The fable was also included in Poggio's prose collection of humorous anecdotes, the Facetiae, written during the 1450s. Fables are added to the site as they are found in public domain sources; not all of them came from Aesop. Note: This is not a complete collection as nobody really knows how many Aesop's Fables exist. She tests his honesty and rewards him for his integrity. The Woodsman's Axe is a magical item in the Fables comics. When he came closer he saw it was a Serpent to all appearance dead. The Woodman and the Serpent One wintry day a Woodman was tramping home from his work when he saw something black lying on the snow. But when he swings the axe, it falls into a nearby lake and awakens the Queen of the Lake. The deluxe limited edition from 2013 (published by The Folio Society) comprised fifty tales - each with a moral - by the seventeenth century French poet and fabulist Jean de la Fontaine. As soon as he got indoors he put the Serpent down on the hearth before the fire. But Mercury, whose river it was, took compassion on him and appeared at that instant before him. Fables are added to the site as they are found in public domain sources; not all … One wintry day a Woodsman was tramping home from his work when he saw something black lying on the snow. A woodsman was felling a tree on the bank of a river and by chance let slip his axe into the water, when it immediately sunk to the bottom. “The Honorable Woodsman” is a play based on a fable by Jean La Fontaine. When he came closer he saw it was a Serpent to all appearance dead. The children watched it and saw it slowly come to life again. Quentin selected the fifty poems in the collection, and produced at least one accompanying illustration for each of them. But he took it up and put it in his bosom to warm while he hurried home. The Woodman and the Serpent - General Fable collection.
Once just a simple tool for felling trees, the axe became much more when it was ensorcelled by Druids and marked with their runes. Being in great distress, he sat down by the side of the stream and lamented his loss bitterly. But he took it up and put it in his bosom to warm while he hurried home. Mercury and the Woodman - General Fable collection. As he stood by the water's edge lamenting his loss, Mercury appeared and asked him the reason for his grief.

But it truly became an object of legend when the Woodsman used it to slice the Big Bad Wolf from nave to neck, in protection of Little Red Riding Hood.

A poor woodsman ventures off into the forest to chop down a tree and sell it so he can feed his family. He too saw it as an illustration of hypocritical behaviour, while Roger L'Estrange , one of the few to record the fable in English after William Caxton , comments that 'Conscience is as answerable for his Fingers as for his Tongue'.

Mercury and the Woodman A Woodman was felling a tree on the bank of a river, when his axe, glancing off the trunk, flew out of his hands and fell into the water.