English Original
A Woodman came into a forest to ask the Trees to give him a handle for his ax. It seemed so modest a request that the principal tree at once agreed to it. It was settled among them that the plain, homely Ash should furnish what was wanted.
No sooner had the Woodman fitted the staff to his purpose than he began laying about him on all sides. Realizing the whole matter too late, the forest whispered to the Cedar: "The first concession has lost all. If we had not sacrificed our humble neighbor, we might have stood for ages ourselves."
中文翻译
一个樵夫来到森林里，请求树木给他一根斧柄。这个请求看起来如此微不足道，为首的树立刻同意了。他们商定，由平凡而朴素的白蜡树来提供所需之物。
樵夫刚把木柄装好，便开始向四周乱砍。森林为时已晚地意识到整个事情的后果，低声对雪松说："第一次的让步就失去了一切。如果我们没有牺牲我们那卑微的邻居，我们自己本可以屹立无数岁月。"