An evil man, about to die, meets an angel at the gates to
Hell. The angel says to him: “It is enough for you to have done one good thing
in your life, and that will help you.” “Think hard,” the angel said. The man
remembers that one time, as he was walking through a forest; he saw a spider in
his path and detoured so as not to step on it. The angel smiles and a spider
web come down from the sky, allowing the man to ascend to Paradise. Others among
the condemned take advantage of the web, and begin to make the climb. But the
man turns on them and begins to push them off, fearing that the web will break.
At that moment, it breaks, and the man is once again
returned to Hell. “What a pity,” the man hears the angel say. “Your concern
with yourself turned the only good thing you ever did into evil”.
Lesson: Your selfishness hurts you in the end.