Most People Gauge Things by Their Utility
Once there was a farmer who owned a large garden with variety of fruit-trees. But one mango tree got barren. Though, it no longer had any fruits, it provided shelter to many birds.
Finding the mango tree useless, farmer decided to fell it. The moment, he was about to cut the tree with his axe, the birds living on the tree begged him, “Spare this tree, sir! If you fell it, we will become homeless and have to go elsewhere. Moreover, it will deprive you of our merry notes when you are here at work.”
But the farmer turned a deaf-ear to the plea of the birds and struck at the tree with his axe. A few strokes of axe discovered a hollow in the tree-stem containing a large honey-comb inside it.
Delighted at his find, the farmer thought in his mind, “This tree is really worth keeping. If not mangoes, then honey can make me money. So, I must not fell it.”
The farmer was very clever. Finding the tree to be useless, he decided to get rid of it but the moment he came to know that the tree was still fruitful, he decided to keep it.
