The Cherry Tree full chapter written by Ruskin Bond

One day, when Rakesh was six, he walked home from the Mussoorie bazaar eating

come all the way from the Kashmir Valley.

Here in the Himalayan foothills where Rakesh lived, there were not many fruit trees. The

soil was stony and the dry cold winds stunted¹ the growth of most plants. But on the more

sheltered slopes² there were forests of oak and deodar.

Rakesh lived with his grandfather on the outskirts³ of Mussoorie, just where the forest began.

Grandfather was a retired forest ranger. He had a little cottage outside the town.

Rakesh was on his way home from school when he bought the cherries. He paid fifty paise

for the bunch. It took him about half an hour to walk home, and by the time he reached the

cottage, there were only three cherries left.

'Have a cherry, Grandfather, he said, as soon as he saw his grandfather in the garden.

Grandfather took one cherry and Rakesh promptly ate the other two. He kept the last seed

in his mouth for some time, rolling it round and

round on his tongue until all the tang* had gone.

Then he placed the seed on the palm of his hand

and studied it.

Are cherry seeds lucky?' asked Rakesh.

"Of course!

How would Cherry

seeds proves fucky?

Then I'll keep it!

Nothing is lucky if you put it away. If you want

luck, you must put it to some use!

'What can I do with a seed?'

'Plant it:

So Rakesh found a small spade and began to dig up a

flower bed'.

 

Hey, not there; said Grandfather:‘T've sown mustard in that bed. Plant it in that shady corner,

where it won't be disturbed’

Rakesh went to a corner of the garden where the earth was soft. He did not have to dig.

He pressed the seed into the soil with his thumb and it went right in.

Then he had his lunch and ran off to play cricket with his friends, and forgot all about the

cherry seed. ,

When it was winter in the hills, a cold wind blew down from the snows and went

whoo—whoo—whoo in the deodar trees and the garden was dry and bare(fn the evenings,

Grandfather and Rakesh sat over a charcoal fire and Grandfather told Rakesh stories—

stories about people who turned into animals, and in turn Rakesh would read ts him from

the newepape Grandi’ eyesight being rather weak. Rakesh found the newspaper very

dull—especially after the stories—but Grandfather wanted all the news...

  

They knew it was spring when the wild duck lew north again, to Siberia. arly in

she morning, when he got up to chop wood and light a fire, Rakesh saw the V-shaped

formation® streaming northwards and heard the calls of the birds clearly through the

thin mountain air,

One morning in the garden, he bent to pick up what he chought was a small ewig and

found to his surprise chat ic was well-rooted. He stared at it fora momens thes ven to fetch

Grandfather, calling, 'Dada, come and look, the cherry tree has

come up!'

'What cherry tree?' asked Grandfather, who had forgotten about it.

"The seed we planted last year-look, it's come up!'

Rakesh went down on his haunches, while Grandfather bent

almost double and peered down at the tiny tree. It was about four inches high.

'Yes, it's a cherry tree, said Grandfather. You should water it now and then!

Rakesh ran indoors and came back with a bucket of water. 'Don't drown it!' said Grandfather.

Rakesh gave it a sprinkling and circled it with pebbles.

He looked at the tree every morning but it did not seem to be growing very fast. So he

stopped looking at it-except quickly, out of the corner of his eye. After a week or two, when

he allowed himself to look at it properly, he found that it had grown-at least an inch!

That year the monsoon rains came early and Rakesh plodded to and from the school in

raincoat and gumboots. Ferns sprang from the trunks of the trees, strange-looking lilies came

up in the long grass, and even when it wasn't raining, the trees dripped and mist came curling

up the valley. The cherry tree grew quickly in this season.

It was about two feet high when a goat entered the

garden and ate all the leaves. Only the main stem and

two thin branches remained.

N

obj

'Never mind,' said Grandfather, seeing that Rakesh was

upset. It will grow again: cherry trees are tough.

Towards the end of the rainy season new leaves

appeared on the tree. Then a woman cutting grass cut

the cherry tree in two.

How did Rakesh and

Grandfather know that

it was spring time?

Where did the wild

duck fly in spring?

When Grandfather saw what had happened, he went

after the woman and scolded her; but the damage could

not be repaired.

'Maybe it will die now, said Rakesh.

