The undressed timber log and the carpenter

THERE WAS A TIMBER LOG that was undressed, and every time autumn came and school started, he got really bored to do homework. Whenever the teacher asked him, he constantly lied about losing his notebooks or that he had accidently noted a wrong exercise.

One day, however, the teacher asked the logs of the classroom to take a test. As expected, our good log went unprepared, and so when the time for grades came, he was unimpressed to see that he had failed his test. “It’s maybe because you’re made of undressed timber”, the other logs told him, laughing at his lesson as they realized he never did homework and never admitted anything.

“I truly can’t say what is worse: that you don’t study, or that you constantly lie to us”, the teacher told him. The log felt very sorry, and thought that his trouble would end if only he could find some carpenter to dress his timber so he could become like the other logs.

He, then, went for a walk in the forest to think. He walked, and walked, until at one point he saw lots of firewood piled up and realized that some woodcutter must be nearby. Only a few meters down the same path, he saw the woodcutter’s cart loaded with wood, on which he jumped on and silently sat next to the other logs. The woodcutter rode his cart to the nearest marketplace to sell them.

“Wood to keep you warm! Firewood!”, the woodcutter exclaimed as he set up his bench. Our good log then thought to himself: “If I am thrown in some fireplace, I’ll turn into coal instead”.

“Then, you need a carpenter, not a woodcutter”, another piece of wood that was sitting next to him told him. Our good log, who, anyway, knew little of the difference between the two, walked off the cart and searched for a carpenter.

He scanned every building in the village. A brick he met on his way, showed him the way to the carpenter’s workshop. To make sure he would get there, he even joined along and left him at the workshop’s door.

“What beautiful carvings he has made!”, the log exclaimed as soon as he saw the workshop’s showcase. Indeed, the carpenter had made all sorts of marvelous things out of wood: from furniture and cookware, to toys for children and wooden marionettes.

“I hope he makes a masterpiece out of you”, the brick told him with a sad look on his face, as he was not made of wood and would stay a brick for the rest of his life. And with those words bid him farewell.

The log, then, plucked up as much courage as possible, knocked on the carpenter’s half-open door and introduced himself. “I am a log made of undressed timber, and I’m here for you to work on me”, he proudly announced. The carpenter found it weird to hear at first, only to welcome the log to his workshop a while later. They even sat next to the fireplace, where they enjoyed the warmth of the fire and the log told him his story.

After telling him about the lies he told the teacher to avoid doing homework, the carpenter stood up and picked his tools from the bench: a chisel, a cutter and a saw. The log got really scared to see them and thought of leaving. “Trust me!”, the carpenter told him, and after asking him to close his eyes, he started chipping away at his timber.

Many hours later, and after dripping with sweat from the effort, he asked him to open his eyes again and look in the mirror. “I’ve been turned into… Pinocchio!”, the log exclaimed with great joy, as he now had hands, legs and a head, as well as a long nose to remind him of all the lies he had been telling his teacher all those years. So impressed was he by the carpenter’s talent, that he thanked him from the bottom of his heart for giving him shape and making him look like a proper human being.

He then sat at a comfortable chair at the workshop’s showcase and patiently waited to be bought, until a young child with the same bad habit asked his mum to buy him so he would learn how to stop lying.