Woodsman and the gold axe. A woodsman lets his axe fall into the water. Hermes comes to his rescue. Takes out a gold axe but the woodsman says that it is not his. The same with a silver axe. Finally he is given his own axe and rewarded for his modest choice. His companion tries this plan and loses his axe

Motif

Woodsman and the gold axe. A woodsman lets his axe fall into the water. Hermes comes to his rescue. Takes out a gold axe but the woodsman says that it is not his. The same with a silver axe. Finally he is given his own axe and rewarded for his modest choice. His companion tries this plan and loses his axe.

Rewards and punishments. · Rewards and punishments. · view the constellation · filed as Q3.1

Scholars’ trail — 5references

The index’s own references — the collections where scholars sighted this story-shape, tradition by tradition. Titles on our shelf are live links; the rest is the frontier, not yet shelved.

LithuanianBalys Index No. 729*
ChineseEberhard FFC CXX 34 No. 20
JapaneseIkeda.
general Wienert FFC LVI 79* (ET 449), 139 (ST 444)
general Halm Aesop No. 308

Within the index

Filed under Moderate request rewarded; immoderate punished.

Filed beside it

Lion divides slain bullock. The thief who demands half of the bullock driven off; the traveler who modestly withdraws invited to take half

Carried in tale types

The Merman's Golden Axe (previously The Axe Falls into the Stream) · ATU 7291 recorded variant

wander