The Honest Woodcutter

Honesty, Generosity
Honesty pays off.
A woodcutter was cutting a tree when his ax slipped and fell to the bottom of the mountain
stream. Luckily for him, Mercury, the god of water, saw how miserable the woodcutter was and
decided to help. But not before he had tested him.

Once upon a time, far away in the hills, there was a very small mountain

village. An old woodcutter lived there. He lived a simple life, and had devoted

his whole life to working hard so he could feed his family.

Next to the great mountain river was a place where he would cut down trees

and then send them downriver to a hamlet by a lake, where the townspeople

would catch them and turn the wood into bowls and furniture and any other

useful things they might need.

One day, as he was chopping down a tree, his axe slipped out of his hand and

fell into the river. The woodcutter didn’t risk catching it as the stream was

strong and it was dangerous. Upset, he paced around and wept, not knowing

how he would survive without his axe. Mercury, the god of wealth and good

fortune, was passing by and heard the woodcutter wailing, so he stopped at

the river to see what had happened. The old man was mourning his lost axe

by the river, and so Mercury decided to help. He reached into the water and

pulled out a golden axe, which he brought to the woodcutter.

“Thank you, Mercury, but this is not my axe,” the wood cutter said. “This axe

is very beautiful, but I liked my old one. It fit my hands perfectly. Could you

please look in the water again and see what else you can find?”

Mercury was surprised that the woodcutter would refuse a fine golden axe,

but he once again reached into the water and pulled out an axe entirely

made of silver. But the woodcutter didn’t take this one either. Instead, he

asked Mercury to try one last time. This time the god pulled out an old axe –

the wooden handle worn down where old hands had held it for many years.

“That’s my axe! My beautiful axe!” the woodcutter shouted, ecstatic.

“I like your honesty, woodcutter,” the god said, and told him to keep all three

axes.

When the old man returned home, he told his wife about everything that had

happened. Excited, they tried to split wood in their backyard with the golden

one, and when they hit the log with the axe the wood doubled! Every time

the woodcutter split a log, he would have twice as much wood. The

woodcutter was grateful to Mercury; he and his wife would never have to

worry again!

When the neighbours heard the story, they all came to visit and see the

magic axe. One of their neighbours, however, decided he wanted a magic axe

of his own and the next morning went to the woods by the river. When he got

there, he threw his own axe into the water and started wailing. Mercury

heard his cries immediately and set out to find out what had happened. He

wanted to help this woodcutter, too, and once again pulled a golden axe out

of the stream.

“Yes! That’s my axe!” the man immediately shouted.

But Mercury knew he was lying and the man’s greed enraged him. He took

the axe back and made it disappear.

“Please,” the man begged, “won’t you at least retrieve my old axe for me?”

But Mercury did not forgive greed easily and refused to reach into the river

again, and so the man’s axe stayed at the bottom of the brook forever, and

none of those who know the tale has ever tried to trick Mercury again.