7. THE WOODCUTTER AND HIS AXE
Storytelling is as old as man. It has been one of the greatest sources of preaching moral values because every story is written with some moral purpose. All the prophets, the saints, religious scholars and teachers have been adopting it as a source of preaching any kind of morality. If one follows the lesson preached in the story, one can avoid many perils and problems. The story “The Woodcutter and His Axe” also gives us a sublime moral lesson.
Once, a poor woodcutter was cutting wood on the bank of a river. Suddenly, his axe fell down into the river. He became sad and began to weep. Suddenly, an angel appeared there and asked him the reason of his weeping. He told him the whole story. The angel dived into the water and brought out an axe of gold. The woodcutter refused to accept it. He dived again and brought out an axe of silver. The woodcutter again refused to take it too. The angel dived again and brought out an axe made of iron. The woodcutter became happy and cried with joy, “It’s mine.” The angel became happy with his honesty and gave him the other two axes as a reward for his honesty. We learn from the story: “Honesty is the best policy.”
Moral: Honesty is the best policy.
IMPORTANT POINTS TO BE KEPT IN MIND:
- Never use the moral lesson as the title of the story. The title must be pure title. It should be “The Woodcutter and His Axe” or “An Honest Woodcutter.” Whatever the title you have read, follow that specific title.
- Most of the moral stories have more than one moral lesson. Sometimes, the students try to write more than one moral lesson. In doing so, they make mistakes. I would advise them to write the specific moral lesson in which they have been asked to write a story.