In a forest, early one morning, a poor woodcutter was cutting some branches of a tree. Suddenly, by some mischance, his axe slipped from his hands, and fell into a deep, swiftly flowing river. He sat down on the river bank, and burst into tears. What was he to do? He was a poor man, and his axe was his only means of making a livelihood.
While he was lamenting his loss, a fairy rose from the waters, and asked him why he was weeping. The woodcutter told her how he had lost his axe. The fairy then dived into the river, and soon rose holding a golden axe. “Is this your axe?” she asked. “No,” said the woodcutter. Then she dived a second time, and rose with a silver axe. “Is this your axe?” she asked again. “No,” said the woodcutter still. The fairy then put her head under the water a third time, and this time rose holding the poor man’s axe. “Is this your axe?” she asked. “Yes,” cried the woodcutter joyfully. The fairy was so pleased with his honesty, that she gave him the other axes, and said:
“Take them all; for each time you told me a lie, I would have drowned you.”
Honesty is the best policy.