The Golden Axe
Encyclopedia
The Honest Woodcutter, also known as Mercury and the Woodman and The Golden Axe, is one of Aesop's Fables
, numbered 173 in the Perry Index
. It serves as a cautionary tale on the need for cultivating honesty, even at the price of self interest.
Though the tale's moral is that 'Honesty is the best policy', as the English proverb has it, there existed a mediaeval Byzantine proverb apparently alluding to the fable, which stated that 'A river does not always bring axes'. But since this was glossed to mean that no person always acts consistently, it is obviously at a considerable remove from the story's application. The sequence of ideas that led to this understanding of the fable also exposes the gap in the envious neighbour's logic. He had observed the proximate cause for enrichment, namely dropping an axe in the river, and overlooked the ultimate cause - the need for scrupulous honesty. The right combination of circumstances had to be there for Hermes to act as he did. Without them, as the neighbour eventually learned, 'the river does not always bring (golden) axes'.
A burlesque retelling of the fable occurs in François Rabelais
' 16th century novel Gargantua and Pantagruel
. It takes up most of the author's prologue to the 4th Book and is considerably extended in his typically prolix and circuitous style. The woodcutter's cries disturb the chief of the gods as he deliberates the world's business and he sends Mercury down with instructions to test the man with the three axes and cut off his head if he chooses wrongly. Although he survives the test and returns a rich man, the entire countryside decides to to follow his example and gets decapitated. So, Rabelais concludes, it is better to be moderate in our desires. Jean de la Fontaine
tells much the same story in his Fables (V.1) but in more concentrated form. However, rather than beheading the woodman's imitators, Mercury merely administers a heavy blow.
's Mercury and the Dishonest Woodman in the National Gallery
, London, dates from about 1650. An 18th century watercolour by George Robertson (1748-88) seems to derive from this. Charles-André van Loo
gives greater prominence to the figures in his Mercure présentant des haches au bûcheron in the Hôtel de Soubise
. In this the god hovers in mid-air and presents the axes to the surprised and kneeling woodman. Illustrations of the fable on English chinaware draw on the woodcut in Samuel Croxall
's edition of Aesop. A Wedgwood plate of about 1775 displays a red picture in a square, garlanded frame. The rim has a wavy edge printed with detached sprays of flowers. Much the same picture as there, printed in green, is used on a contemporary Liverpool tile. In the left foreground, Mercury is presenting an axe to the seated woodman. In the distance, on the opposite bank, his dishonest neighbour has raised his axe before throwing it into the river.
, Thailand
and Tibet
, seems to call in question the purely Greek origin of the story. The Thai account claims to originate from a Buddhist Jataka
tale but gives no source for a comparison to be made. Since the main lines of the story in all three are the same as in Aesopic versions, one might infer that, whatever their original form, they have since been influenced by the European model.
A certain kinship has also been observed between the fable and the account of the miraculous recovery of an axe from a river in the Jewish Bible
. There the prophet Elisha
was travelling with some members of a religious community 'and when they came to the Jordan, they began cutting down trees; but it chanced that as one man was felling a trunk, the head of his axe flew off into the water. "Oh master," he exclaimed, "it was a borrowed one." "Where did it fall?" asked the man of God. When he was shown the place, he cut off a piece of wood and threw it in and made the iron float.' (NEB, Kings II, 6.4-6)
Aesop's Fables
Aesop's Fables or the Aesopica are a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a slave and story-teller believed to have lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 560 BCE. The fables remain a popular choice for moral education of children today...
, numbered 173 in the Perry Index
Perry Index
The Perry Index is a widely-used index of "Aesop's Fables" or "Aesopica", the fables credited to Aesop, the story-teller who lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 560 BC...
. It serves as a cautionary tale on the need for cultivating honesty, even at the price of self interest.
The story
The Greek version of the story tells of a woodcutter who accidentally dropped his axe into a river and, because this was his only means of livelihood, sat down and wept. Taking pity on him, the god Hermes (better known as Mercury) dived into the water and returned with a golden axe. Was this what he had lost, Hermes asked, but the woodcutter said it was not, and returned the same answer when a silver axe was brought to the surface. Only when his own tool is produced does he claim it. Impressed by his honesty, the god allows him to keep all three. Hearing of the man's good fortune, an envious neighbour threw his own axe into the river and wailed for its return. When Hermes appeared and offered him a golden axe, the man greedily claimed it but was denied both that and the return of his own axe.Though the tale's moral is that 'Honesty is the best policy', as the English proverb has it, there existed a mediaeval Byzantine proverb apparently alluding to the fable, which stated that 'A river does not always bring axes'. But since this was glossed to mean that no person always acts consistently, it is obviously at a considerable remove from the story's application. The sequence of ideas that led to this understanding of the fable also exposes the gap in the envious neighbour's logic. He had observed the proximate cause for enrichment, namely dropping an axe in the river, and overlooked the ultimate cause - the need for scrupulous honesty. The right combination of circumstances had to be there for Hermes to act as he did. Without them, as the neighbour eventually learned, 'the river does not always bring (golden) axes'.
