Контроль читання (І семестр)

Reading

The Woodman and Mercury

A woodman was cutting down a tree on the bank of a deep river. By chance his axe slipped from his hand, dropped into the water and sank to the bottom.

“Oh! I have lost my axe,” he cried. “What shall I do? The river is very deep and I am afraid to dive into it. What shall I do? Who can help me?”

Mercury, whose river it was, heard the poor man’s cries and appeared before him. “What is the matter, poor woodman?” he asked. “What has happened that you are so sad and unhappy?”

Mercury listened to the man’s story and then said, “I’ll try to help you.” At that he dived into the river and brought up a golden axe. “Is this your axe,” he asked. “No, that is not mine,” was the answer. Mercury dived a second time and this time he brought up a silver axe. “Is this yours?” he asked. Again the answer was ”no”. So Mercury dived a third time and this time he brought up the very axe that the woodman had lost. “That is my axe”, cried the man joyfully and held out his hand for it. “Yes, this is my own good axe. Now I can work again.”

Mercury was so pleased with the fellow’s truthfulness and honesty that he at once made him a present of the other two axes and disappeared before the fellow could even say “thank you”.

The woodman cut down his tree and then went home very pleased with his good fortune. He told his friends all about it and one of them decided to try whether he could not have the same good fortune. Going to the same place, as if to cut down a tree, he dropped his axe into the river and pretended to be very sad and unhappy because of his loss.

Mercury appeared as before, and when he was told that the cause of the fellow’s unhappiness was the loss of his axe, he dived into the river. Again he brought up a golden axe. “Is this your axe?” he asked.

“Yes, yes, it is,” said the second woodman. “You are not telling the truth,” said Mercury. “You will neither have this axe nor the one that you so foolishly dropped into the water.”