A very old tree had been growing quite slowly for many years. It was nearly the   1  tree in the forest, and it raised its head high above the   2   trees towards the sky like a king of trees.

One spring day, the wind brought a little seed and dropped it   3  the roots of the tree. Soon it grew into a plant. “I’ll climb to the top of the tree,” said   4   little plant. “They’ll see how quickly I can grow.” So it held tightly to the tree, climbed and climbed 5  it climbed up to the top branch. It said to the tree, “You have grown for a great many years, and I only began this summer – see   6   high I have got!”

But the old tree just said nothing at all. Later, a great storm came, bringing snow and heavy winds. The old tree did n’t mind the cold at all, but the poor little plant had grown so fast   7   it had forgotten to grow well.   8   that cold night it fell onto the ground. And that was the end of the little plant.