The Honest Woodcutter
- 3 minute read
- Ages 5-9
- Moral Stories
A woodcutter worked every day on the bank of a deep river, cutting wood for the village. He was poor, and the iron axe he used was the only thing he owned that was worth anything.
One afternoon the head came off the handle as he swung it, flew out over the water and went straight in.
He waded in as far as he dared and felt about with his feet, but the river was deep and fast and the axe was gone.
He sat down on the bank and put his head in his hands, because without it he could not work, and if he could not work his family did not eat.
The three axes
The water moved, and someone rose out of the middle of the river: a spirit of the water, calm and shining.
"Why are you crying?"
"I have dropped my axe in the river," said the woodcutter. "It was all I had."
The spirit went down and came up holding an axe of solid gold.
"Is this yours?"
The woodcutter looked at it. It was worth more than his house and everything in it.
"No," he said. "Mine was iron."
The spirit went down again and came up with an axe of silver, bright as the moon.
"Is this yours?"
"No," said the woodcutter. "Mine was old and plain and the handle was worn where I held it."
The spirit went down a third time and came up with a battered iron axe with a worn handle.
"That one," said the woodcutter, and his face changed completely.
The spirit gave it to him. And then held out the other two as well.
"You could have had either of these by saying one word," she said. "Take all three."
The neighbour
The woodcutter went home rich, and being an honest man he told everyone exactly what had happened.
His neighbour listened very carefully.
The next morning the neighbour took his own axe down to the same spot on the river, threw it as far into the water as he could, sat down on the bank and began to wail loudly.
The spirit rose.
"Why are you crying?"
"My axe! My only axe!"
The spirit went down and came up with the golden axe.
"Is this yours?"
"Yes!" said the neighbour, reaching for it. "That is exactly it! That is mine!"
The spirit looked at him for a moment.
Then she went back down into the water with the golden axe, and did not come up again.
And the neighbour's own axe stayed wherever it had landed, and he went home with nothing at all.
Moral of the story
Honesty costs you nothing and can gain you everything. Lying to get more usually loses you what you had.
Questions and answers
- How did the woodcutter lose his axe?
The iron head came off the handle as he swung it and flew into the deep, fast river.
- Why was losing the axe so serious for him?
It was the only valuable thing he owned and he could not work without it, so his family would have nothing to eat.
- Which axes did the spirit bring up?
First a golden axe, then a silver one, and finally the woodcutter's own battered iron axe.
- Why did the spirit give him all three axes?
Because he told the truth twice when lying would have made him rich instantly. She rewarded his honesty.
- What happened to the greedy neighbour?
He claimed the golden axe was his. The spirit took it back into the water and left, and he lost his own axe as well.
Word meanings
- woodcutter
- A person who cuts down trees and sells the wood.
- waded
- Walked through water.
- battered
- Old and damaged from long use.
- wail
- To cry out loudly in a long sad voice.
Questions about The Honest Woodcutter
What is the moral of The Honest Woodcutter?
The moral is that honesty is rewarded and greed is punished. The woodcutter gains three axes by telling the truth; the neighbour loses the one he had by lying.
Is The Honest Woodcutter an Aesop's fable?
Yes. It appears in Aesop's collection as 'Mercury and the Woodman' and is retold in many languages, including as a well-known moral story in India and Pakistan.
Why did the spirit not simply punish the neighbour?
She did not need to. Losing his own axe was the natural result of throwing it away for a lie.
What makes this a good story for young children?
The choice is simple and repeated three times, so even very young children can follow the pattern and predict what honesty will bring.