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A Woodman was felling a tree on the bank of a river, when his

axe, glancing off the trunk, flew out of his hands and fell into

the water. As he stood by the water's edge lamenting his loss,

Mercury appeared and asked him the reason for his grief; and on

learning what had happened, out of pity for his distress he dived

into the river and, bringing up a golden axe, asked him if that

was the one he had lost. The Woodman replied that it was not, and

Mercury then dived a second time, and, bringing up a silver axe,

asked if that was his. "No, that is not mine either," said the

Woodman. Once more Mercury dived into the river, and brought up

the missing axe. The Woodman was overjoyed at recovering his

property, and thanked his benefactor warmly; and the latter was

so pleased with his honesty that he made him a present of the

other two axes. When the Woodman told the story to his

companions, one of these was filled with envy of his good fortune

and determined to try his luck for himself.