The Oldest Tree
The tree had been there for as long as the oldest man in the village could remember. It was a part of the village, just like the well or the bakery. Some people said it was the oldest tree in the village, others said the oldest tree in the world.
No one knew how old the tree was, but it was very old. The trunk was thick and the branches were strong. The leaves were big and the flowers were beautiful.
One day, a group of scientists came to the village. They wanted to study the tree. They took samples of the bark and the leaves, and they measured the trunk and the branches.
The scientists said the tree was very old. They said it was the oldest tree in the world.
The villagers were very proud. They started to take care of the tree, watering it and trimming it. They even built a fence around it to protect it.
The scientists came back to the village every year to study the tree. They took more samples and made more measurements.
Then, one day, the scientists said the tree was no longer the oldest tree in the world. Another tree, in another part of the world, was older.
The villagers were very disappointed. They stopped taking care of the tree. The fence around it fell down, and the tree started to die.
Then, one day the scientist came back to check their study, and the villagers started to forge the tree’s age to make it the oldest tree in the world.
