The Honest Woodcutter

A long time ago, there lives a poor old man with his wife in a tiny old house on the outskirt of the jungle near a river. They don't have any children, so they felt a bit lonely sometimes without any people around them. They have a small farm and their main income comes from cutting woods to be sold. The two of them wanders into the jungle every day to cut woods and sold it to the market the next day. One day the wife was a bit sick so the husband told her to rest in the house while he went out to the jungle alone to cut and gather the woods.

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He found a good tree to cut down, and by using his old rusty metal axe, he started to swing to cut it down. Unfortunately, the handle slipped off his hand and fell off into the river. The old man was devastated, as it was the only axe that he has, he is so poor he can't afford to buy a new one. He jumped into the river and dived to look for it but he can't find it, the river is too murky. After a while, he gave up and sat on the river bank. He was about to cry when suddenly the river goddess rise up from the water and ask him what is troubling him. So, he told her the whole story about how he has lost his axe. She promised him that she will help to look for the lost axe, and then she dived into the river.

When she came out, she brought a silver axe to the old man, asking him if it's the axe that he lost. The honest old man shooked his head and said "No". So, she dived again and later came out of the water with a golden axe, and again the honest old man said that it is not his lost axe. The river goddess was so impressed with the old man's honesty so she gave him back his old metal axe and the gold and silver axe as a present for his honesty. The old man was very happy and thanked the river goddess, then he hurriedly ran home to tell his wife about it. They soon sold the gold and silver axe and made a good fortune out of it. With the new fortune they inherited, they now have enough money to live a decent life without going into the jungle to gather woods any more.

The moral of the story

Always have an honest lifestyle and an honest living, always be kind and honest to others too. If you are not honest, a time will come when someone will see the lies in you and you will be in trouble for your own actions. Be honest always, and you will be blessed more abundantly, in this life and the afterlife.