The Honest Woodcutter

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…