Truthfulness
There lived a woodcutter who was very poor but honest. Everyday he used to go to the forest and cut trees. He sold the firewood in the town. With that money he maintained his family. One day he was chopping wood on the bank of a river. The axe slipped from his hand and fell into the river. He became very sad. He was poor and had no money to buy another axe.
He sat on the bank of the river and wept. After some time, there arose a goddess from the middle of the river. She asked him, "Why are you crying?" He said shedding tears, 'My axe has fallen into the river." The goddess smiled. She dived into the water and came up with a golden axe in her hand. She asked him, "Is this yours?" The poor man said, "No, it is not mine." She again dived and came out with a silver axe. She asked him again, "Is this yours?" The poor man said, "No, even this is not mine." A third time she dived and came out with an iron axe. The man leaped with joy and said, "yes, Yes, this is mine." The goddess was pleased with his honesty. She gave him all the three axes.
The next morning, the wood cutter told the incidence and showed his three axes to his neighbor's family. The neighbor was a greedy man. Immediately he went to the forest, sat near the same tree and flung his axe willfully into the water. Then he sat on the bank of the river and began to weep loudly. The goddess appeared. She brought a golden axe and asked him, "Is this yours?" The greedy man said, "Yes, mother. But two more axes are still in water, one of silver and the other of iron. Kindly give me all the three." The goddess became very angry at his dishonesty and greed. She dived back into the water and disappeared. The greedy man lost his iron axe too. Justice: Greediness is bad and telling lies is worse.
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