Maybe,' said Grandfather.

But the cherry tree had no intention of dying.

By the time summer came round again, it had sent

out several new shoots with tender green leaves.

Rakesh had grown taller too. He was eight now,

a Seurdyyboy with curly black hair and deep black

eyes. Blackberry eyes, Grandfather called them.

‘That monsoon Rakesh went home to his village,

to help his father and mother with the planting

and ploughing and sowing. He was thinner but

stronger when he came back to Grandfather's

house at the end of the rains, to find that the

cherry tree had grown another foot. It was now up to his chest.

Even when there was rain, Rakesh would sometimes water the

He wanted it to know that he was there.

Crest he found a bright green praying mantis? perched on a

ranch, peering at him with bulging eyes. Rakesh let it remain

there. It was the cherry tree's first visitor.

‘The next visitor was a hairy caterpillar, who started making a meal

 

 

 

   

 

  

 

 

1 Where did Rakesh go

| during the monsoons?

‘What did he do there?

What does the word

intention mean?

 

 

of the leaves. Rakesh removed it quickly and dropped it on a heap of dry leaves.

‘Come back when you're a butterfly’ he said.

  

Winter came early. The cherry tree bent low with the wei

snow. Field-mice sought® shelter in the roof of the cottage. The

road from the valley was blocked, and for several days there was no

newspaper and this made Gran

began to have unhappy ending:

 

 

cher quite grumpy. His stories

 

1 Which two visitors

did Rakesh find on the>)

cherry tree?

‘What did he do with

 

 

In February it was Rakesh’s birthday. He was nine—and the tree was two, but almost as tall

as Rakesh.

One morning, when the sun came out, Grandfather came into

the garden. ‘Let some warmth get into my bones; he said.

He stopped in front of the cherry tree, stared at ic for a few

moments, and then called out,‘Rakesh! Come and look! Come

 

quickly before it falls!”

What made Grandfather

unhappy in winter? ">

‘What effect did this

have on his stories?

Rakesh and Grandfather gazed at the tree as though it had performed a miracle. There was a

pale pink blossom at the end of a branch.

The following year there were more blossoms. And suddenly the tree was taller than Rakesh,

even though it was less than half his age. And then it was taller than Grandfather, who was

older than some of the oak trees.

But Rakesh had grown too. He could run and jump and climb trees as well as most boys, and

he read a lot of books, although he still liked listening to Grandfather's tales.

What does the word

nectar mean?

What does the word

blossoms mean?

In the cherry tree, bees came to feed on the nectar in the blossoms,

and tiny birds pecked at the blossoms and broke them off. But

the tree kept blossoming right through the spring and there were

always more blossoms than birds.

That summer there were small cherries on the tree. Rakesh tasted

one and spat it out. It's too sour," he said.

"They'll be better next year,' said Grandfather.

But the birds liked them-especially the bigger birds,

such as the bulbuls and scarlet minivets and they

flitted¹¹ in and out of the foliage¹2, feasting on

the cherries.

On a warm sunny afternoon, when even the bees looked

sleepy, Rakesh was looking for Grandfather and couldn't

find him in any of his favourite places around the house.

Then he looked out of the bedroom window and saw

Grandfather reclining on a cane chair under the

cherry tree.

"There is just the right amount of shade here,' said Grandfather. And I like looking at

the leaves!

"They're pretty leaves, said Rakesh. And they are always ready to dance, if there's a breeze.

After Grandfather had come indoors, Rakesh went into the garden and lay down on the grass

beneath the tree. He gazed up through the leaves at the great blue sky and turning on his side,

he could see the mountain striding¹3 away into the clouds. He was still lying beneath the tree

when the evening shadows crept across the garden. Grandfather came back and sat down

beside Rakesh, and they waited in silence until it was dark.

“There are so many trees in the forest’ said Rakesh.

“What's so special about this tree? Why do we

like ic so much

 

 

pes, “We planted it ourselves; said

‘Grandfather. “That's why it’s special’

Just one small seed’ said Rakesh

and he couched the smooth bark of

the tree thar had grown. He ran his

hand along the crunk of the tree and

put his finger to the tip of a leaf.

“I wonder; he whispered, is this

whar it feels to be God?”

this is only for educational purpose not for commercial use.