A Woodman lived in a small village on the river-bank. He used to cut the trees on the river-bank every day and sell them in the village.
One day, he had climbed up a tree. While cutting a branch, the Woodman dropped his axe in the river. The Woodman immediately jumped into the river but could not see the axe.
He came and sat down on the river-bank and started crying. He said, “Dear God, I dropped my axe in the water. It was my only source of livelihood. Please help me, God. Please give me my axe back.”
The Woodman saw Mercury rising from the river. He heard the Woodman’s prayer and went back into the river to find his axe. He came back with a gold axe and asked, “Woodman, is this your axe?”
The woodman refused. Mercury went back in and got a silver axe. “Is this your axe?” The woodman refused again. The third time, Mercury returned with an iron axe. The Woodman took his axe happily and profusely thanked Mercury.
Mercury was happy with his honesty and gave him all the three axes.
The Woodman went home and told his friends about Mercury. One greedy friend went to the river-bank the next day and threw his axe into the water. As he sat on the bank crying, Mercury asked him why he was crying. He told Mercury about his lost axe.
Mercury returned with a gold axe. The man took the axe. Mercury was upset with his dishonesty and took back the gold axe from him. He also refused to return the man’s axe.
