George loved the beautiful trees in his garden, and their blossoms were his most prized possessions. But a thief trampled the blooms, stole one of his buds, and George got angry. As he complained about his misfortune, something like a pit fell out of his mouth and sank, unnoticed, into the ground.
The next day George came into his garden and noticed a small plant growing where the pit had fallen. It was ugly, so George pulled it out and threw it away.
The day after, George saw the ugly plant was back, but bigger. Puzzled, he reached down and tore it out again.
After a week, the plant had grown so large George had to use shears to remove it.
After a month, George had to raze the plant every day. He realized if he didn’t get the roots, that plant would take over his whole garden. But George had waited so long, no matter how deep he dug, he couldn’t get to the bottom. So he covered what he could see with gasoline, lit a match, and set the roots on fire. It burned through the ground and destroyed the roots of his favorite trees, also, for they were entwined.
George had nothing left to bring him joy. Until, that is, he found a seedling amid the ashes of his favorites and started again.