The King’s Forest

A king opened his forest for hunting, trusting his subjects to take only what they needed.

The first year, every family took one deer. There were plenty. The second year, some families took two — they had guests, or they wanted to trade the extra meat. By the third year, the clever families arrived earlier each season, hunting more before others could.

The families who exercised restraint got nothing for their virtue. The families who took more got rewarded. The forest emptied.

The king learned that shared access without shared rules is not generosity. It is a slow auction won by the least restrained.