A man was cutting a tree right over the river once, and his axe fell into the water. The man started crying in desperation, when suddenly, the voice of the Lord sounded from above:

“Why are you crying, Son?”

“How can I not cry?” The man sobbed. “My axe was my only tool which helped me earn my living and feed my family.”

The Lord took out a golden axe from the river and asked: “Is this your axe?”

“No,” answered the man.

Then, the Lord produced a silver axe from the river.

“Is this one yours?” He asked.

“No, this one is not mine, either,” answered the man.

Finally, the Lord took out an iron axe from the river and asked, “Is this the one?”

The man smiled happily, “Yes, this one is mine!”

“You are an honest man,” said the God, “you follow my commandments. So, you may take all three axes as an award for your honesty.”

Since then, the man’s life improved very much. But one day, a terrible thing happened: his wife fell into the river. The man started crying in grief again.

And again, the Lord’s voice sounded from above:

“Why are you crying, Son?”

“How can I not cry?” The man sobbed. “My wife fell into the river!”

The Lord took out Claudia Shiffer from the river and asked, “Is this your wife?”

“Yes! This is my wife!” the man exclaimed happily.

On hearing this, the Lord grew angry.

“You just lied to me! How could you?”

“You see,” the man replied, “there is a bit of misapprehension here… If I said this was not my wife, you would take out Cindy Crawford from the water, and again, I would honestly say she was not my wife. Then, you would finally show me my wife and of course, I would say, “yes, this woman is my wife”. But then, you would let me have all three of them, right?”

“Sure,” said the God, “so what?”

“What do you think I would do with the three of them? How would I be able to support them? I guess, all four of us would become very unhappy.”

THE MORAL OF THE STORY: IF A MAN LIES, HE DOES THIS WITH DIGNITY AND FOR THE COMMON BENEFIT.