The Woodcutter and Hermes

A man who was cutting wood by a river had lost his axe. Not knowing what to do, he sat down on the bank and wept. Hermes, learning the cause of his grief, took pity on him: he dived into the river and brought up a golden axe, asking whether that was the one he had lost. The man said it was not; so Hermes dived again and brought up a silver one. When the man declared that this too was not his, Hermes dived a third time and brought up his own axe. The man confirmed that this was indeed the one he had lost. Charmed by his honesty, Hermes gave him all three. Back among his friends, the man told what had happened. One of them decided to get the same for himself: he went to the river, deliberately threw his axe into the current, and sat down weeping. Hermes appeared to him too and, learning the cause of his tears, dived and brought up a golden axe, asking whether that was the one he had lost. Overjoyed, the man cried, "Yes, that's the one!" But the god, appalled at such impudence, not only kept the golden axe but would not even give him back his own.