree had grown far more quickly than that of the maiden. It was already enormous, with its large roots choking those of all other trees. This proud new tree towered over the garden and cast a shadow on the wife's house. She was very satisfied with her new creation and was fulfilled upon eating the green fruits which it produced.

One day, the two women happened to meet in the field. With her, the wife was carrying a basket of apples and one green fruit from her precious tree. The maiden accepted the wife's offer to try the fruit. She found the apples to be poor, having come from parched trees, and the green fruit to be strangely sour and disgusting. In an attempt to be polite, however, the maiden took leave of the wife and waited until she was out of sight to dispose of the rancid green fruit.

More time passed and the women continued tending to their gardens, but the wife soon fell sick. The green fruit became repulsive to her, but because the apples and berries had been choked, there was no other choice. Slowly, her condition worsened until she died.

The maiden, seeing the garden accross the field, noticed that it was deteriorating. Eventually, she noticed that she was no longer captivated by the apples that had eluded her, and she realized how useless they were. The maiden became content knowing that she could live from her blue fruits, and with this knowledge, she was satisfied.