Man, who planted the trees

Reading of this small book will take you about thirty minutes, but at the end of the book you will have a feeling that you are richer.

  The novella, written by Jean Giono in 1953, is apparently about the shepherd who set the trees in Provence in France. Action is very simple. The man, the observer, comes to the desolate Provencal country.  People have long since left, the country is abandoned, juggled by winds, covered only by modest vegetation. Here the man meets a shepherd whose name is Elzéard Bouffier. He is plant the trees . Everyday, he plant one hundred acorns in the barren soil. 

He works tirelessly, everyday, plants the trees.  Despite loneliness, simple life and difficult conditions, he does not lost the sense for everyday order. Years later, when the man returned to known places, the country almost does not known.  At the wasteland is a green forest. And it is not the end of the miracle.  Together with the trees the climate changed, the creeks resumed, the birds and other animals found their homes again in the wood.  And in the end the people come back too. This land has become the place where the life come back. 

This was done by one man,ordinary shepherd of sheeps. 

"If we want to know the true quality of a person's character, we must be able to follow his actions for many years. If his behavior is deprived of any spirit, if it is absolutely certain that he has no advantage at all, and if it does not give us a clear trace, undoubtedly have the honor of meeting an exceptional person. "

Frédéric Back, a Canadian filmmaker, shot in 1987 a half-hour animated film based on this story. The film takes only half an hour and the next half hour brings the aplause which the audience rewarded for. The film was awarded Oscar.

I wish you a pleasant book experience...

Terka