The story of the honest woodcutter begins in a small village. An honest woodcutter lived in this little village, right next to the forest. People knew the man for his hard work, and he was more than happy with his profession as a woodcutter.
The man would cut down trees and sell them to the merchants as a means to earn a living. One fine day, the man went to the forest to cut down trees. The tree he decided to cut was right next to the river. That particular day was very hot.
Due to the hot weather, the man’s palms were sweaty, and because of this, he couldn’t work. When he picked up the axe to cut down the tree, the axe slipped from his hand, and it fell into the water. The river that they ax fell into was quite deep.
The man tried to get his axe back, but he couldn’t because the water was too deep. The man worried, thinking that he wouldn’t be able to cut down any wood to earn a living. The woodcutter wasn’t able to find out ways he could cut down trees to sell.
If he isn’t able to cut down trees to sell, there is no way the man would be able to feed his family. To get back his axe, the man started to pray to the Goddess of the river to give him back his axe. Meanwhile, the Goddess of the river was quietly resting when the prayers reached her ears.
After hearing the man’s prayers, the woodcutter appeared to the man. The man was more than shocked to find out that the Goddess of the river had heard his prayers. The woodcutter explained his ordeal to the Goddess.
He told her about his axe, which fell into the river, and if he isn’t able to get it back, then his family would starve. The man begged the Goddess to help him get his axe back. The Goddess decided to help, but before she did that, she decided to test him first.
The Goddess brought out a silver axe from the water, and she asked the woodcutter if the axe belonged to him. The man replied that the axe didn’t belong to him. He explained to the Goddess that the silver axe doesn’t belong to him because he couldn’t cut down trees with a silver axe.
The Goddess dipped her hand into the water again, and this time she brought out a golden axe and asked the same question she had asked before. The woodcutter answered the Goddess that the golden axe doesn’t belong to him.
When he denied the axe the second time, the Goddess was impressed and dipped her hand inside the water and this time she brought out the man lost axe. She then asked the man if this axe belonged to him, and the man’s reaction was shock.
The woodcutter was shocked that the Goddess brought out his exact axe and gave it to him. This was how the Goddess realized that the woodcutter was an honest and humble man. She then decided to reward the man by giving the woodcutter all the tree axes. The man was amazed by this and he returned back home happily. This concludes the story of the honest woodcutter.