One day a poor man was cutting a big piece of wood near a river. Suddenly his old axe(斧头) fell into the water. He felt very sad because he lost his only axe. Then all at once a beautiful fairy(仙女) came out and asked the man what was the matter.
“I have lost my axe.” he said. “It fell into the water when I was cutting the wood.” The fairy showed him a gold axe and asked, “Is this yours?” “No.” said the man.
The fairy then showed him a silver axe and asked again. “Is this yours?” “No.” again answered the man. Then she showed him the old axe.
“Yes, this is mine.” called out the happy man. “I know that well enough.” Said the fairy, “I only want to see if you can tell me the truth, and now I’ll give you the gold axe and the silver axe besides your own one.”
The man with his old axe fell into the river.
The fairy came out and asked what was wrong with him.
The sad man only wanted the gold and silver axes.
The fairy found his lost axe for the man.
From the story, we know that an honest man may get more.