h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

One Summer's day, by a river, a proud oak tree stood strong and tall. The reed, were all nestling by the bubbling river, bending gracefully in the breeze.

Then there was a laugh, followed by a snort of derision. The reed turned their heads to find the majestic oak laughing at them.

'Look at you weaklings!' the tree heckled, 'Such a light breeze, and you're bending already - whereas I, firmly rooted, do not move a jot!'

The reed ignored the tree, who carried on amusing itself greatly with this declaration - and carried on regardless.

Summer turned to Autumn, and the breezes turned more gusty, to a storm of Biblical proportions. At first it was just the wind which battered the old oak. Then twigs, and then quite sizable pebbles. The oak held to its roots as much as it could. The reed relaxed, and thought of a finer day. The pebbles turned to stones, until finally, the oak could hold on no longer.

In the calm after the storm, the river had woken with the day to find something blocking its path, and so stepped neatly around the fallen oak in its path. The reed, untouched, looked on.

And the moral of the story: Sometimes it's best to be more flexible in difficult situations.