Foreword:
This fable represents the need for cultivating honesty, even at the price of self-interest. One of the most popular fables of Aesop, it is found numbered 173 in Perry Index (as 173. Hermes and the Woodcutter) and also popularly known as, 'Mercury and The Carpenter', 'The Honest Woodcutter', 'Mercury and the Woodman', 'The Axe falls into the Stream', and 'The Golden Axe'.
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A tired woodcutter, once, sat at the edge of a deep pool.
It was late in the evening, and the poor woodcutter had been working since sunrise, cutting trees in the forest around the deep pool.
Exhausted, and realizing that his strokes were weaker than they had been in the morning, the woodcutter sought to wash and refresh in the pool's water, before returning home.
It so happened, that his axe slipped from his weakened grip, flew out of his hands, and into the pool. Before he could react, the axe sunk in the water, and disappeared deep into the pool.
His profession and livelihood depended on the axe, and the poor woodcutter could ill afford a new one.
Saddened by the sudden turn of events, the woodcutter started crying beside the pool.
"What seems to be troubling you?", appeared Hermes out from the pool, demanding to know the cause of the grief.
The woodcutter was pleasantly surprised to see Hermes, which is another name for Mercury, the messenger of Gods. But he remained saddened for his fate's turn. He described the events leading to the present, and explained his misfortune.
"Let me see, if I can help you.", said Hermes, and disappeared back into the pool.
Within moments he reappeared, with an axe in his hand. This axe looked exactly like the woodcutter's, but was made out of silver. He asked, "Is this your axe?"
"This is not my axe!", said the woodcutter, refusing to accept the axe presented by Hermes.
"If this isn't, let me try to find yours, again.", said Hermes, and disappeared back into the pool.
Within moments, he reappeared again. This time, he had a different axe in his hand, that looked exactly like the woodcutter's, but was made out of gold. Hermes presented the axe to him, "Is this your axe? Then, keep it!"
And yet, once more, the wooductter refused to accept the golden axe, and replied, "This is not my axe!"
"A poor man's tool, my axe is made of iron, not gold or silver!", he exclaimed.
"Let me see, if I can find your axe, this time!", said Hermes, and disappeared into the pool, again.
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Within moments, Hermes reappeared with the woodcutter's iron axe in his hand, and asked, "Is this your axe?"
"That! That is my axe, indeed!", jumped the woodcutter, overjoyed for his axe to be found, "Thank you, my dear God, for finding it for me."
Hermes, who knew it from the very beginning, was impressed on the woodcutter's honesty, despite his poverty. He was not lured by greed, when the gold or silver axe could have changed his life.
"As a reward for your honesty, you may keep all three axes.", Hermes said to him, and gifted him the gold and silver axes, along with his iron one. And, thanking for the God's kindness, the woodcutter joyfully returned home.
Back in the village, his friends and relatives were anxious of his delay. He returned to tell them the events of the evening, and how he now has possession of gold and silver axes, along with his own iron axe.
Soon, the story of his good fortune was known to everybody in the village.
Believing that they could similarly win the same good fortune, many woodcutters planned to replicate the same feat. With high hopes for gold and silver axes, they had little respect for their iron axes, any longer.
The first of them, a greedy friend of the honest woodcutter, arrived at the same pool, the very next morning.
He threw his axe into the water, waited for it to submerge and disappear into the pool, and started wailing aloud in despair.
Soon enough, Hermes appeared to demand the cause of the grief.
The greedy woodcutter pretended to lose the axe accidentally in the water, and pleaded Hermes to find it for him.
"Let me see, if I can help you.", said Hermes, and disappeared back into the pool.
Hermes reappeared with a silver axe, to ask, "Is this your axe?"
"No! It is not!", replied the greedy woodcutter.
Suspecting the intentions of the greedy woodcutter, Hermes disappeared into the pool to try again.
This time, Hermes reappeared with his original iron axe, to ask, "Is this your axe, then?"
This is not what he had expected, and he refused to accept his own axe. "No! It is not!", he said, "Mine is made out of gold!"
Hermes disappeared into the pool, but did not reappear again. The greedy woodcutter waited, and waited, for him to reappear with a golden axe.
After waiting for a long time, he realized that Hermes had understood his fallacy.
He apologized, and requested Hermes to return his original iron axe. But that would not be!
As a punishment, Hermes would not return his original iron axe, either. Realizing his loss, he returned back to the village in tears, and empty-handed.
Moral:
Honesty is the best policy.
Or,
Truthfulness is always the better strategy.
Summary:
A woodcutter, tired of cutting trees in the forest for the whole day, sat on the bank of a nearby stream to rest. Suddenly, his axe slipped from his hand, and before he could react, sunk into the stream of river. The axe is the only important tool that the woodcutter depends upon for his livelihood, and he was saddened for his loss. As he wept along the bank of the river stream, Hermes appeared and asked him the reason for his despair and willed to help. With one scoop into the water, the messenger of Gods, reappeared with an axe that looked like the woodcutter's, but was made of silver. The woodcutter refused, as it was not his axe. With another scoop into the water, Hermes reappeared with an axe that looked like the woodcutter's, but was made of gold. Once again, the woodcutter refused, as it was not his axe. Hermes reappeared with another scoop into the water, and this time he presented the woodcutter's iron axe. The woodcutter was overjoyed and thanked the God for finding and returning his axe. And, being impressed by his honesty, Hermes gifted him the silver and golden axes, too. He went back to the village and proudly displayed his axes to his friends and fellow woodcutters, and shared his experience with them. The next day, one of his fellow woodcutters visited the same site, intentionally threw his axe into the stream, and started wailing. Hermes appeared to hear his plight, and with one scoop into the water, reappeared with an axe made of silver that looked like his. The woodcutter refused, and demanded the axe made of gold. Hermes understood his real intention, and scooped into the water but did not reappear. This dishonest woodcutter waited for a long time and realized that he had lost his own axe because of his own greed.
