A Laconic Answer
The Lacons lived in that part of Southern Greece which was called Laconia. The people who lived there were very brave. They loved their Motherland and defended it from all the enemies. Everybody knew that their life was very simple. They tried to follow the laws of their country and never spoke long. "The shorter the better," was their rule. "Never use more words than you need," was another rule. And nowadays as you probably know a very short answer is often called a laconic answer, because the Lacons usually gave such short answers.
In Northern Greece there was a land called Macedonia. King Philip ruled there. He was not very clever and he was not very brave, but he wanted to become king of all Greece. So, he collected a great army and soon he became master of all Greece. Only Laconia was not conquered. Then King Philip wrote a letter and sent it to the brave Lacons. The letter said: "If I win the battle with your army, I will become your king and ruin your great city."
A few days later an answer was brought back to him. King Philip found only one word in it. The word was very short, and that was "If".