The Lorax (Adapted from Dr. Seus' The Lorax. At the end of this post, credits are stated.)

 

There once lived two best friends, Once-ler and the Lorax in a very beatiful land. The land was full of trees which had magical leaves. The leaves can be spun to make clothes of many purposes. Once-ler was a cloth maker and the Lorax was the guardian of the land. For years they lived as best friends. They were also friends with the animals living in the land.

Once-ler took as many leaves as he needed and never too many. The Lorax approved this and always reminded him not too greedy to harvest too many leaves to make clothes.

The Lorax often said, “Take as you need my friend or you will regret it if you take too many leaves.” Once-ler replied, “Sure, my friend. I make clothes for myself and sell them to get some money for my other needs.”

Once-ler’s clothes were very popular and many people like them. However, Once-ler’s family was greedy. They wanted to get more money. They persuaded Once-ler to make more clothes. Unfortunately, more clothes means more leaves. Once-ler was forced to get more leaves by cutting more leaves.

The Lorax was surprised by this change. He then reminded Once-ler, “My friend, please don’t be greedy. You will destroy the environment!”

Once-ler ignored him and his family made him stay away from the Lorax who tried to stop the action. Once-ler said, “You don’t know anything about money. It can give you many things. Go away!” The Lorax then said, “Please, stop. You will regret it.”

But the family keep cutting more and more trees and got more money but the land became barren in a short time. When the last tree was cut down, the Lorax came to Once-ler. He wanted to bid farewell. He said, “This is the last time that we can meet. You are still my friend but I have to go because there aren’t trees anymore that I can guard.”

Once-ler was shocked and finally realized that the beautiful land had became a barren land. He saw the Lorax and his animal friends disappeared. He regretted what he had done. Then he spent his life trying to plant trees and wished that the Lorax and his animal friends could come back and they would become friends again.

guardian  gɑː.di.ən

 

approved   əˈpruːvd

 

 reminded rɪˈmaɪnd

 

greedy   griː.di

 

persuade        pəˈsweɪd

 

 surprised       səˈpraɪzd

 

change            tʃeɪndʒ

 

 

environment  ɪnˈvaɪ ə  .rə n  .mənt

 

realized          rɪə.laɪz

Author	Dr. Seuss
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre	Children's literature
Publisher	Random House
Publication date	June 23, 1971 (renewed 1999)
Pages	64
ISBN	0-394-82337-0
OCLC	183127
Dewey Decimal	[E]
LC Class	PZ8.3.G276 Lo
Preceded by	"I Can Write—By Me, Myself"
Followed by	"Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now!"