the woodcutter cut down a mountain oak and split it in pieces, making wedges of its own branches for dividing the trunk. the oak said with a sigh, "i do not care about the blows of the axe aimed at my roots, but i do grieve at being torn in pieces by these wedges made from my own branches."

misfortunes springing from ourselves are the hardest to bear.

伐木工们在砍一棵高大的橡树。他们借助于用橡树做成的楔子，不费力气地撑开了橡树的树干。橡树叹了一口气，说:“我毫不在意砍向我的斧子，可是悲哀的是，你们用那些我的身体制成的楔子来把我劈开。”

来自自身的痛苦更难以承受。