A woodman lost his axe into the river when it glanced off a tree he was felling. Mercury (the God) appeared while the man was lamenting his loss, and on hearing his tale dived into the river, and recovered a golden axe. "That's not mine," said the woodman, so Mercury returned it to the river, resurfacing this time with a silver axe. "That's not mine," again said the woodman, and again Mercury returned it to the river, resurfacing this time with the woodman's own axe. "That's mine," said the grateful woodman. Mercury promptly rewarded the man for his honesty by giving him the golden and silver axes as well. On hearing the woodman's tale, an envious friend set out to do as the woodman had done, visiting the same spot and deliberately losing his axe in the river. Just as before, Mercury appeared and dived in to recover the lost axe. When Mercury produced a golden axe, the man greedily stretched out for it claiming, "That's mine." Mercury, not best pleased with the man's dishonesty, held on to the golden axe, and refused to recover the original.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment