![tails of iron woodcutter tails of iron woodcutter](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/OnLVBQeqemo/maxresdefault.jpg)
All around her, people were hugging trees. I cannot."Īmrita opened one eye, then another, to see the woodcutter's head bowed, his axe at his feet. He looked down at the girl-this mere sapling of a girl-her eyes squeezed shut, her thin arms hugging so tight, her tearstained cheeks pale with fright. "Swing your axe!" the chief shouted again. And she knew with a fierce bright certainty that she was doing the right thing. She felt the strength of the tree coursing through her. Amrita clenched her teeth and clung onto her old friend, so that the bumpy bark was pressing into her cheek and arms. She could hear the sound of her own breathing, hard and loud and fast. "If you want to cut the tree, you will have to cut me first!" The man and his axe were behind her. "Little girl, there's nothing you can do to stop us." Amrita thought of her beloved tree lying dead on the forest floor and she ran from the woodcutter toward her tree.Īmrita flung her arms around her tree, pressing herself against it. Her voice shook as she spoke: "I will not let anyone harm my tree." "Please don't cut down my tree." The woodcutter advanced.Īmrita stepped in front of him, blocking his path. "No! No! Please don't!" she cried, tears springing to her eyes. Leaves dropped like tears.Ī woodcutter brushed past Amrita, toward her own special tree. The woodcutters began to chop at another tree, and another. Amrita's mother covered her mouth with her hands. With a terrible groan the mighty tree came crashing to the ground.
![tails of iron woodcutter tails of iron woodcutter](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/EpM_jgJqzV8/maxresdefault.jpg)
With a swift swoop his iron blade bit deep into the bark. Now!" He turned to the woodcutters and ordered, "Cut down the trees!" A burly woodcutter shouldered his axe and strolled over to an ancient khejari. Can't you see? We need these trees to survive."
![tails of iron woodcutter tails of iron woodcutter](https://storage.googleapis.com/hipcomic/p/8476189398dea259e87f85f56f8b3116.jpg)
"These roots soak up rain, so the earth can give us spring water. "With this timber the Maharajah will have the finest palace in all of India!" "Never mind your mud huts," the chief replied with a sweep of his hand. Without them our fields and homes will be washed away." "Their roots hold the soil together they keep the land from sliding away during the monsoon rains. "Sir, these trees are our life," Amrita's mother implored. The chief woodcutter cast his eyes over the straggle of women before him and snorted. We do not want trouble, but we cannot let you cut down these trees." Amrita's mother greeted the men politely, pressing her hands together and bowing her head: "Namaste. They arrived to find the woodcutters sharpening their axes. "Amma, Amma," she panted, pushing wind-swept hair out of her eyes, "I saw men in the forest, men with axes, and they are going to cut down the trees!"Īmrita's mother rushed around the village, calling the women away from their work. Quick as a blackbuck, she ran to the village. "I won't let them hurt you," she said out loud. They couldn't cut down the forest! Without these trees there'd be no fruit to eat, no leaves to feed the cows, no shelter from the sun.Ībove her, watching over her, Amrita's own tree stirred in the breeze. "The Maharajahs need plenty of wood." Amrita drew in her breath. "Cut down every tree you can," she heard the chief woodcutter say. Bright edges! Sharp flashes! They were carrying axes. Through the trees she saw men marching, each one carrying something.
#TAILS OF IRON WOODCUTTER CRACK#
Now Amrita heard the tramp of many heavy boots, the crack of branches snapping. With a flick of their tails, the gazelles were gone. A shiver shot down Amrita's spine and she scrambled to her feet. Sometimes she talked to her tree, sharing her daydreams and her secrets, but today was so peaceful that she sat in silence.Īmrita closed her eyes and sighed with pleasure.ĬAAWK! She heard un unearthly shriek, the shrill alarm call of the peacock, echoing through the forest. Sometimes the wind swayed her and she was a forest queen. After the glare of the desert sun, it was cool and green in the forest grove. Used by permission.Īmrita leaned back against her favorite tree and rested. Print and copy the coloring sheet (PDF) for "Amrita's Tree."Īdapted from "Amrita's Tree" in The Barefoot Book of Earth Tales by Dawn Casey and Anne Wilson (Cambridge: Barefoot Books, 2009).