Once upon a time, in a land far far away, there lived a wood cutter at the edge of the forest.  He lived there with his wife and two children.

Every day, the wood cutter went into the forest to cut wood.  In the middle of the day, he would sit on a log and eat his lunch.  At the end of the day, he would bring the tree trunk back to his house.

Once a week, on market day, the wood cutter would bring his wood to the market and sell it to the townspeople.  He would take the money he earned and buy food and clothing for his family.  

He worked hard and was happy and content.

Disaster Strikes

One day, there was a storm that blew over the town and ruined everyone’s crops. 

On market day, the wood cutter took his wagon full of wood to market as usual.

To his surprise, no one bought his wood.  No one had any money because all their crops had failed.  This made the wood cutter sad and upset.  That night, he couldn’t sleep.  

Can’t Sleep

When morning came, he got up and went to the forest as usual, but he had no desire to cut wood.  He was tired and groggy from not sleeping.   The wood cutter was very hungry and ate his lunch in the middle of the morning.

That night the wood cutter lay in bed looking up at the ceiling. Nothing helped him sleep.  How was he going to feed his family?  How was he going to get to sleep so that he could work in the morning?

As the sun was coming up, the wood cutter finally fell asleep.  He slept lightly and woke up when his wife and kids started eating breakfast.

The wood cutter got up and went to work as usual, but he was tired and groggy from lack of sleep.  

This went on for many days.  The wood cutter had no idea of how to get to sleep and couldn’t think very well because he didn’t sleep.  He was just wandering in the forest, tired and dirty, not able to work.

The Sleep Miracle 

The wood cutter came to the darkest part of the forest, a place he rarely visited.  He was a little scared.  There were strange sounds, and the tree cover was so dense that it was dark in the middle of the day. 

There in the middle of the path he met an old man.  The old man put his hand on the wood cutter’s shoulder and asked in a kindly voice, "What’s wrong? You look tired and miserable."

The wood cutter told the old man about his problems and how they kept him from sleep.

"Give your customers credit for the wood you sell them.  When the new crop comes in, you will be the richest man in the valley."

The old man walked a few steps away and picked some leaves from a plant and returned and said, "Take one of these before bedtime, it will help you sleep."

It's amazing that nature often has a more powerful sleep aid with fewer side effects. 

Here, take for yourself the sleep aid that the old man gave the wood cutter.