AN HONEST WOODSMAN AND HIS AXE

There was once an honest Woodsman who lived with his family in a forest. He worked
hard, cutting down trees so he could sell the firewood. This is how he supported his family. All
day long you could hear the sound of his faithful axe ringing through the woods.
One day he was cutting down trees near the edge of a deep pool of water in the forest.
With strong, steady strokes he chopped away until it grew quite late in the day. The Woodsman
was tired, for he had been working since early morning, and his strokes were not as strong and
steady as they had been. He raised his tired arms high for a final blow and his axe slipped, flew
out of his hands and landed with a ‘plonk’ into the pool, sinking to the bottom.
The Woodsman cried out, “No! All is lost!” As he stood, wringing his hands, pulling his
hair and weeping, the god Mercury suddenly appeared.
“What is wrong Woodsman?” asked the god. The Woodsman wept, “My axe fell into the
water! It is too deep and I cannot get it back! My axe is all I have to make a living with, and I
don’t have enough money to buy a new one. My family will have nothing to eat.”
Hearing this, Mercury dove with a splash down to the bottom of the pool. When he
surfaced he held in his hand an axe that glinted in the setting sun, for this axe was made of pure
gold! Mercury held up the golden axe and asked, “Is this your axe, Woodsman?”
The Woodman’s mouth fell open and his eyes grew large with desire as he looked at the
golden axe, but he shook his head. “No. That is not my axe.”
Mercury dove again with a splash down to the bottom of the pool. This time when he
surfaced he held in his hand an axe that sparkled like the silvery drops of water falling from it, for
it was made of pure silver!
“Is this your axe, Woodsman?” asked Mercury. The honest Woodsman gazed with
amazement at the beautiful silver axe, but again shook his head and said, “No. That is not my
axe. My axe is just an ordinary old axe with a plain wooden handle.”
Mercury dove down for the third time with a splash, and when he surfaced he held in his
hand the Woodman’s battered old axe. “Is this your axe, Woodsman?” he asked.
The Woodsman was so glad his axe had been found! He cried out, “That’s my axe!” He
eagerly took the axe and thanked the kind god again and again. Mercury looked at the Woodman
and smiled. “I admire your honesty, Woodsman. And it shall be rewarded. You may keep all
three axes, the gold and the silver as well as your own.” And then Mercury disappeared as
suddenly as he had come.
The Woodsman gathered the three axes in his arms and hurried home where he was met
by his wife. She was so happy when she saw the gold and silver axes, she cried out, “Husband!
We’ll never be hungry again!”

GINGERBREAD MAN

One day an old woman makes a cake. It’s a gingerbread man! The old woman takes the
cake out of the oven. But the gingerbread man jumps up and runs away! “Help,’ the old woman
shouts to her husband, ‘My gingerbread man is running away!’ The old woman and the old man
run after him. But they can’t run fast.
On the farm, there is a cow eating grass. ‘Where are you going?’ the cow asks the
gingerbread man. But the gingerbread man doesn’t stop. So the cow runs after him, too. Then
they see a horse walking along the road. The horse starts running, too. A duck is swimming in the
pond. It starts running, too. Everyone wants to catch the gingerbread man! But they can’t run fast.
Then the gingerbread man comes to a river. He stops because he can’t swim. But a fox is
sitting there, next to a tree. ‘Jump on my back. I can swim very well,’ he says. So the gingerbread
man jumps on his back. They swim across the river. But the fox is hungry now. He says, ‘You are
very heavy on my back. Jump on my head.’ The gingerbread man jumps on the fox’s head. Then
the fox opens his mouth and eats the gingerbread man. So next time you see a fox, don’t listen to
him!