The Man and the Wood

A man entered a wood one day, wielding an axe in his hand. He approached the trees and begged them to give him a small branch that he needed for a specific purpose. The trees, being good-natured and trusting, agreed to his request and provided him with one of their branches.

What the man did next surprised them. He fixed the branch into the axe head and soon began his work, cutting down tree after tree. As the trees witnessed the destruction unfolding before them, they realized how foolish they had been. In their kindness, they had unknowingly given their enemy the means to destroy their own home.