The Honest Woodcutter- Fiction (Aesop's Retold)

“You are not honest.” The angel sighed. “Not even close to it.”

The wood cutter’s hand tightened around the three axes as he stopped walking, turned and looked up at the angel. His hardened face skewed into welt lines lashed with the abrupt accusation.

“But I did the right thing… Didn't I?”

“Oh …. Really? So, tell me, my dear man” She taunted “What happened? And what did you do, that you think is so right?”

“My axe. It fell into the river. My mistake. Was not handling it properly. And just as I thought that it was done for, you came forward to help but retrieved a golden and silver version of my axe before coming up with my own. And yes, as honest as I am, I owned up to only my own axe.”

“And then…” she prodded.

“You gave me all the three as a gift to my honesty. Right??”

 “Well, that’s true.” She paused, her warm red lips dipping into a delicious smirk.  “But wouldn't a really honest man simply refuse the other two axes given as gifts. And what’s the point of being honest, if you start accepting bribes for the very act, the one you deem to be in accordance to your own moral principles.”

She calmly shook her head, her soft flowing hair reveling in the mellow breeze.

“Oh… please…… Didn't you see this coming? What are you… a thumb sucking kid? You are honest because you choose to be; not because someone greases your palm now and then for your good deeds.”

The wood cutter blurted out. “But it was a gift.”

It was then that she started to laugh. Her luscious voice raining through the entire valley, her guffaws drizzling with the dew of her mirth, her dark eyes exploding with a million teasing tinges, she turned around towards the bottom of the river. And just before leaping in into its arcane depths, she gave the bewildered woodcutter one last look and sighed.

Another wannabe. A honest one at that.



Author's note-

Another attempt in twisting the Aesop's with regard to a more skewed version of morality. The argument that is made by the fairy is ambiguous and questionable but I think it is still valid in its own right. If we are not enjoying something and doing it just for the end result- then that I think marks the first step in the decay of human purpose. (Well, that went too philosophical than I intended to. Pardon me.) And I would love to hear what you guys think of my version of honesty.

Also, If you guys are interested to check out the other Aesop's that were retold by me, kindly check out this link. Also, the original tale of the honest woodcutter can be read in the following link.

The Fox and The Crow - Fiction (Aesop's Retold)

The snap-

The Tale-

Rich, Sweet & relishing goodness; the cheese slowly tumbled down falling from the open mouth of the crow, bouncing along the tree it was perched on and landed right in front of the fox. The fox suppressed a malicious grin, as it moved to pick up the piece of cheese. What a sucker!! Still falling for his “you are so beautiful, do you also have a sweet voice to match” scam. The crows, they just can’t resist direct flattery and just like their ancestors have been doing for generations now, they always end up cawing. What a dumb bunch!!

And just as he started to taste his loot, he heard the crow laughing; laughing in roaring guffaws. Curious, he looked up at his victim.

“Still pulling that two bit scam with your flattery eh??” the crow rasped. “Grow up. Think up something new. How long are you going to be nicking crows for cheese, you pathetic moron?? Do you know if you can find the right person and flatter him, like may be the one who actually made this cheese, you can have a shot at something better!!  ”   It calmly sighed. “Where do you think, I got that cheese? How the fuck do you think, I ended up with such a big piece? 

The crow paused and suddenly felt sorry for the gaping fox. “It’s okay, you can keep that piece, and I am not really hungry anymore.” It calmly shrugged. “And just in case you were wondering, why I let you have the cheese in the first place, it’s just that, I couldn't help bursting out laughing when you tried that silly old scam on me. I just couldn't help...” 

Author’s note-

I have always been fascinated with the Aesop’s fables from when I was a kid, simple, interesting and always inventive. I have been experimenting with the same Aesop’s fables for quite some time- Writing up skewed up versions of the same tales with twisted morals. Do let me know, your take on my version guys. Also, do check out my other Aesop’s tales retold in the same manner in this link.

For those interested in the original Aesop’s tale, kindly follow the given link.

