There was once a woodsman named Elias who could fell a tree with three strokes when others needed ten. His secret? *He listened to the grain.*
One autumn, a wealthy merchant came to the forest, waving a fat purse. **”I’ll pay double wages to any man who can clear my land by winter!”**
The other woodsmen scrambled, hacking recklessly—blades dulled, trees splintered. But Elias worked as he always had: measuring each cut, angling each fall. **”Slow is smooth, smooth is fast,”** he muttered.
The merchant scoffed. **”You’re wasting time! The others will finish first!”**
Elias just wiped his brow. **”A tree remembers how it’s cut.”**
When the first snows came, the merchant’s haste was revealed:
— The rushed crews had left jagged stumps that split his plows.
— Shallow roots rotted, poisoning the soil.
— Only Elias’s section stood clean, the timber straight and strong.
**The merchant returned, humbled.** **”Name your price.”**
Elias sheathed his axe. **”You chased money and got kindling. I chased craft—and now the forest owes *me*.”**
He walked away…
…to the sound of the merchant’s men *begging* to learn his method.
### **The Twist of Linguistics**
The merchant had heard “**profit**” as *coin*.
Elias knew its Latin root—*proficere*: **”to make progress.”**
**True wealth grows where value is sown.**
—
**🌳 Moral:**
Money runs *after* value.
But value stands *within* the work.
*(Tag a craftsman who gets it. 👇 #SlowIsSmooth #ValueOverVelocity)*