A burlesque retelling of the fable occurs in François Rabelais
François Rabelais
François Rabelais was a major French Renaissance writer, doctor, Renaissance humanist, monk and Greek scholar. He has historically been regarded as a writer of fantasy, satire, the grotesque, bawdy jokes and songs...
' 16th century novel Gargantua and Pantagruel
Gargantua and Pantagruel
The Life of Gargantua and of Pantagruel is a connected series of five novels written in the 16th century by François Rabelais. It is the story of two giants, a father and his son and their adventures, written in an amusing, extravagant, satirical vein...
. It takes up most of the author's prologue to the 4th Book and is considerably extended in his typically prolix and circuitous style. The woodcutter's cries disturb the chief of the gods as he deliberates the world's business and he sends Mercury down with instructions to test the man with the three axes and cut off his head if he chooses wrongly. Although he survives the test and returns a rich man, the entire countryside decides to to follow his example and gets decapitated. So, Rabelais concludes, it is better to be moderate in our desires. Jean de la Fontaine
Jean de La Fontaine
Jean de La Fontaine was the most famous French fabulist and one of the most widely read French poets of the 17th century. He is known above all for his Fables, which provided a model for subsequent fabulists across Europe and numerous alternative versions in France, and in French regional...
tells much the same story in his Fables (V.1) but in more concentrated form. However, rather than beheading the woodman's imitators, Mercury merely administers a heavy blow.
The fable in the arts
Some paintings named from the fable have been broad landscapes with small figures added in the middle plane. Salvator RosaSalvator Rosa
Salvator Rosa was an Italian Baroque painter, poet and printmaker, active in Naples, Rome and Florence. As a painter, he is best known as an "unorthodox and extravagant" and a "perpetual rebel" proto-Romantic.-Early life:...
's Mercury and the Dishonest Woodman in the National Gallery
National gallery
The National Gallery is an art gallery on Trafalgar Square, London, United Kingdom.National Gallery may also refer to:*Armenia: National Gallery of Armenia, Yerevan*Australia:**National Gallery of Australia, Canberra...
, London, dates from about 1650. An 18th century watercolour by George Robertson (1748-88) seems to derive from this. Charles-André van Loo
Charles-André van Loo
Carle or Charles-André van Loo was a French subject painter, and a younger brother of Jean-Baptiste van Loo and grandson of Jacob van Loo. He was the most famous member of a successful dynasty of painters of Dutch origin...
gives greater prominence to the figures in his Mercure présentant des haches au bûcheron in the Hôtel de Soubise
Hôtel de Soubise
The Hôtel de Soubise is a city mansion entre cour et jardin , located at 60 rue des Francs-Bourgeois, in the IIIe arrondissement of Paris....
. In this the god hovers in mid-air and presents the axes to the surprised and kneeling woodman. Illustrations of the fable on English chinaware draw on the woodcut in Samuel Croxall
Samuel Croxall
Samuel Croxall was an Anglican churchman, writer and translator, particularly noted for his edition of Aesop's Fables.-Early career:...
's edition of Aesop. A Wedgwood plate of about 1775 displays a red picture in a square, garlanded frame. The rim has a wavy edge printed with detached sprays of flowers. Much the same picture as there, printed in green, is used on a contemporary Liverpool tile. In the left foreground, Mercury is presenting an axe to the seated woodman. In the distance, on the opposite bank, his dishonest neighbour has raised his axe before throwing it into the river.
Other versions
The appearance of other tellings of the story, with local variations, from NigeriaNigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
and Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
, seems to call in question the purely Greek origin of the story. The Thai account claims to originate from a Buddhist Jataka
Jataka
The Jātakas refer to a voluminous body of literature native to India concerning the previous births of the Buddha....
tale but gives no source for a comparison to be made. Since the main lines of the story in all three are the same as in Aesopic versions, one might infer that, whatever their original form, they have since been influenced by the European model.
A certain kinship has also been observed between the fable and the account of the miraculous recovery of an axe from a river in the Jewish Bible
Tanakh
The Tanakh is a name used in Judaism for the canon of the Hebrew Bible. The Tanakh is also known as the Masoretic Text or the Miqra. The name is an acronym formed from the initial Hebrew letters of the Masoretic Text's three traditional subdivisions: The Torah , Nevi'im and Ketuvim —hence...
. There the prophet Elisha
Elisha
Elisha is a prophet mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and the Qur'an. His name is commonly transliterated into English as Elisha via Hebrew, Eliseus via Greek and Latin, or Alyasa via Arabic.-Biblical biography:...
was travelling with some members of a religious community 'and when they came to the Jordan, they began cutting down trees; but it chanced that as one man was felling a trunk, the head of his axe flew off into the water. "Oh master," he exclaimed, "it was a borrowed one." "Where did it fall?" asked the man of God. When he was shown the place, he cut off a piece of wood and threw it in and made the iron float.' (NEB, Kings II, 6.4-6)
External links
- 15th-20th century book illustrations online