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A new Version1) of Washington and Cherry Tree
Mr．Washington looked at the cherry tree and scratched his chin．“Now George，”he said to his son，“Are you sure you had nothing to do with chopping2) this tree down？”“I don’t clearly recall chopping this tree down，”answered George．“Isn’t this your axe3)？”asked the father，pointing to the tool on the ground by the stump of the cherry tree，“That appears to be very similar to my axe，”said George．“Well，you’re a healthy young man，and I know you enjoy outside work like chopping firewood and such，don’ t you？”“There may have been one or two times when I might have chopped firewood．”“With this axe？”“Possibly with an axe that in a general way resembles that one．”“I seem to recall that you chopped wood for Miss Jenny several times，I believe．”“Only once．It was not a continuing relationship．”“But she said you chopped lots of firewood at her place，and I noticed that all of it has a peculiar mark left by an axe blade with a small chip in it．Doesn’t your axe have such a distinguishing characteristic？” “I don’ t recall ever noticing anything unusual about my axe．Besides，that was all in the past．It has nothing to do with how I behave now，or whether I would have chopped down your cherry tree．”
George’s mother commented：“I don’ t believe George would do such a thing．”“But his axe is right here，and the tree is freshly cut，and he’ s the only person around．”“Oh，just drop it，it’ s only a tree，”said his mother．“But it’ s not just the tree；we really need to find out if he’s being honest with us．I won’t put up with4) lying，and he shouldn’t get you to cover up for him．”“Well，if he really had cut the tree，he would deserve to be punished，but I just don’t think he could have done it，”she said．
George spoke up，clearly angry，and s hook his finger at them．“I’ m going to say this one more time：I did not chop down that tree ――the cherry tree――and I did not ask anyone to lie．Not one time．Never．”George’s father was not accustomed to his son being so direct，but had to admit the teenager seemed genuinely hurt that his integrity5) was in question．Mrs．Washington was clearly uncomfortable with the situation and wanted the problem to go away．George’ s father didn’t like the discussion either，but he had to get to the bottom of this．He continued：“George，there’ s no fresh－cut firewood around，but your hair an d clothing are full of wood chips，and the chips look like cherry wood to me．How do you explain t hat？”
George bit his lip and answered：“Clearly my behavior has been inappropriate6)，and I deeply regret the embarrassment I may have caused Miss Jenny，and the damage which seems to have been done to the tree．But I really need to g et back to my chores7) now．”
“We‘re not quite finished yet，”said his father．“Now I’m going to ask you directly．Did you chop down that cherry tree？”“Define‘chop’，”said George．“You know very well what‘chop’means．Anyone knows what‘chop’means．”said his exasperated8) father，shaking．“Are you lying to me？”“Well，it’ s possible that I might have swung the axe in an inappropriate manner which might have resulted in some harm to the tree，but at the moment you asked me，I was thinking of what‘chop’means and my actions didn’t meet my definition of‘chopping’so I really didn’t lie．”
George’ s mother was not entirely satisfied with this answer，but the affair was be－ginning to spoil her day and she really wanted to get it behind her．Her son was basic ally a likeable young man who did his chores most of the time ――although his father swore the family－hired hands deserved most of the credit．She decided to put her foot down：“This is not really worth all the fuss，”she said，“Even if he did it，it’ s only a tree and every young man enjoys chopping a tree now and then．You’ve certainly chopped a few in your day．Now let’ s forget it and enjoy this lovely afternoon．”She smiled and stroked George’s hair．
Seeing that he had lost，George’ s father took a deep breath，turned and walked slowly toward the house．He shook his head in wonder；he had always given his wife credit for better judgment．“Why am I always the one who ends up in the doghouse？”he thought．
George smiled and picked up his axe．As he ran his thumb along the keen edge，his gaze turned toward the stately oak tree on the front lawn．
