Le poirier et les quatre saisons

C'est l'histoire d'un homme, père de 4 garçons.

Il voulait apprendre à ses fils à ne point juger précipitamment.

 Pour cela il les envoya faire une enquête personnelle pendant laquelle ils devaient se rendre à une distance lointaine et aller chacun observer un poirier.

Le premier fils partirait en hiver, le second au printemps, le troisième en été et le benjamin en automne. Quand tous furent partis et revenus, il les rassembla et leur demanda de lui décrire ce qu'ils avaient vu.

Le premier fils dit que l'arbre était noir, affreux, tout plié et que ses branches étaient tordues.

Le second dit: "Non, il était couvert de pousses vertes et plein de belles promesses".

Le troisième avait un point de vue bien différent: "Il était plein de fleurs agréables à sentir et je l'ai trouvé majestueux, c'était l'arbre le plus gracieux que je n'avais jamais vu".

Le benjamin secoua sa tête pour leur faire remarquer que son observation n'était pas du tout la même: "Les fruits étaient tous murs, lourds de leur jus, plein d'engagements et d'espoirs".

Le brave homme leur dit alors: "Mes fils vous avez tous raison. Eh oui, vous êtes tous allés voir ce poirier à une saison différente et chacun d'entre vous a vu une seule période de la vie de cet arbre".

Il leur dit aussi: "Vous ne pouvez pas juger un arbre en seulement une saison, ni un être humain sur une impression. L'essence de ce qu'ils sont en réalité ne peut être connue en seulement une petite partie de vie, car il y a les joies, les peines, les regrets, etc. Ils peuvent seulement être appréciés que bien plus tard dans leur existence. Si vous abandonnez en hiver alors vous manquez inévitablement la promesse du printemps, la beauté de l'été et l'accomplissement de l'automne."

Michel Poulaert

The Tale of the Three Brothers

Seven books you have to buy and read, read and read again.
Eight movies you have to buy, and watch, watch and watch again. 
A world that will give to your life a touch of magic.


"There were once three brothers who were travelling along a lonely, winding road at twilight. In time, the brothers reached a river too treacherous to pass, but being learned in the magical arts, the three brothers simply waved their wands and made a bridge. Before they could cross, however, they found their path blocked by a hooded figure.

It was Death, and he felt cheated, cheated because travellers would normally drown in the river. But Death was cunning. He pretended to congratulate the three brothers on their magic and said that each had earned a prize for having been clever enough to evade him.


The oldest asked for a wand more powerful than any in existence: so Death fashioned him one from an elder tree that stood nearby.


The second brother, decided he wanted to humiliate Death even further, and asked for the power to recall loved ones from the grave. So Death plucked a stone from the river and offered it to him.


Finally, Death turned to the third brother. A humble man, he asked for something that would allow him to go forth from that place without being followed by Death. And so was that Death reluctantly handed over his own Cloak of Invisibility.

The first brother traveled to a distant village, where with the Elder Wand in hand he killed a wizard with whom he had once quarreled. Drunk, with the power that the Elder Wand had given him, he braged of his invincibility.

But that night, another wizard stole the wand and slit the brother’s throat for good measure.

And so Death took the first brother for his own.

The second brother journeyed to his home, where he took the stone and turned it thrice in his hand. To his delight, the girl he had once hoped to marry, before her untimely death, appeared before him.

Yet soon she turned sad and cold, for she did not belong in the mortal world. Driven mad with hopeless longing, the second brother killed himself so as to join her.

And so Death took the second brother.

As for the third brother, Death searched for many years, but was never able to find him. Only when he attained a great age d thide youngest brother shed the Cloak of Invisibility and gave it to his son. He then greeted Death as an old friend, and went with him gladly, departing this life as equals."

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter Twenty-One