英语睡前故事：44 - The Trees and the Ax

故事原文：

“The Trees and the Ax

A woodman came into the forest to ask the trees to give him the small amount of wood he needed to make a handle for his ax. It seemed so modest a request that the trees agreed to it at once, and it was settled among them that the plain, homely ash would furnish what the woodman wanted.

No sooner had the woodman fitted the staff to his purpose that he began chopping away, toppling first the noblest of trees in the forest. One by one, he took down tree after tree, without explanation or apology.

The oak, now seeing the whole matter too late, whispered to the cedar, “We have made a fatal mistake. What seemed like a small concession will cost us all our lives. In sacrificing our humble neighbor, we brought about the ruin of all.”

—PHAEDRUS”

Excerpt From

365 Bedtime Stories

Christine Allison