The Wood Cutter and Water God

Kalidas was a humble wood cutter. He was living in a village named Udayapur. The village was near by a dense forest. All the villagers were depending upon the forest for their lively hood. Kalidas was going regularly to collect firewood. He was shelling the wood in the near-by market. With that little earning he was managing his family.

Like the usual routine, one day he had gone to the forest to collect the firewood. He was cutting a tree near the river and misfortune struck him on that day. His axe slipped away from his hand and was lost in the river. He was a poor wood cutter and he had only one axe. On that day he had lost his only axe in the river. Thinking about the future he started weeping. His crying was intense  and disturbed the water god. The water god came in front of Kalidas and asked the reason for his crying. Kalidas explained everything in detail to the water god.  After listening to everything the water god plunged into the river. After a while he came out from the water with a golden axe. 

He showed the golden axe to Kalidas and asked “Is it yours?” Kalidas examined the golden axe and said “No my lord, it’s not mine.” Keeping the axe aside, the water god plunged into the river a second time. This time he came with a silver axe. He showed the silver axe to Kalidas and asked again “Is it yours?” 

Kalidas examined the axe and said “It is not mine. I am a poor wood cutter. How can I own a golden or silver axe! I have only an iron axe.” Listening to this the water god plunged once again inside the river. This time he came back with the iron axe of Kalidas. When Kalidas saw his axe he became very happy. He showed his gratefulness and respect to the river god. Seeing the honesty of Kalidas the water god gave the golden and silver axe as a gift to him with his original iron axe.