The fern and the bamboo, the fable that allows you to reflect on the importance of preserving hope

The fable of the fern and the bamboo tells us about a man who was going through a bad streak. He was a carpenter and at first he was doing very well, but everything went wrong when a large company that manufactured furniture arrived in his town. They had a lot of money, excellent machinery and plenty of staff. They soon became a real sensation in the area.

The factory made the furniture in record time. He also made them with very good quality . As if that were not enough, he sold them at lower prices than the carpenter.. Things started to get worse and worse for him. In just a couple of months he already knew that he was headed for bankruptcy. This distressed him.

To make matters worse he also began to have difficulties with his wife. She was a school teacher and her salary was not enough to support the three children they had. The carpenter tried to look for a new job , but I couldn’t do it. His wife reproached him and in the end this also affected the children.who began to have problems with their grades in school.

The fern and the bamboo, a great teaching

The carpenter in our story was truly desperate. He had less and less money. Also less energy and less optimism. His mind began to close. She didn’t see a way out . The only thing that occurred to him one day was to go for a walk through a nearby forest, to try to put his ideas in order. He was about to learn the secrets of the fern and the bamboo.

I had walked for half an hour through the forest, when he met a kind old man who greeted him. He had a humble house and upon seeing the carpenter he invited him in to have tea. He noticed the concern on his face and asked him what was wrong. The carpenter told him about his misfortunes, while the old man listened attentively and serenely.

When they finished drinking tea, the old man invited the carpenter to go to a splendid lot. what was in the back of the house. There were the fern and the bamboo, next to dozens of trees. The old man asked him to look at both plants and told him that he had to tell him a story.

The promised story: the fern and the bamboo

The carpenter was very interested in what the old man had to tell him. The latter began the narration. This he said: “Eight years ago I took some seeds and planted the fern and the bamboo at the same time. I wanted both plants to grow in my garden , because both are very comforting to me. I put all my effort into taking care of them both as if they were a treasure.”.

“Shortly after, I noticed that the fern and bamboo responded differently to my care. The fern began to sprout and in just a few months it became a majestic plant that adorned everything with its presence. The bamboo, on the other hand, was still underground, showing no signs of life.”.

The old man continued with his story, while the carpenter listened to him with great interest. “A whole year passed and the fern continued to grow, but the bamboo did not. However, I did not give up. I continued to take care of him with greater care. Even so, Another year passed and my work did not bear fruit. The bamboo refused to manifest”.

Time and resilience

The old man continued saying: “I also didn’t give up after the second year, nor the third, nor the fourth. When five years passed, I finally saw that one day a timid twig came out of the ground. The next day it was much bigger.. In a few months it grew non-stop and became a marvelous bamboo measuring more than 10 meters. Do you know why it took so long to come to light?”.

The carpenter thought for a moment, but didn’t know what to say. The old man spoke again and said: “It took five years because during all that time the plant was working on taking root. He knew he had to grow very tall and that is why it could not come to light until it had a firm base that would allow it to rise satisfactorily. Do you understand?”

The carpenter understood the message. He understood that sometimes things take time, because they are taking root. That the important thing is to persist and not lose faith. Before saying goodbye, the old man gave the carpenter a message to keep forever. He said like this: “Happiness keeps you sweet. Attempts keep you strong. The pains keep you human. Falls keep you humble. “Success keeps you bright.”

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