1The valley was a desolate and forgotten place of wind, grey dust, and long abandoned stone farms.
2The few remaining villagers quarrelled constantly with one another and dreamed of nothing but leaving.
3Into this barren landscape one spring morning came a shepherd carrying a bag of acorns.
4Each day, while his sheep grazed on the hillsides, he patiently planted one hundred seeds.
5The years passed, wars raged far away, and the outside world changed beyond all recognition.
6When a young surveyor returned to the valley after thirty years, he was utterly astonished.
7The once barren hills were now covered with a magnificent forest of young oak trees.
8Streams that had been dry for several generations were flowing clear and cold once again.
9Birds had returned to the valley, and with them came farmers and their laughing children.
10The shepherd, now a very old man, still walked the green hills each quiet morning.
11He had never sought recognition for his labour, and officially he received none at all.
12His monument was not a statue in a public square but a living, breathing forest of oaks.