A long time ago, there lived two woodcutters called Barry and Kent in a village. Every morning, they went out into the forest and cut wood to sell at a nearby market.
One hot day, the woodcutters were eating their lunch under a tree when a beggar came walking towards them.
“My name is Clark, and I’m very hungry,” said the beggar, as he walked up to the two woodcutters. “Can you spare a little of your lunch for me?”
Barry felt great pity for Clark, and he took from his bag some food that he kept for later, and wanted to give it to the poor man. But to his surprise, Kent, who was a kind man too, stopped him from offering the food.
Kent said to Clark, “We both work all day long and we only have enough food to get us through the day. But if you wish, I can lend you my ax and teach you to cut wood. Then you can sell the wood. And you will have a good chance of buying yourself food.”
Clark looked a bit unhappy because he had been so looking forward to the food. But after a second thought, he took Kent’s ax, and then watched carefully as Kent explained how to cut wood. Clark was slow at first, but hours later, he began to cut wood more quickly.
At the end of the day, the three men walked to the market, carrying the wood that they had cut. Very soon, all of their wood was sold out.
“Look at this!” Clark said with excitement. “It’s amazing! I have never had so much money in my life!”
“You have done well. After all, it was your first try,” said Kent, and then he took Clark to a shop in the town and helped him choose an ax.
“Thank you for everything you did for me,” Clark said to Kent and walked away happily.
