A long, long time ago, there stood a big cinnamon tree in the mountains. From time to time, some angels from the heavens came down to rest under the tree, which cast a cooling, inviting shade. One of the angels was particularly fond of the tree, and some time later, she gave birth to a son. Of course, the father was the soul of the tree. But the angel couldn’t bring this human child with her, and she returned to the heavens alone, leaving her son under the tree.

One day, strong winds and heavy rainfall swept across the world. As the torrential rain storm continued for days, it seemed like everything on earth would be destroyed. But the cinnamon tree reassured the little boy that everything would be just fine. “My son, there is nothing to worry about. Even if I fall down, just hold on tightly to me and you will be all right.” The tree father also told the boy to remember one thing. “Son, you can help anything while we are drifting. But never ever help human beings. Don’t forget it.” The water rose higher and higher, and the tree was finally uprooted. The boy climbed on the tree father, as he was told, and stayed there as it was floating on the water. While drifting along, the boy heard tiny voices crying out for help. They were from some ants in the water. Feeling pity for the ants, the boy lifted them out of the water. Of course, the ants expressed thanks to the kind boy. Some days later, they saw some mosquitoes floating in the water. These creatures, too, asked for help. The boy shouted to them to climb on the tree. The mosquitoes gladly came up to the tree and shed the water from their wet wings. They promised to the boy that they would never forget his kindness.

Now, the cinnamon boy, the ants, and the mosquitoes sat on the tree as it drifted along on the waves. After a while, they saw a boy who shouted for help in the water. Of course, the cinnamon son was willing to save the boy as well. But he remembered his father’s warning not to help human beings. He hesitated for a while. But when he saw the boy struggling to stay above water, he helped the boy climb up to the tree. The boy cried and bowed deeply in front of the one who had just saved him.

Several more days passed, and they reached an island, which turned out to be a mountain peak surrounded by water. There, they found a small cottage where a woman and her daughter lived. It seemed like they were the only human beings left in the world. The two women were eager to accept the survivors and let them stay in the house. So, the two boys, the woman, and her daughter began to live together.

One day, the lady told them that she wanted to marry her beloved daughter to one of the two boys. Having already predicted this, the boy whose life had been saved pointed to the cinnamon son and said, “The tree boy is very skilled at hulling millets and collecting the seeds.” But this was a lie. In fact, the cunning boy wanted to make the cinnamon son look unreliable so he would be selected instead as the husband of the girl. So, the mother decided to test the cinnamon boy. She spread out a bushel of millet in the yard and told the boy to hull it. Of course, the cinnamon son was at a loss what to do. Suddenly, tens of thousands of ants appeared from nowhere. One of the ants said, “Boy, I’m sure you remember me. I’m one of the ants you had saved. Don’t worry. We’ll hull the millets and gather up the hulled seeds. I’m glad to repay you in some way.” Thanks to the ants, the task was done in an instant and the mother was pleased.

But the boy who had been saved was strongly opposed to her idea of marrying the girl to the other boy. Since the boys were both precious to the woman, she decided to leave the choice to them. She hid the girl in one of the two rooms and told the boys to choose one of the rooms. Then, a mosquito flew in and circled around the ear of the cinnamon son. Needless to say, it was one of the mosquitoes that he had saved the other day. It whispered to the boy, “The east room.” Without hesitation, the cinnamon boy entered the east room, where the girl was waiting. So, the two tied the knot and had many children, eventually filling the earth with people again.