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从前，有一个贫穷的樵夫正在森林里一个深水池边砍树。天色已晚，樵夫累了。他从日出起就一直在砍树，瞬间没有握住斧头，于是斧头滑了一下，从他的手里飞到水潭里去了。
A poor Woodman was cutting down a tree near the edge of a deep pool in the forest. It was late in the day and the Woodman was tired. He had been working since sunrise and his strokes were not so sure as they had been early that morning. Thus it happened that the axe slipped and flew out of his hands into the pool.
樵夫绝望了。这把斧头是他仅有的谋生工具，他没有足够的钱买一把新的。正当他站在那里扭着手哭泣时，墨丘利神突然出现了，问他出了什么事。樵夫把事情原原本本地讲了一遍，好心的墨丘利立刻跳进了水潭。当他再上来的时候，手里拿着一把漂亮的金斧头。
The Woodman was in despair. The axe was all he possessed with which to make a living, and he had not money enough to buy a new one. As he stood wringing his hands and weeping, the god Mercury suddenly appeared and asked what the trouble was. The Woodman told what had happened, and straightway the kind Mercury dived into the pool. When he came up again he held a wonderful golden axe.
“这是你的斧头吗？ ”墨丘利问樵夫。
“不，”诚实的樵夫回答说，“那不是我的斧头。”
"Is this your axe?" Mercury asked the Woodman.
"No," answered the honest Woodman, "that is not my axe."
墨丘利把金斧子放在岸边，跳回水潭。这一次，他拿出一把银斧头，但是樵夫又说，他的斧头只是一把普通的木柄斧头。
Mercury laid the golden axe on the bank and sprang back into the pool. This time he brought up an axe of silver, but the Woodman declared again that his axe was just an ordinary one with a wooden handle.
墨丘利第三次潜入水中，当他再次浮出水面时，手里正好拿着那把丢失的斧子。
可怜的樵夫很高兴他的斧头被找到了，对仁慈的上帝感恩不尽。墨丘利对樵夫的诚实非常满意。
Mercury dived down for the third time, and when he came up again he had the very axe that had been lost.The poor Woodman was very glad that his axe had been found and could not thank the kind god enough. Mercury was greatly pleased with the Woodman"s honesty.
“我欣赏你的诚实，”他说，“作为回报，你可以拥有你自己和金、银三柄斧头。”
"I admire your honesty," he said, "and as a reward you may have all three axes, the gold and the silver as well as your own."
快乐的樵夫带着他的财宝回到了他的家里，不久，他的好运气的故事就被村里的每一个人知道了。现在村里有几个樵夫，他们相信自己也能轻易地获得同样的好运。他们跑到树林里，一个在这里，一个在那里。他们把斧头藏在灌木丛里，假装斧头不见了。然后他们又哭又叫，请求墨丘利帮助他们。
The happy Woodman returned to his home with his treasures, and soon the story of his good fortune was known to everybody in the village. Now there were several Woodmen in the village who believed that they could easily win the same good fortune.
They hurried out into the woods, one here, one there, and hiding their axes in the bushes, pretended they had lost them. Then they wept and wailed and called on Mercury to help them.
事实上，墨丘利水星确实出现了，先是这个，然后是那个。他向每一个人展示了一把金斧头，每一个人都急切地声称这就是他丢失的那把。但是墨丘利没有把金斧头给他们。噢， 不！ 相反，他给了他们每人一记重击，然后把他们送回家。当他们第二天回来寻找他们自己的斧头时，却不见了。
And indeed, Mercury did appear, first to this one, then to that. To each one he showed an axe of gold, and each one eagerly claimed it to be the one he had lost. But Mercury did not give them the golden axe. Oh no! Instead he gave them each a hard whack over the head with it and sent them home. And when they returned next day to look for their own axes, they were nowhere to be found.
Honesty is the best policy.诚实为上策。
墨丘利和樵夫这篇寓言故事告诉我们：做人不能贪心，也不能天天想着怎样才能不劳而获。一定要诚实，要脚踏实地才会好运连连，财福多多，收获满满！
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