A man planted flowers in his yard. But his neighbor planted a large tree, and its branches stretched over the fence, casting shade on his flower bed. The man asked his neighbor to trim the overhanging branches, but the neighbor refused, saying that cutting them would spoil the tree’s beauty.
The matter eventually went to court. After hearing both sides, the judge deliberated but postponed his ruling. A few days later, when the court reconvened, the judge ordered the neighbor to cut the branches. The man was satisfied with the verdict, yet puzzled by the delay.
“Your Honor,” he asked, “if the case was this straightforward, couldn’t you have decided at the first hearing? Was there a reason you postponed the verdict?”
The judge replied, “That day, as I was about to hand down the ruling, I suddenly thought of a tree in my own yard whose branches were reaching over into my neighbor’s property. I decided to delay the verdict until I had trimmed my own branches first.”
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