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.
As much as the divine favours the honest, so it is hostile to the dishonest.
Nº 2The Statue SellerA man carved a wooden statue of the god Hermes and took it to the market, but no buyer came near. Hoping to attract one, he began to call out that he…Read the fable →
Nº 109Hermes and the EarthAfter fashioning man and woman, Zeus told Hermes to lead them to the earth and show them where they should dig it to procure food. When Hermes had…Read the fable →
Nº 110Hermes and TiresiasHermes, wishing to test the prophetic art of Tiresias and see whether he told the truth, stole his oxen in the country, then came to find him in the…Read the fable →