A woodcutter climbed a tree to cut firewood. He went on climbing and cutting branches till finally he had reached the top of the tall tree. Then he looked down and saw to his horror that he had cut all the branches below him. He could not climb down. He was terrified.
“Oh God,” he prayed, “if you help me get down safely, I’ll give my cow to the temple.” While he was praying he had slipped a little way down the trunk, and seeing that he was not as high as he was a moment ago, he felt a little better.
“Not the cow, Lord,” he corrected himself. “I’ll give you my goat.”
By then he had slipped down some more.
“Not the goat, Lord,” he prayed. “I’ll give you a chicken.” When he looked down, he saw that he had slipped even more.
“Not a chicken, Lord,” he said. “I’ll give you an egg.”
By now he was only a few feet above the ground.
“Er …never mind, Lord,” he said. “I’ll get down by myself.”
And he jumped down and gathering the firewood he had cut, walked away whistling a merry tune.