A woodman went to the forest one day
To beg a favor of some of the trees.
He needed wood for an ax handle
And asked, "Would you help me, please?"

The noblest trees agreed to help him,
Thinking it was a modest request.
The very fact that the woodman had asked them
Was reassuring. They were impressed.

And so the trees offered the woodman
A young sapling of the finest wood,
Out of which he started to fashion
The most exquisite handle he could.

As soon as he finished making his ax,
He threw himself into his work,
Chopping down trees. The poor trees wondered,
"Why did we even help this ****?"

He even cut down some of the noblest.
The trees watched him with disbelief.
They had offered a gift to him,
And he turned out to be worse than a thief!

"It's our fault," the noble trees said.
"Unfortunately, we are to blame.
If we hadn't given the sapling to him,
We wouldn't have to die in shame."

When we reflect on the morals of fables,
We find an extra way to enjoy them.
The moral? Fools are they who give
Their enemies the means to destroy them.

-by Bob B (8-16-21)

°An Aesop fable, "The Trees and the Ax," retold here in verse