A MAN came into a forest and asked the Trees to provide him a handle for his axe. —
一个男人进入了森林，向树木请求给他一根斧头的柄。 —

The Trees consented to his request and gave him a young ash-tree. —
树木同意了他的请求，并给了他一棵年轻的白蜡树。 —

No sooner had the man fitted a new handle to his axe from it, than he began to use it and quickly felled with his strokes the noblest giants of the forest. —
这个人刚从白蜡树上装好新的柄，就开始使用它，用他的一击很快砍倒了森林中最高贵的巨人。 —

An old oak, lamenting when too late the destruction of his companions, said to a neighboring cedar, “The first step has lost us all. —
一棵古老的橡树在太迟之后感叹着同伴们的毁灭，对一棵邻近的雪松说：“第一步就失去了我们所有的一切。 —

If we had not given up the rights of the ash, we might yet have retained our own privileges and have stood for ages.”
如果我们没有放弃给白蜡树的权利，也许我们仍然可以保留自己的特权，并且可以长存很多年。