The Reward of Being Honest

“The Reward of Being Honest” is one of the outstanding stories of the first biannual International Short Story Contest 2018 written by Kannan Ravi, India.

The Reward of Being Honest

Once there lived a wood-cutter in a village (hamlet). Though he was poor and lived in a hut, he was very honest and hard working. Every day he goes to nearby forest to cut wood, carry them to nearby villages and sell to make money for his living.

One day, while cutting the tree branch, his axe slipped and fell into the river. He was really sad and wondering how to make money for his living. All of sudden a river fairy appeared in front of him. She asked the wood-cutter why he is so sad. He told that his axe fell inside the river and requested fairy to help him.

She immediately jumped into the water and brought him three axes – a golden axe, a silver axe and a wooden axe. The fairy asked the wood-cutter which axe was his. He replied honestly that his axe was the wooden axe. The fairy was impressed with his honesty and rewarded him all the three axes.

Watching the incident, the wood-cutter’s friend visited the forest next day and did the same things what the wood-cutter did. The river fairy appeared and asked him the same question of which is his axe. The wood-cutter’s friend replied immediately that his axe was the golden axe. Upset with his reply and the fairy angrily told that he lied to her. She said that she is not even going to give him his own axe and disappeared.

The moral of the story is that always be HONEST irrespective of what the situation is.