When I was a kid, my dad used to tell me a story about A Honest Woodcutter whose name was Hariprasad. It was a story about how became rich because of his honesty and his truthfulness. The story consists of water fairy which people used to believe existed back then in Nepal. I used to love this story. My dad used to read it to me before I went to sleep. The story is about a man who was as honest as a mirror.
The retelling of the story begins as I was introduced to a man who wore the Daura Surwal; my national dress. He was a hardworking person who was known to be loyal and honest. He was as hard-working as an ant. He loved his family so much that he would do anything for them. They were poor but they never chose a wrong path to be happy and rich. His wife always supported and motivated him for everything. He always thanked God for what he had and was satisfied as well. Later, he went to the jungle to cut down trees to support his family. When he saw an old tree near a lake, he thought to himself, “this is an old tree, I should cut this into small pieces rather than looking for young trees”. As he was about to cut the tree, the axe bounced towards the lake and disappeared. He heaved a sigh and started to think about his family. He tried to go into the water but sadly he couldn't swim. He knew he couldn't do anything to get the axe back which made him cry as he didn't have any other axes because they were expensive. His tears looked like a river flowing down his cheeks. Luckily, he wasn't alone. Goddess of the lake, ’Jaldevi’ heard him cry. As he was about to leave, he heard a sound that came out of the lake. He stopped and looked back. He saw a beautiful woman wearing a saree. He was amused when he looked at her. Her long hair was a flowing river. Her eyes were as vacant as the sea. Her crown was as bright as the sun. She stood up in a big flower, lily. She was as beautiful as a rainbow after a rainstorm. She wore jewellery made up of diamonds, gold and silver. This made her look like a treasured jewel. The woodcutter stopped crying after he saw her. To respect and honour the goddess, he bowed down and took his cap (topi) out while wiping his tears. She said, “I'm the goddess of this lake, what happened woodcutter, why are you crying like this?”. He said, “Hey devi (praising her), the axe that I had bounced and has fallen into your lake and I don't know what to do. I can't look for it as I can't swim. Goddess questioned, “ you can buy a new axe on the market, can't you?” Hariprasad said, “ Jaldevi, I'm very poor and I can't buy a new axe. If I won't have that axe, I won't be able to feed my family. My family will be disappointed. ” Touched by his reply, Jal devi agreed to help Hariprasad find his axe. She disappeared for five seconds and came back with a shiny axe which was made up of brass. She said, “Look at this, I'm pretty sure that this is your lost axe.”
The woodcutter( shaking his head):“I'm sorry devi but this isn't my axe”.
Jaldevi: Are you sure this isn't yours? This is a nice axe.
Woodcutter( shakes his head to say no)
After few seconds, devi comes back with another axe made up of silver.
Jaldevi: I'm sure this is your axe.
Woodcutter: sorry again devi, but this isn't mine either
She disappeared and came back again with an axe made up of gold.
Jaldevi: is this your axe then?
Woodcutter: I'm really sorry Jaldevi, but I have a simple axe which isn't made up of gold, silver or brass.
She disappeared and came back again with a simple axe.
Jaldevi: is it the axe you've been looking for?
Woodcutter ( being happy ): yes, yes! that is my axe. Thank you very very much.
Jaldevi was impressed by the woodcutter’s honesty and decided to give him all of the axes as a gift as she praised him, she said, ”Hope you and your family will be happy forever”. He said thanks to her and went back to his cottage to tell his family about the incident. His family was delighted to know about the Jalpari. They became rich and helped the people in need.
People in his society were as greedy as pigs, as they only cared about how he got the money. Hariprasad kept the incident a secret but couldn't resist himself from telling his best friend, Shyam about it. Shyam was very jealous when he saw his friend getting rich. When he found out about Jalpari, he went near the lake. He thought that his best friend was lying as the lake was like a mirror. But he tried and threw his axe in the water. He started crying as loud as a child. After few seconds, he saw Jaldevi. She asked him what happened. Her voice was music to his ears. He told her that he lost his axe as he was cutting an old tree. When Jaldevi told him that she will help, he became so happy to take the golden axe home. When she came back, she showed him an axe made of brass. He said no as he knew it wasn't made up of gold. She came back after few seconds with an axe of silver. He shook his head to say no. She came back again with an axe made up of gold. He shook his head to say yes. He was so happy with the thought of him being rich that he chose the wrong path. Jaldevi got angry at him and said, ” you chose the gold axe instead of your normal axe. This proves that you are a greedy person who can do anything to be rich, shame on you! You won't even get your axe back.” she disappeared and Shyam was there standing speechless. It is said that Jalpari has not been seen to this day. But when you do the right things and be honest, she will be there to gift your honesty.
This cultural story has shaped my character. It taught me that I should always be honest and truthful. It also taught me never to choose the path of dishonesty to gain something since I was a kid. That one thing that always kept the story so interesting was me picturing my dad as Hariprasad. This is because I knew my dad was as honest, hardworking, truthful and kind as Hariprasad. I always knew that he would be rewarded for his honesty, truthfulness and kindness and hard work. The story taught me to never cheat in my exams to get good grades. Instead of cheating, it taught me to put a hundred percent effort and hard work to achieve something. Growing up, I believed in God, goddesses, fairies and monsters. I believed in magic as well. After the story had finished, I believed that the gods and fairies were always looking after me and taking care as well. I believed that they saved me from bad people and monsters. The story increased my faith in Gods. In Nepal, parents always want their kids to believe in God and worship them. There are hardly any people that I've met who don't believe in God.
The story also taught me that some friends that you'll have in your life will be jealous of you when you do better than them. The story helped me learn this through the character Shyam. When you choose the wrong path and try to achieve something, the good wins over evil. For example, in this story, Shyam loses his own axe whereas Hariprasad gets all of the axes she showed as a gift. This encourages me to do good, honest and truthful person as I know that it wins over lying and dishonesty. The presence of a Jalpari in this story helped me learn so many things. I believe that someone is looking after our deeds and will gift us like she did.
Back in the days, many poor people were woodcutters( daureh). They made sure that they cut old trees instead of the young ones thinking about the environment. The axe also symbolises what you choose to be ( honest or dishonest) in this story. This is because Hariprasad gave his honesty to the Goddess and she rewarded him with gold, silver and brass whereas Shyam decided to be dishonest and the Goddess made sure that he learnt his lesson by taking his axe with him.
The moral of the story is, to be honest, and truthful at all times.