The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs - Fiction (Aesop's Retold)

The snap-

The fiction-

All the hay, alfalfa and the dried grasses made for quite a comfortable spread, just warm enough. The smell of fresh dug earth wafted strong, its musky odors pulled up by the light drizzle drumming against the newly patched tin segments of the roof.  He spent the next few moments taking care of each and every single detail to the letter, of what he had learned about making her comfortable.

 “God help us all”

He sighed to himself. Of course, him more so than others; considering his recent venture. Quite an ambitious one, if his opinion might be allowed; Perhaps, tad greedy as others might put it but then the world was not made by people who are content with what they already have. Right??

May be his counterpart was not all wrong as they depict him, when he tore open the stomach of his goose, expecting to find the mother lode of the eggs, those golden eggs that it laid one by one each and every day. Foolish like him or not, being satisfied with whatever you have in life is not going to get you anywhere. How more pathetic an idea you can put forward? Bollocks. Complete bollocks. How can people believe and spread crap like that in fables?

“Simple minded fuckers, God help ‘em all”

He murmured to himself again as he slowly got up leaving his goose to her task; roosting alone, trying to breed a bunch of her ilk for him; a bunch of geese that lay golden eggs.

Author’s note-

Quite some while ago, I wrote short fictions that retold some famous Aesop’s fables that were taught in kinder garden. I have retained the spirit of the narrative and twisted it to suit a different moral scenario. Do let me know, what you guys think about them.

And also do check out the other famous Aesop's fables- retold likewise in the following links.

The rabbit and the tortoise-

The fox and the grapes-

On a side note-

On 22-8-2012, I booked for an accidental warranty service with Dell around 11.30 am, (My friend dropped his laptop accidentally, damaging it's screen). I was visited by the service engineer on 23-8-2012 at around 12.15 am and had the laptop's screen changed immediately. The response was quite swift and the service was precise and friendly. Honestly I am not just satisfied but impressed. I wanted to share this info, so that it might help people who are looking to buy new laptops.

The rabbit and the tortoise- Fiction (Aesop's Retold)

The snap-






The Fiction--



Nobody can call the tortoise a slouch. Nor can anybody criticize his efforts.

Sweat poured across his face; drenching his soul, as he plodded along the race path, one step at a time; each harder than the earlier.

Every minuscule molecule of his might, exhausted. A dry throat gasping for breath; battling with the heat and exhaustion – dieing to give up. Just give up this unjust race already.


Of course, his opponent is tough and obviously faster. It would be a child’s win for the rabbit to win. But then, all the odds staked against him, made it the more important, more important for him to win.

And no, the chance for the rabbit to fall asleep, once again- after the Aesop’s race would be, like the Americans say; a fat chance. But then, it was his dignity that’s at stake. He took a deep breath and sighed. Sometimes a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do. With a rebuilt resolution, he plodded on.


Just then, just for a flash of a second, he couldn’t but help think that – Maybe, his claiming reservation was not a bad idea at all.




Author's note-


Like the last post, this one too is retelling the Aesop's in relation to the modern circumstances. Hope I have made a interesting dent to the story.

Regarding reservations - I do not intend to support nor oppose it. I merely would like to rethink reservation depending on circumstances. Isn't that all democracy about ? To decide for ourselves, whats to be done to ourselves. So, tell me guys, what do you think about reservation? and it's implication - both in the story & in real life.

For those interested, the original Aesop's tale- can be read at the following link.

The fox and the grapes- Fiction (Aesop's Retold)

Retelling the Aesop's Fables-




The snap-






The tale-



A royal purple, rich & ripe the grapes smirked at the fox. But then, at a height it cannot reach, the only thing that the fox was able to do was stare at the juicy fruits with a calm disdain. A few seconds passed & along with them, a few wise cracks by those hanging safely high up in the branches.

After all, they were sour. Weren't they?

The fox turned around & started to walk away from the grape tree. Cheers rang out from the celebrating bunch of fruits. They wont be eaten by the likes of such failures.

But then, they didn't know did they, that the fox was already thinking of what story to weave to the elephant to make it mow down the tree holding them.





Author's note-


A homage to the Aesop's fables. An alternate version of it, with it's own untold morals with a bit of twist from my own stables. For the original story, please visit the following link. & do visit again for another one of my attempts on retelling the Aesop's.