The good of others

The tales of Thought contain the following tales: Tale of love, The jar of gold, The princess of the waters, The property of others, The hat which makes invisible, The tale of the rich man, The king and the barber , The Man and the Devil, The Shirt Adorned with Diamonds, Aslanzate and Zanpolate, The Girl in the Trunk, Brother Lamb, Fear, The Lare Domestic, Laugh Well Who Laughs Last, Talou Orlan, Topal, The Revealing Kite, The Hunter Ahmad, The Dervish and the Daughters, The King's Daughter of China, Pomegranate, Nerso

The good of others

The good of others

A poor lumberjack only had his ax.

Being out of work, he decides to go to town as a porter.

He gives his ax to his neighbor.

  • Will you keep it for me until I get back?
  • I keep it for you said the neighbor. 

The man leaves.

He returns a few years later. He goes to see his neighbor:

– Neighbor, give me back my ax.

The neighbor answers:

  • Your ax, the cat ate it.
  • Is it possible ? said the lumberjack.

No matter how much he begs, he can't get his ax back.

One night, he slowly walks into the neighbour's house, takes his calf from him and takes it home.

The neighbor sees his calf at the lumberjack.

Here they are both before the judge.

  • Why did you steal your neighbor's calf?
  • I didn't steal it. It was a bird that brought it to me.
  • Poor fool! Can a bird grab a calf?
  • Mr. Justice, since a cat can eat an ax, why can't a bird grab a calf?

The judge understands the whole case. He has the ax returned to the woodcutter and the calf to the neighbor.