The Ancient and Medieval Architecture of India: A Study of Indo-Aryan Civilisation c6.2

c6.2

But soon afterwards another traveller, not learned but loving the beauty of the forest, went the same way and saw the same lordly trees. And at first he too thought he had never seen such trees before; but, looking at them closer and pulling the creepers and undergrowth aside, he saw that the trees were really of the same species as those which grew in his native land—such as the oak, chestnut, the elm and ash tree—only in a tropical climate they grew larger and more luxuriantly. The Botanist, when he heard of this, smiled scornfully and said: "That fellow knows nothing about trees. Did I not examine every branch and give the trees their proper names? Of course, the leaves and flowers I took were of the creepers and parasites; but the trees themselves are rotten and useless. The forest should be cut down, so that the soil may be ploughed and used for growing things that are useful and good for food."