Once, two brothers lived on the edge of a forest.
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The elder brother was very mean to his younger brother. He ate up all the food and took away all his good clothes.
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One morning, the elder brother went into the forest to get some firewood. As he went around chopping the branches of trees, he came upon a magical tree.
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The tree said to him, “Please do not cut my branches. Spare me and I will give you my golden apples.” The elder brother agreed. But he was not happy with the number of apples the tree gave him.
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Greed overcame him. He threatened the tree to cut its entire trunk if it didn’t give him more apples. The magical tree got angry and showered hundreds of tiny needles upon him.
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The elder brother lay on the ground crying in pain. The sun began to set and the younger brother grew worried.
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The younger brother went in search of his elder brother. He found him lying with hundreds of needles on his skin. He rushed and removed each needle slowly.
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The elder brother apologised for treating him badly and promised to be good. The tree saw the change in the elder brother’s heart.
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The tree gave them a loadful of the golden apples.