Lieh Tzu | China
The Stolen Ax
A woodcutter wrongly accuses his neighbor's son of stealing his ax, only to find it himself and realize his mistake.
Once upon a time, a woodcutter went out early one morning to gather firewood. As he reached for his trusty ax, he was shocked to find it missing. He searched high and low, but the ax was nowhere to be found. Puzzled and frustrated, the woodcutter looked around and spotted his neighbor’s son standing near the woodshed.
“That boy must have taken my ax!” thought the woodcutter. He noticed how the boy shifted nervously from foot to foot, his hands stuffed in his pockets, and how his eyes darted around. “He looks so guilty,” the woodcutter muttered. “I know he’s the one who stole it.”
For days, the woodcutter remained convinced that the boy had taken his ax. He watched the boy whenever he passed by, always seeing signs of guilt in his every move.
Then, one afternoon, while moving some firewood, the woodcutter found his ax lying beneath the pile. “Oh! There it is,” he exclaimed, feeling relieved. “I had forgotten I left it here myself!”
The next time the woodcutter saw his neighbor’s son, he looked carefully at the boy again. But this time, he saw nothing unusual. The boy walked past with his hands in his pockets, just like before, but now, the woodcutter didn’t see any guilt in his expression or his movements.
The woodcutter realized how foolish he had been. His own suspicions had clouded his view, making the boy seem guilty when he had done nothing wrong.
