A poor Woodman lived at the edge of a great forest, earning just enough to feed his family by chopping wood every single day. His axe — a plain, well-worn tool of iron with a wooden handle — was the only thing of value he owned in the whole world.
One afternoon, as he swung his axe at a tall old oak beside a deep, still pool, his tired hands slipped. The axe flew from his grip, spun through the air, and dropped — sploosh! — straight into the deepest part of the water, sinking out of sight.
The Woodman sank down onto a rock and put his head in his hands. Without his axe, he had no way to earn a living for his family.
"What will I do now?" he sighed.
Just then, the water of the pool began to ripple and shimmer, and up rose a tall, kindly figure with winged sandals — it was Mercury, messenger of the gods, curious about the sound of such an unhappy sigh.
"Why do you weep, Woodman?" Mercury asked.
The Woodman explained that his only axe had fallen into the pool, and that without it, he had no way to work.
"Do not worry," said Mercury gently. "I will find it for you." And he dove beneath the surface of the pool.
When he rose again, he was holding a dazzling golden axe, its handle set with jewels. "Is this your axe?" Mercury asked.
The Woodman shook his head at once. "No, kind sir. That is not mine."
Mercury dove again, and this time came up with a gleaming silver axe. "Is this yours, then?"
Again the Woodman shook his head. "No. Mine is only plain iron, nothing so fine as that."
Mercury smiled and dove a third time. When he came up, he held a simple, worn axe of iron with a wooden handle. "And this one?"
The Woodman's face lit up with relief. "Yes! That one is mine!"
Mercury looked at the honest Woodman for a long moment, and then he smiled even wider. "Your honesty pleases me more than gold," he said. "You could have claimed the golden axe or the silver one and been rich forever. Instead, you told the truth, even when a lie would have cost you nothing. For that, all three axes are now yours."
The Woodman could hardly believe his good fortune. He thanked Mercury again and again, and carried all three axes home to his astonished family.
Word of the honest Woodman spread quickly through the village, until it reached the ears of his neighbor — a man who was, unlike the Woodman, not especially honest at all. Thinking he could win the very same prize, the neighbor hurried to the pool, tossed his own axe into the water on purpose, and sat down to wait, wearing his very best sorrowful face.
Sure enough, the water rippled, and Mercury rose once more, this time holding a golden axe.
"Is this yours?" Mercury asked.
"Oh, yes!" the neighbor cried greedily, reaching out both hands. "That one is exactly mine!"
But Mercury, who could always tell an honest heart from a greedy one, only shook his head. "It is not," he said calmly. "And because you did not tell the truth, I will not be bringing you any axe at all today." And with that, Mercury sank beneath the water and did not return.
The neighbor was left sitting by the empty pool with no axe of any kind, having learned — the hard way — that honesty cannot be faked, and that trying to win a reward through a lie only means going home with nothing at all.
The End.