The Apple on the Hill

"Yogi needs to chill", said Bodhi to Jogi. Jogi replied, “Hmm, It’s time that we three 

should go on a trip. Its apple season and I’ve heard that apple hill is great this time of the year and if we go there, we could have some tasty apples too”. It was fixed. Yogi, Jogi and Bodhi went to the apple hill. There was a magnificent apple tree just at the bottom of the hill. Bright red apples were shining on its branches. The sunlight actually made them shine and the whole spectacle was too good to go unnoticed. “What a magnificent tree”, said Yogi.  "I bet the apples are sweet too."

“Sweetest I’ve ever tasted”, exclaimed Bodhi. "I once came here before and I was fortunate enough to taste one of the apples and I can bet on my life that these are the sweetest apples in whole of the city."

"Then you’ll die kid", came a voice. They turned towards that voice. There was an old man with long flowing white beard wearing bright robes standing there. He said,”When I was young I used to climb at the top of the hill. There are total 7 apple trees on this hill and I can swear upon my beard that the apple on the hill is the sweetest. At the very top you’ll find the sweetest apple”.

Bodhi and Jogi were not impressed. “This man is probably drunk if not mad. Look at the hill. It’s seems to be in the sky. Who will go there?” said Bodhi casually.

Yogi was quick to answer, "I will”.  He said, "I can tell by his beard that he is not fooling us. I need to taste that apple too.” Bodhi and Jogi weren’t interested in going so Yogi went alone.

He tasted the apple from the tree at the bottom and it was sweet. Yogi hadn’t had an apple this sweet and he couldn’t even imagine that any apple could be even sweeter than this. But he was confident that the apple on the hill is the sweetest. He had full trust on the old man. He started climbing the hill and tasted the apples from other trees but they weren’t as sweet as the apple he tasted before. The climb was exhausting. Yogi felt like giving up but the thought of the sweet apple made him keep going on. Finally he was there. He was at the top of the hill and he could see the tree in front of his eyes. It wasn’t magnificent like the tree at the bottom. In fact, it wasn’t even close to being good. The tree had a very few leaves and it seemed like it was dying. It had pale yellow apples hanging from its branches. “One shouldn’t judge a book by its cover”, he said to himself and proceeded to eat the apple. He ate the apple and immediately spat it out. It was nasty. It was a sour apple. He couldn’t believe what just happened. He tasted many more apples but each one seemed to be even more sour than the previous one. He was devastated. He hurled abuses at the old man. He sweared that he would set the old man's beard on fire once he reaches down. He started his climb down. On his way down he started eating apples from other 5 trees and he felt better. Each one tasted sweeter than the other. His mood was a little bit mended. He came down and finally tasted the apple from the bottom tree again. “Ah! This is the sweetest apple I’ve ever tasted”, he said in delight. The old man was sitting just beside him with Jogi and Bodhi. He angrily approached him and said, "You made me fool. The apple on the top of the hill is the worst. Prepare to die”. "Whoa! Hold on.",  said the old man. He asked,”Did you get the sweetest apple”? 

“Yes, I did. It’s the one from this tree” answered Yogi. "How can u be so sure?",  countered the old man. Yogi replied, "It’s because I’ve tasted every apple from this hill and this tree has the sweetest apple than the others.”

“So, you are saying that after tasting apple from every other tree you arrived on this conclusion?” asked the old man. "Yes.", said Yogi.

“Hmm, so why do u want to kill me? I was the one who sent you up the hill to taste those apples and now because of that you know conclusively that this tree has the sweetest apple.” said the old man.

Yogi thought for a while and said, "You could have just told me this.” 

”Then you would have had the knowledge of it but you wouldn’t have known it. My experience can’t be yours. It’s important that you experience things yourself because then only you can truly know things. What’s important is not just to taste the sweetest apple but to taste the sourest one too. Then only your experience of eating the sweetest apple is full. You see, you and Bodhi both have tasted the sweetest apple but your experience of eating the sweetest apple is superior. Don’t stop at any point. Know everything until there is nothing to be known and then only you’ll be able to know the importance of the apple on the hill.” said the old man and walked off to a nearby cottage.

“This old man is probably drunk if not mad. You were right, Bodhi. He made a fool out of me twice. I will kill him if I see him the next time.” cried Yogi.

Jogi looked at Bodhi and smiled.

"Yogi needs to chill",  they said to each other.