A Lesson [3]

The Travelers and the Plane Tree

"On a hot summer's day, some travelers, worn out by the heat of the sun, noticed a plane tree and rushed toward it.  Once they arrived, they threw themselves down on the ground and rested in the shade of its wide spreading branches.  As they were lying there, one of the travelers said to the other, 'What a useless tree the plane is.  It bears no fruit, and there's no other way man can put it to use.'

But the plane tree answered them, 'Ungrateful creatures!  At the very moment you're benefiting from my existence, you deride me as if I were good for nothing!' 

Ingratitude is as blind as it is base. "

Aesop's Fables, p 125.