the oaks presented a complaint to jupiter, saying, "we bear for

no purpose the burden of life, as of all the trees that grow we

are the most continually in peril1 of the axe2." jupiter made

answer: "you have only to thank yourselves for the misfortunes to

which you are exposed: for if you did not make such excellent

pillars and posts, and prove yourselves so serviceable to the

carpenters and the farmers, the axe would not so frequently be

laid to your roots."