Page 59 - Tree of Happiness

After the Dragon left, the Queen told the people that they must be ready to face another dragon or any like it, if it comes back. Difficulties (Dragons) are a part of life and facing them each and every time they come is an important part of this lesson.
The Queen goes back to the forest and tells the Elf of her adventures and how she completed all of the tasks. He gives her the key to the “Tree of Happiness” and she goes inside. She immediately jumps out to tell him that it is just an old hollow tree.
Many of us are constantly looking for some type of magic “Tree of Happiness.” We look for some person or possession that will make our life perfect and happy. We tell ourselves that “someday” such-and-such will happen. The Elf realized that the Queen was this type of person and in their first meeting he asked her a series of questions about the things that were bothering her.
At the end of the story, he asks her about those things that were of such concern to her when they first met. He asked if people still disliked her or if the people were still all poor or stupid and what about that Dragon?
She replied that all of these problems were fixed and that the Dragon had run away. Then she told the Elf that she was very, very happy. “You see,” said the Elf, “It really is the Tree of Happiness and you may never need to come back to it again.”
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