Two Brothers

Once upon a time, there were two brothers. They lived on the edge of a vast forest, which belonged to their father, as it had belonged to his father and his father before him, unchanged for as long as anybody could remember. When the father died, the forest came into the hands of the two brothers. Not long after this, the first brother came to the second brother and said, "I have good news. We have received an offer from a lumber company to cut down the trees for wood products. We will be rich."

The second brother said, "But the forest has been the responsibility of our family for many generations. None of our ancestors has ever permitted a single tree to be felled. It is our duty to preserve it as it is."

The first brother said," Don't be so selfish. People need lumber to build homes and wood for fires to heat and cook with. Don't we have a responsibility to them as well?"

The second brother replied, "I suppose so. But the forest has been here for thousands of years, we can't just cut it down."

The first brother thought for a moment. "OK, I have an idea. We will cut down half the trees. That will still leave hundreds of trees and we can still be rich."

The second brother didn't want to argue with the first brother, so he reluctantly agreed.

The following year, the first brother returned. "I have good news. We have received an offer from a developer to cut down the trees for a housing development. I know you will be pleased to provide this much needed opportunity for people to have new homes."

The second brother replied, "There are many other areas where homes may be built. The forest is already home to many other creatures who will have no where else to live."

The first brother continued, "I think we can use the same solution we used last year. We will just cut down half the trees, and that will still leave hundreds of trees and plenty of habitat for the animals."

The second brother reluctantly agreed.

This went on for many years. Eventually there were only two trees left. The first brother came to the second brother once again and said, "I need some firewood. Let's cut down the trees so we can have cheerful fires to warm our families."

The second brother refused. "When we took possession of the forest, there were hundreds of trees and hundreds of animals that were its inhabitants. They are all gone now. We had no right to cut down so many trees. We did not make the forest. It did not belong to us and I will not permit you to cut down the last two trees."

The first brother bristled. "It does indeed belong to us, and I have the deed to prove it. It belongs half to you and half to me and I demand my half of the forest right now." And he cut down one of the trees and took it away.

The following year he returned one more time. The second brother spoke first. "I know you have come for the last tree. I don't know how to stop you, but you must know that if you cut down the last tree, it will break my heart forever."

And the first brother replied, "Why are you making such a fuss? It's just one tree."

copyright © 2002 Dan Manthos