A woodcutter was cutting trees next to a pond. Suddenly, he dropped his ax into the pond. He just sat down and cried because he couldn't get it out. "Oh, my ax!"
一位樵夫在池塘边砍树，忽然，他把斧头掉进池塘里了。他坐下来哭，因为斧头找不回来了。“哎哟，我的斧头！”
Then, Hermes, the guardian God of the town, showed up. "Young man, why are you crying?" The woodcutter answered. "I dropped my ax into the pond while I was cutting trees."
这时，赫耳墨斯——城的保护神——出现了：“年轻人，你为什么哭呢？”
樵夫说：“我砍树的时候，把斧头掉进池塘里了。”
Hermes took pity on the woodcutter. "I will help you. Wait for a moment." Hermes jumped into the pond with a splash. After a little while, he brought out a gold ax.
赫耳墨斯很同情樵夫。“我会帮助你的，请等一会儿。”赫耳墨斯跳进池塘里，水溅了起来。过了一小会儿，他拿出一把金斧头。
"Is this gold ax yours?" "No, that's not mine." Hermes jumped into the pond with a splash again. This time, he brought out a silver ax. "Is this silver ax yours?" "No, that's not mine, either." Hermes jumped into the pond with a splash again.
“这把金斧头是你的吗？”
“不，那不是我的。”
赫耳墨斯又跳进池塘里，水又溅了起来。这回，他拿出一把银斧头。
“这把银斧头是你的吗？”
“不，那也不是我的。”
赫耳墨斯又跳进池塘里，水又溅了起来。
He brought out an old and worn-out ax this time. "Is this yours?" "Yes. That's my ax."
这回，他拿出了一把旧斧头。
“这是你的斧头吗？”
“是的，是我的斧头。”
Hermes like his honesty, so he gave all three axes to the woodcutter.
赫耳墨斯喜欢樵夫的诚实，便把三把斧头都给了他。
The woodcutter told his story to his friends. One of his friends went to the pond and dropped his ax on purpose into the water. "Oh gosh, What am I going to do? I lost my ax."
樵夫把这个故事告诉了他的朋友们。他的一位朋友来到池塘边，故意把斧头丢进了池塘。
“噢，天啊，我该怎么办？我丢了我的斧头。”
Then, Hermes appeared. Hermes listened to his story and jumped into the pond.
这时，赫耳墨斯又出现了。赫耳墨斯听了他的故事，就跳进池塘。
He came out with a gold ax. "Did you lose this gold ax?" The friend of the woodcutter was so happy when he saw the gold ax. "Yes, that's right. That gold ax is mine."
他拿出一把金斧头：“你丢了这把金斧头吗？”
樵夫的朋友看见金斧头很高兴：“是的，对，那把金斧头是我的。”
But Hermes already knew that he was lying. Hermes did not give him back not only the gold ax but also his own.
但赫耳墨斯早已知道他在撒谎。赫耳墨斯没有把金斧头给他，他自己的斧头也没有找回来。