Prevod

A man was cutting wood beside a river when he lost his axe. At a loss what to do, he sat down on the bank and wept. Hermes, learning what had happened and taking pity on the man, dived into the river and brought up a golden axe. He asked whether this was the one the man had lost. When the man said it was not, Hermes went down again and brought up a silver axe. The man said that this was not his either, so Hermes dived a third time and brought up the man’s own axe. When the man said that this was indeed the one he had lost, Hermes, pleased with his honesty, gave him all three. The man went to his companions and told them everything that had happened. One of them decided to try the same thing. He went to the river, deliberately dropped his own axe into the current, and sat down crying. Hermes appeared to him too and, learning the reason for his tears, went down as before and brought up a golden axe. He asked whether this was the one the man had lost. “Yes, indeed, that is it!” the man exclaimed with delight. Disgusted by such shamelessness, the god not only kept the golden axe but would not even give him back his own.

The fable shows that the gods oppose the dishonest as strongly as they help the honest.