A great rough stone lay beneath a gnarled old tree. Years ago a tiny
squirrel had climbed upon the stone to nibble some nuts, but before he
had finished he was startled away.

"There!" thought the stone to himself as he saw a nut roll to the
ground, "now that nut will take root and grow into a tree and I will
have to lie here for ages beneath its branches. I wish the silly
squirrel had gone some other place to eat the nuts!"

When the little nut took root and sent its tiny shoots up in the air,
the old, rough Stone said, "There! I knew it!" and he disliked the tree
from that time on.

The old, rough Stone watched the tiny green shoot grow and grow until it
grew into an enormous tree.

"Just see how he pushes me up in the air with his roots!" the old, rough
Stone said to himself.

When the gnarled tree was covered with leaves in the summer time, the
old, rough Stone said, "Just see how he hides the blue sky from my
view!"

And in the winter time when the limbs of the tree were bare, the old,
rough Stone said, "Just see how he lets the snow and the cold rain fall
right on me!"

One night during a heavy storm the old, rough Stone heard a crash, and