Once upon a time there was a rabbit that lived on an island full of bamboo canes. He was called Robbie, and every day he would run from his warren at one end of the island to where all the grass grew on the other, dodging the bamboo canes as he went.

One day, Robbie thought: “Why can’t I just go and eat the grass without having to hop round all those bamboo canes?” An idea came to him, and he set to work ripping away the bamboo stalks to create a path straight to his food.

Just as he was pulling out the second bamboo cane, he heard a little voice crying out: “Little rabbit Robbie! Don’t rip out more bamboo, for if you do all of us who live on this island will vanish!!”

Robbie was surprised to hear the voice, and quickly realised that it came from a bamboo cane. He answered: “I’m sorry, Mrs Bamboo Cane, but I’m making a road to get to my food quicker.”

But the bamboo cane kept talking to Robbie and told him: “I understand your reasons for pulling us up, but the whole island is in danger if you do!!“

“Why?” asked Robbie, astounded. To which the bamboo cane replied: “Because we, the bamboo stalks, support the ground on this island, and if we disappear, the island will sink and you will sink with us!!”

The fair-minded Robbie understood that the bamboo cane was right, and thought: “We can’t mistreat nature without accepting the consequences.”

THE END