The Man Who Planted Trees
Jean Giono
80 Pages
Published 1954, 1985
Fiction, Essay, Nature, Trees
This essay was originally published in the French edition of Vogue in 1954. It was soon translated into several languages including English. It has been published many times in many formats and has inspired songs, short animated films, its own documentary, and other interpretations.
The Man Who Planted Trees is a moving tale of a man who is traveling a parched land in 1911. He has been without water for two days and is in desperate need of shelter from the sun and to quench his thirst. It is in this moment that he meets a gentle, quiet, simple man who leads him to a little cottage and restores him to health. The traveler observes this man carefully picking through acorns and then planting the 100 best the next day. The traveler visits this man several times over the next 40 years. With each visit the land has more trees, more sources of water, and happier and healthier people until it is sustaining a thrumming community. The change is gradual enough that most people assume the trees have always been there and were spontaneous eruptions of nature. All the while it is has been this man who is happy with how he has lived his life and unassuming that he is responsible for the happiness of at least 10,000 town dwellers.
This tale inspires in the most un-pedantic way what can be achieve through small efforts and the importance of living in balance with nature.
You can access the essay in both the French and English versions for free online.
Jean Giono
80 Pages
Published 1954, 1985
Fiction, Essay, Nature, Trees
This essay was originally published in the French edition of Vogue in 1954. It was soon translated into several languages including English. It has been published many times in many formats and has inspired songs, short animated films, its own documentary, and other interpretations.
The Man Who Planted Trees is a moving tale of a man who is traveling a parched land in 1911. He has been without water for two days and is in desperate need of shelter from the sun and to quench his thirst. It is in this moment that he meets a gentle, quiet, simple man who leads him to a little cottage and restores him to health. The traveler observes this man carefully picking through acorns and then planting the 100 best the next day. The traveler visits this man several times over the next 40 years. With each visit the land has more trees, more sources of water, and happier and healthier people until it is sustaining a thrumming community. The change is gradual enough that most people assume the trees have always been there and were spontaneous eruptions of nature. All the while it is has been this man who is happy with how he has lived his life and unassuming that he is responsible for the happiness of at least 10,000 town dwellers.
This tale inspires in the most un-pedantic way what can be achieve through small efforts and the importance of living in balance with nature.
You can access the essay in both the French and English versions for free online.
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