The Trees and the Axe
Aesop's Fables · 1 min read
A woodcutter arrived at the edge of a great forest with an axe missing its handle, and politely asked the trees if they might spare just one small branch to serve as a replacement, promising he needed only a modest piece.
The trees, feeling generous and seeing no harm in such a small request, agreed and offered him a sturdy branch from a young ash tree. The woodcutter thanked them, fitted the branch as a handle, and immediately turned his newly repaired axe on the forest itself, beginning to fell trees one after another without mercy.
The forest, watching in horror as tree after tree fell to the very weapon they themselves had helped complete, understood too late that their small, seemingly harmless act of generosity had given their enemy the exact tool he needed to destroy them all.
Moral of the story
A small, seemingly harmless favor to an enemy can give them exactly what they need to destroy you.