Fifth Grade
Worksheets
The Peasant and the Apple Tree
A peasant lived in a hut at the end of a dirt road. He tended a small piece of land. His garden was filled with fruits and vegetables. He had a few chickens as well. There was an old apple tree standing at one corner of the garden. It had stopped providing apples for the peasant a long time ago.
One morning late in the summer, the peasant looked over his small garden. It was green and full of good things to eat. He admired the tall corn stalks, plump tomatoes, and the big heads of lettuce. Then the old apple tree caught his eye. Bird sounds were coming from it.
"The old tree is useless to me," the peasant told himself. "If I were to get rid of it, I would have room to make my garden larger."
Retrieving his axe from the small shed behind his house, the peasant returned to the apple tree. He aimed a blow at its trunk.
