A long time ago, there was a huge apple tree. A little boy loved to come and lay around it every day. He climbed to the tree top, ate the apples, took a nap under the shadow... He loved the tree and the tree loved to play with him.

很久很久以前，有一棵又高又大的蘋果樹。一位小男孩，天天到樹下來，他爬上去摘蘋果吃，在樹蔭下睡覺。他愛蘋果樹，蘋果樹也愛和他一起玩耍。

Time went by... the little boy had grown up and he no longer played around the tree every day. One day, the boy came back to the tree and he looked sad. “Come and play with me,” the tree asked the boy. “I am no longer a kid, I don’t play around trees anymore.” The boy replied, “I want toys. I need money to buy them.” “Sorry, but I don’t have money...but you can pick all my apples and sell them. So, you will have money.” The boy was so excited. He grabbed all the apples on the tree and left happily. The boy never came back after he picked the apples. The tree was sad.

后來，小男孩長大了，不再天天來玩耍。一天他又來到樹下，很傷心的樣子。蘋果樹要和他一起玩，男孩說：“不行，我不小了，不能再和你玩，我要玩具，可是沒錢買。”蘋果樹說：“很遺憾，我也沒錢，不過，把我所有的果子摘下來賣掉，你不就有錢了?”男孩十分激動，他摘下所有的蘋果，高高興興地走了。然后，男孩好久都沒有來。蘋果樹很傷心。

One day, the boy returned and the tree was so excited. “Come and play with me,” the tree said. “I don’t have time to play. I have to work for my family. We need a house for shelter. Can you help me?” “Sorry, but I don’t have a house. But you can chop off my branches to build your house.” So the boy cut all the branches off the tree and left happily. The tree was glad to see him happy but the boy never came back since then. The tree was again lonely and sad.

有一天，男孩終于來了，樹興奮地邀他一起玩。男孩說：“不行，我沒有時間，我要替家里干活呢，我們需要一幢房子，你能幫忙嗎?”“我沒有房子，”蘋果樹說，“不過你可以把我的樹枝統統砍下來，拿去搭房子。”于是男孩砍下所有的樹枝，高高興興地運走去蓋房子。看到男孩高興樹好快樂。從此，男孩又不來了。樹再次陷入孤單和悲傷之中。

One hot summer day, the boy returned and the tree was delighted. “Come and play with me!” the tree said. “I am sad and getting old. I want to go sailing to relax myself. Can you give me a boat?” “Use my trunk to build your boat. You can sail far away and be happy.” So the boy cut the tree trunk to make a boat. He went sailing and never showed up for a long time. The tree was happy, but it was not true.

一年夏天，男孩回來了，樹太快樂了：“來呀!孩子，來和我玩呀。”男孩卻說：“我心情不好，一天天老了，我要揚帆出海，輕松一下，你能給我一艘船嗎?”蘋果樹說：“把我的樹干砍去，拿去做船吧!”于是男孩砍下了她的樹干，造了條船，然后駕船走了，很久都沒有回來。樹好快樂……但不是真的。