Once upon a time, in a place not too far from here, there lived three brothers.
Every week they went to the market to buy their food and to see what marvelous things others had made. One week, they saw a booth that had never been seen in the market before. In the booth sat a tiny old man, hunched over a cane, with a candle buring on the table before him.
As the three brothers watched, a customer approached the booth and gave the old man some money. He, in turn, handed the customer what looked like a small seed. The customer turned and smiled such a radiant and joyful smile, that it seemed as though bright sun shone from him throughout the entire market. He held the seed lovingly between his hands and left the market with a spring in his step.
The three brothers decided that they must discover the secret of this seed that had made the customer so joyful. As they approached the booth, they saw that the old man had already packed everything away and was preparing to leave. When the brothers asked him what he had given the customer, he only replied that he had no more seeds. They begged him to tell them the secret of the seed.
"No, that I cannot do," the old man replied.
But the brothers persisted, and finally the old man, swearing the brothers to secrecy, told them that it was the seed to the most wonderful apple tree. A tree whose apples were so large, and so perfectly round, that if one fell to the ground, it would roll and roll for many days before stopping. Everything that grew up around the tree would grow strong and healthy. The water in nearby lakes and streams would grow more crisp. The animals and people would be healthier and more joyful.
"Where can we get more of these seeds?" the brothers exclaimed.
"That I cannot tell you," the old man replied.
But the brothers persisted, and so the old man, swearing them to secrecy once again, told them that the apple tree from which the seeds came was in a deep valley that could only be reached by climbing up one side of the tallest mountain that rose above their village, then down the next side, and then up again, and finally back down.
The brothers' eyes grew wide. No one had ever even succeeded in climbing the first side of the mountain, much less down it, and up the far side and down again! But they were adventurous lads, and decided to attempt the journey. And so they set off.
After weeks of diffuicult climbing up, and even more difficult sliding down the steep mountain sides -- only to be faced with another steep climb and another steep side to slide down, they finally reached the valley where the tree was. There they found just three seeds, one for each of them.
And so they returned. They talked during their journey home about how to grow these mysterious seeds. None of them knew what the best way would be.
When at last they returned home, each of them decided to try his own way of growing the seeds.
The first brother went to the market and all the shops in the village, buying every kind of plant food, weed killer, pill, and spray that he could find.
He dug a hole, buried his seed, and began his work of caring for the seed morning and night. Whenever he learned of a new method or remedy that might help it to grow bigger, better, or faster, he rushed out to buy it so that he might try it. Every day, he coaxed his seed to grow. "I cannot wait to see you, my tree! I cannot wait to taste your beautiful fruit! Please grow faster!"
The second brother took his seed and brushed some earth over it. He wanted it to grow, and he gave it water when he thought of it. But he couldn't be bothered to spend too much time caring for it.
But the third brother, before planting his seed, cleared a beautiful place for it to grow. He lit a fire and said a silent prayer. He carefully dug a small hole for the seed, and as he crouched to bury it in the ground, he asked the earth to care for his seed with love. Each day, he lovingly tended his seed. He patiently gave it just enough water, and just enough food.
Soon, the first brother's seed had grown into a mighty tree. It produced the finest, biggest apples, just as had been promised. Everyone came from far and wide to see the marvel of his amazing tree. But when it had dropped the last of its bountiful crop of apples, it began to wither, and never produced any more fruit, no matter what the brother did for it. Over time, the brother gave up and stopped visiting his tree.
The second brother's tree also began to grow soon after he had planted it. But it only grew a few inches, and then became stunted. It neither grew, nor withered, and it never came to produce fruit. The second brother, also, lost interest and stopped visiting his tree.
But the third brother's tree grew slowly. Day after day, week after week, he cared for it. He fed, and watered, and pruned it. Long after the first tree had stopped bearing fruit, the third brother's tree finally produced its first small apple. But year after year, it produced more and more fruit, and each year the fruit was bigger and better than the last.
The three brothers and their friends all began to tend the third tree. They began to see that everything that grew up around the tree was strong and healthy. The water in nearby lakes and streams became more crisp. The animals and people were healthier and more joyful.
And so they all lived for many years, and if you go to this place today, you might meet someone who still remembers.
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I learned this story from a Waldorf teacher a while back. He offered this story to a group of parents as a metaphor for the job that we do in raising and educating our children. (It's also a pedagocial story that he used in his classroom with children -- to teach the letter M, among other things.)
With "back to school" on the minds of many -- including me -- I would like to begin a series of posts -- maybe three or four -- about Waldorf education and homeschooling with Waldorf. I receive so many questions on this subject, and it's one that I don't feel I've answered very well in this space. So I thought I'd share a little bit about it in the coming weeks. I hope you'll find what I have to say about the subject interesting, take what works for you, and enjoy!
