English Original
Once upon a time, a man came into a forest. He said to the trees, "Will you give me a piece of hard wood?"
The trees replied, "Yes, we will give you a good piece of hard wood."
He was very glad to get the wood and hurried home with it. At once, he made a new handle for his ax. Then he returned to the forest and began to cut down all the finest trees.
The trees were very sad. They said to one another, "We suffer for our own foolishness."
中文翻译
从前，有一个人走进了一片森林。他对树木们说：“你们能给我一块硬木吗？”
树木们回答：“可以，我们会给你一块上好的硬木。”
他得到木头后非常高兴，急忙带着它回家了。他立刻用这块木头为自己的斧头做了一个新柄。然后，他返回森林，开始砍伐所有最好的树木。
树木们非常悲伤。它们彼此说道：“我们因自己的愚蠢而受苦。”