72. The Tree Owner

Once there lived a man named Ramu in a village.

Next to Ramu’s house lived a man named Shamu. Their houses had a common boundary wall. Just outside their house, there was a large old mango tree. The tree stood between the houses.

Every year the tree bore ripe mango fruits. Ramu and Shamu shared the fruits of the tree equally, until they got married and their wives started to fight claim their individual right over the tree and its fruits. Ramu’s wife told him, ‘if we claim the tree is ours, we can sell a part of produce in the market and earn a lot of money’. Ramu was convinced by his wife’s thinking. On the other hand Shamu’s wife told him the same. Like Ramu, Shamu was also carried away in his wife’s thinking.

Influenced by their wives, soon Ramu and Shamu also began fighting over the right to tree. Days passed by, until someone from the village suggested that they should seek Birbal’s advise to settle the dispute.

Thus Ramu and Shamu went to Birbal and told him the matter. They asked him to settle the dispute.

Birbal said, ‘The only way to settle the dispute is that you pluck all the mangoes and cut down the tree. Get the fruits and wood weighed and divide it equally between the two of you’.

Ramu was convinced and thought it was a fair judgment. But Shamu was horrified. He defended, ‘O wise Birbal! The tree has been standing there since years. We have tendered it with our hearts. If we cut the tree, it would be the last time we would eat its fruits. Pardon me, but do not agree with your verdict. In fact I’d rather let Ramu take its ownership than see it cut down’.

Birbal smiled and said, ‘Shamu, you concern for the tree tells me about your wisdom. The tree now belongs only to you. Remember, to enjoy some of its fruits with your neighbors’.