Fable 252 - The Logs and the Olive

Once the logs were consulting among themselves to elect a king. They asked the olive:
‘Reign over us.’
The olive tree replied:
‘What? Give up my oily liquor which is so highly prized by god and man to go reign over the logs?’
And so the logs asked the fig:
‘Come and reign over us.’
But the fig replied similarly:
‘What? Relinquish the sweetness of my delicious fruit to go and reign over the logs?’
So the logs urged the thornbush:
‘Come and reign over us.’
And the thorn replied:
‘If you were really to anoint me king over you, you would have to take shelter beneath me. Otherwise the flames from my
brushwood would escape and devour the cedars of Lebanon.’