The “Noble” Oak

There was once a forest, upon which many travelers stopped to rest as they went well on their way to trade spices, copper, and silk. The weary wanderers stopped, and admired the spectacular view of the forest’s oaks and pine trees, scurrying rabbits, and herds of wild deer. On this very day, a trader passed by with an axe and wished to see if lumber would receive much favor in the market. This being said, the young man swung his axe and chopped down a tree in a grove of four. Now it so happened that these trees had recently been arguing and competing over space, as their seeds had been planted too closely together years ago and their branches had begun to intersect with one another’s. One of these trees, a grand oak, had been delighted of the traveler’s decision, and received a large supply of space once his neighbor had been cut down and hauled off bit by bit. At night on that very day, the oak watched in amazement as the clouds tore each other apart. The spirit of a woman emerged, and calmly walked towards the oak. She claimed to be the ruler of all living things and the oak, scarcely believing her, laughed as she promised misfortune for his greed. The next day, the traveler returned once more, and began to hack away at the oak’s neighbor. As the other tree crashed to the ground, the oak felt a sudden thrashing pain in one of his branches, and was horrified to realize that the traveler had accidentally ripped off one of the branches entwined with the other tree. The traveler took no notice and pulled the tree’s trunk to the ground, slowly bending the oak’s too. The devastated oak watched as the traveler walked off to the market with a bag full of lumber. Out of his sheer greed and delight he took in the misery of others, the oak was forced to live the rest of his life in an insufferable condition. To this day, you can still see every oak bent, forever falling towards the ground as its neighbors once had many years ago.