The Valley and the Tree Hollow
The valley was truly pitiful. Whoever spoke to him, he had to respond.
The tree hollow, however, said, “I’m the one who’s pitiful! Everyone tells me their secrets, but I can only listen and never reply.”
“Then let’s switch places,” said the valley.
The tree hollow was happy to swap with the valley.
As the valley, the tree hollow was thrilled; she could finally speak.
Someone called out to the valley, “Hello!”
She answered, “Hello—”
That person continued, “It’s such a nice day today!”
She responded, “Nice day—”
“I love hiking!”
“Love hiking—”
“I love spring!”
“Love spring—”
“I love Lily!”
“Who’s Lily—”
When they switched places, the valley forgot to explain the valley’s rules clearly, only telling her that she had to reply when spoken to.
So, the new valley didn’t know she could only repeat what others said and not speak her own mind.
The person who said he loved Lily was very surprised to hear the valley’s reply, but after a brief pause, he continued speaking to the valley:
“Lily is the little girl next door!”
“Why do you like Lily—”
“Because she’s very cute!”
“Then go and tell her—”
“Tell her?”
“Tell her—”
The person who shouted at the valley hurriedly ran down the mountain to find Lily. The new valley took a sip of tea, rested for a while, and then began talking to the next person who called out to the valley.
“Hey!”
“Hey—”
“Piano is so annoying!”
“Annoying—”
“I really hate learning the piano!”
“What is a piano—”
The tree hollow, now the valley, chatted enthusiastically with the person who called out to her, releasing all the energy she had stored up when she was a tree hollow. Soon, everyone knew about this special valley, and many people came to her just to talk.
And what about the tree hollow? The valley that had turned into a tree hollow?
The new tree hollow didn’t mind being unable to speak at all; he had already grown tired of talking. Not having to say a word was perfect.
Besides, he found the people who came to talk to the tree hollow more interesting than those who talked to the valley. The valley people always spoke in short, silly phrases. But the people who came to the tree hollow often shared long, complex stories—some were happy, but more often, they were not.
After hearing so many unhappy stories, the tree hollow felt anxious for these people. Those things they complained about weren’t really that big of a deal!
If you don’t like Lili, then don’t play with him! Go and find someone you do like, like DouDou, DingDing, or MaoTou—there are plenty of people to play with!
If you like the piano, just tell your parents! If you don’t say it, how will they know that you want to learn the piano instead of dancing?
The new tree hollow really wanted to open his mouth and offer them advice. But he remembered that when they switched places, the tree hollow had told him—not to make a sound!
Alright, no talking then. The tree hollow pondered this for a while and finally decided to record what people said to him on the leaves. After writing on the front of the leaves, he would write his own comments on the back.
This way, people who came to vent to the tree hollow would often look up and be surprised to find: Huh, someone else had the same problem before… It’s hanging right there on the tree… Oh, so this is what I could do…
Soon, everyone knew about this special tree hollow, and many people came specifically to talk to him, waiting for new leaves to grow so they could turn them over and see what the tree hollow had to say about their problems.
And for those who just wanted to talk about their own stories, they still came to the tree hollow. Because the tree hollow would also write down their stories and hang them on the branches. Everyone could see, but no one knew whose story it was. Hmm, it felt pretty good that way.
The tree hollow who had turned into the valley and the valley who had turned into the tree hollow were both very happy.
They both thought, “We should have swapped a long time ago.”
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
