Gold Axe And Silver Axe

My mother told me a story, that’s “Gold Axe And Silver Axe” . The story is talking about two men who live in a forest, and they cut trees every day. One day, a woodcutter went to work near the lake; when he wanted to work, his axe fell down into the lake. He was very worried, and tried to find his axe. When he went to give up, suddenly one woman rose up from lake, and talked to the woodcutter. She said, “What’s going on?“ the woodcutter said, “I lost my axe, and I can’t work. The woman said, “ I can’t help you.“ She went down the lake; after a few minutes she took a silver axe and asked the woodcutter, “Is this your axe?” He said, “ it not mine. The woman went down again, and rose up. She took a gold axe said, “Is this your axe?” He said, “It’s not mine." The woman was very surprised that he was so honest. So she gave him a gold axe, silver axe, and his own axe. The woodcutter went back home, and told the other woodcutters, the other woodcutter wanted to got those axes, and he did the same thing as the honest woodcutter, but he didn’t tell the truth; he said, “I lost his gold axe!“ The woman didn’t want to help, so he missed his axe.

by Han Tsung Tsai