Mercury and the Woodcutter

One day a poor woodcutter was walking through the forest, clutching his battered old axe. He looked around, searching for a good tree to cut down. After much searching, he found one by the river. He studied it carefully, deciding how he would cut it. When he was ready, he took a step towards the tree, but he tripped over a nearby stump. He hit the ground with a thud, and his axe flew out of his hand into the river. He ran to the river, and desperately reached under the water for his axe, but it was not to be found. Without his axe, the woodcutter could cut no trees and sell no wood. He and his family would starve to death. He cried out loudly, Oh great Mercury, can you save me? I need my axe back to be able to earn money to feed my family! Touched by his cries, Mercury arrived from the Gods heavenly abode and dove straight into the river. But before he returned the axe to the woodcutter, Mercury wanted to test how honest and trustworthy he was. After a few moments, the god surfaced, clutching a shimmering gold axe. Expecting the man to claim it out of greed, Mercury offered the woodcutter the axe. But the woodcutter said, That is not my axe. I cannot take what is not mine. Mercury dived again and this time retrieved a silver axe, which he offered to the woodcutter. The woodcutter shook his head and said again, No, that is not my axe either. I will take only what is mine. Hearing this, Mercury dived down to the river bed for a third time, and this time surfaced with the woodcutters own axe. The ecstatic woodcutter took the axe and looked fondly at it,

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before turning to Mercury and asking, How can I ever repay you? Mercury smiled and dived yet again. When he surfaced, he was carrying both the silver and gold axes. He said, Keep this, honest woodcutter. A man as truthful as you deserves a reward. With that, Mercury disappeared. The woodcutter clutched all three axes and raced home to tell his story to his family. A few days later, when the woodcutter went to the market to sell his wood, he told his friend what had happened. Jealous of the woodcutters fortune, his friend raced to the river and dropped his axe in. He then cried out, Mercury, only you can save me! Mercury appeared and dived to the bottom of the river and brought up the golden axe. The greedy man grabbed it from Mercurys hands and said, Thank goodness my axe is safe! Now I will never starve! As he looked up, he saw that Mercury had disappeared. When he looked at his hands, there was no axe! Now the golden axe had disappeared, and the mans own axe was at the bottom of the river.

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