The Value of Hard Work

One afternoon, a woodcutter was returning home through the forest. He was tired, but proud that he had completed a full day’s work.

He saw something shiny behind a big tree stump. It was a huge, old brass kettle—the biggest kettle the woodcutter had ever seen. “This would be an ideal kettle for my wife”, he thought. The woodcutter put his Axe in the kettle. Then, he tied one end of his rope through the kettle’s handles and brought the kettle to his cottage. “What a wonderful kettle!” his wife said happily. “This must be your lucky day. And you found another axe too.” The woodcutter looked surprised.

“Oh, no. I only have one axe.”

 “But there are two axes in the kettle,” his wife said. “Where did you find the other one?” The woodcutter looked into the kettle. Sure enough there was a second Axe just like the one he had carried. As he bent down to take it out, his coin fell into the kettle.

Right before his eyes, one coin became two.

The woodcutter and his wife were amazed. The old brass kettle must have strange powers! But how could they test this? “I have prepared our small supper,” said his wife. “Let’s put our meal into the kettle and see what happens to it.” When they did, the simple meal doubled in size.

With this, they thought that the kettle could make them wealthy. The couple had a few coins stored in a cloth bag. They quickly put the coins into the kettle and watched as the number of coins doubled. Again and again, they put some more coins into the kettle. In a short time every box, bag, bowl, and basket was filled with coins.

“We’re rich!” shouted the woodcutter. “Now we can build a big house and a fine garden for ourselves. We’ll never have to work again!” He lifted up his wife and carried her around and around. But in his excitement, he accidentally dropped his wife into the kettle.

“Oh no,” said the woodcutter as two women who looked exactly alike climbed out of the kettle. “How can I have two wives at the same time?

“You can’t!” said the two wives. The women put their heads together and came up with an idea. They each caught one of the woodcutter’s arms and threw him into the kettle. Two woodcutters climbed out of the kettle. They looked at one another. Then they looked at the two wives. “Oh no! Now there are four of us in one house!” they cried.

The clever wives had the answer. Each couple would use half of the new money to pay for a house and garden of their own. The problem was solved, but it made the first woodcutter and his wife think again about the value of the strange kettle. They thought that their newfound money had made them careless. They said if it is so easy to earn money, they will never again know the pride of a hard day’s work. The woodcutter and his wife were ashamed that greed had made them double and treble their coins until they had more money than they needed.

The next day the woodcutter wisely took the kettle back to its place in the forest and left it there and returned to his hardworking wife.