The Trees and The Axe
Aesop | Greece
A man deceives trees into giving him wood for a handle, then cuts them down, leading to their destruction.
Once upon a time, a man entered a forest and asked the trees for help. He needed to fashion a handle for his axe and requested if any of the trees would provide the wood.
The trees were suspicious of his request, but the man assured them that he only needed the handle to cut down a single tree that was blocking his path. The trees agreed and gave him a young ash sapling.
However, the man used the handle to attach an iron axe head and proceeded to cut down many trees in the forest. It was only then that the trees realized they had misplaced their trust and had been deceived by the man.
Regrettably, the remaining trees realized too late that by helping the man, they had ultimately brought about their own destruction.
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