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 peril of the axe. —
橡树向朱庇特提出了抱怨，说：“我们生命的重担毫无意义，因为我们所有生长的树木中，我们最经常处于斧头的威胁之下。 —

” Jupiter made answer: “You have only to thank yourselves for the misfortunes to which you are exposed: —
朱庇特回答道：“你们只能责怪自己遭受的不幸： —

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.”
因为如果你们不成为如此出色的柱子和木头，也不为木匠和农民提供如此实用的帮助，斧头就不会频繁砍伐你们的根。”