A dusty path ran through a village. People and animals walked up and down, going from here to there and back again. One day a boy spotted something small and green in the middle of the path. "A baby tree," he said. He took some rocks and put them all around it. "Hey, you," called a mango seller, hurrying past. "Out of the way, out of the way!" As the baby tree grew bigger, the feet of all the people going from here to there and back again wore the path into a curving lane. "Hey, you!" cried the bullock-cart man, with his animals nodding their heads, one-two, one-two. "Out of the way! Out of the way!" Excerpted from Out of the Way! Out of the Way! by Uma Krishnaswami All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
