The Trees of the Gods
Once upon a time, a magnificent council gathered at the edge of an old forest where cool waters flowed. The protective gods of the sky and of nature had come together to take the trees of the earth under their care. Each god wanted to choose the tree that best suited his own glory and beauty. The great chief god chose the majestic oak tree, and the goddess of love chose the sweet smelling myrtle tree. The cheerful voices echoing in the depths of the forest spread the excitement of these choices to the whole forest. The god of strength chose the white poplar tree and praised its tall and upright bearing. But the goddess of mind and wisdom watched the choices of her friends in silence.
In the end she could not hold back and asked the other gods a question with curiosity. “Why have you all preferred trees that give no fruit and offer no food to people?” The chief god smiled, looked at the wise goddess and gave an answer. “If we had chosen fruitful trees, people might have thought that we made this choice for our own profit.” When the wise goddess heard this answer, she nodded her head slowly and explained her own choice. “As for me, I choose the olive tree, which carries silver leaves on its trunk and gives healing fruit.” While the other gods looked at one another in surprise, they began to wait for her reason.
The wise goddess told of the nourishing fruit of the olive tree and also of its oil that lights up the darkness. “A useless beauty or a display is not enough to carry a real value,” she said. “True virtue is to give benefit to living creatures and to make life more beautiful.” The chief god could not hide his admiration before this deep thought and congratulated her warmly. All the gods accepted that the olive tree was the symbol of abundance and of wisdom together. Magnificent appearances come and go, but the useful works left in the world live for ever. A tree is known by its fruit, and a person by their work.