Once upon a time, a man lived in a big house with a large oven, but his family was small—just himself and his wife. When winter arrived, he kept the oven burning all day, using up his entire stock of firewood in a month. With nothing left to feed the fire, the house grew cold.
Desperate for warmth, the man began to break up his fences and burn the boards. Once the fences were gone, the house, now unprotected from the wind, became even colder. Still without firewood, he started tearing down the ceiling to burn in the oven.
A neighbor saw this and exclaimed, "Why, neighbor, have you lost your mind? Tearing down your ceiling in winter? You and your wife will freeze to death!"
But the man replied, "No, brother. I'm doing this to fuel my oven. It's a curious thing—the more I heat it, the colder we feel!"
The neighbor laughed and said, "Well, after you've burnt the ceiling, you'll tear down the house. You'll have nowhere to live. Only the oven will remain, and even it will be cold!"
"That is my misfortune," sighed the man. "All my neighbors have enough firewood for the winter, but I've already burnt my fences and ceiling, and have nothing left."
"All you need is to rebuild your oven," advised the neighbor.
But the man retorted, "I know you're jealous of my house and oven because they're larger than yours. That's why you tell me to rebuild it." He ignored the advice, burnt his ceiling, then his entire house, and in the end, had to go and live with strangers.