World Literature (Aesop Fables)｜世界文学（イソップ童話）Lesson90: Mercury and the Woodman

PART A_1

Let’s learn vocabulary. Listen and repeat the words and the sentences with your tutor.

PART A_2

1.　despair	/de-SPER/
	-a feeling of having no hope
	She cried in despair upon learning the death of her partner.
2.　possess	/po-ZES/
	-to have or own something
	The mansion beside the town plaza is possessed by the most prominent family in town.
3.　weep	/wip/
	-to cry, usually because you are sad
	After learning what happened to her dog, the girl wept for almost an hour.
4.　fortune	/FO-r-tshun/
	-the good or bad things that happen to you
	The child’s good fortune started when she was adopted by a wealthy family.
5.　pretend	/pri-TEND/
	-to behave as if something is true when it is not
	She pretended to be a staff in the restaurant to have access to the kitchen.

PART B_1

Let’s read the story. Please read them aloud, and I will check your pronunciation and intonation.

PART B_2

Mercury and the Woodman

A poor Woodman was cutting down a tree near the edge of a deep pool in the forest. It was late in the day and the Woodman was tired. He had been working since sunrise and his strokes were not so sure as they had been early that morning. Thus it happened that the ax slipped and flew out of his hands into the pool.

The Woodman was in despair. The ax was all he possessed with which to make a living, and he had not money enough to buy a new one. As he stood wringing his hands and weeping, the god Mercury suddenly appeared and asked what the trouble was. The Woodman told what had happened, and straightway the kind Mercury dived into the pool. When he came up again he held a wonderful golden ax.

“Is this your ax?” Mercury asked the Woodman.

“No,” answered the honest Woodman, “that is not my ax.”

Mercury laid the golden ax on the bank and sprang back into the pool. This time he brought up an ax of silver, but the Woodman declared again that his ax was just an ordinary one with a wooden handle.

Mercury dived down for the third time, and when he came up again he had the very ax that had been lost.

The poor Woodman was very glad that his ax had been found and could not thank the kind god enough. Mercury was greatly pleased with the Woodman’s honesty.

“I admire your honesty,” he said, “and as a reward, you may have all three axes, the gold, and the silver as well as your own.”

The happy Woodman returned to his home with his treasures, and soon the story of his good fortune was known to everybody in the village. Now there were several Woodmen in the village who believed that they could easily win the same good fortune. They hurried out into the woods, one here, one there, and hiding their axes in the bushes, pretended they had lost them. Then they wept and wailed and called on Mercury to help them.

And indeed, Mercury did appear, first to this one, then to that. To each one he showed an ax of gold, and each one eagerly claimed it to be the one he had lost. But Mercury did not give them the golden ax. Oh no! Instead, he gave them each a hard whack over the head with it and sent them home. And when they returned next day to look for their own axes, they were nowhere to be found.

Honesty is the best policy.

PART C_1

Let’s answer comprehension questions. Please answer them based on the story.

PART C_2

1.	How did the Woodman lose his ax?
2.	How did the Woodman show honesty to the god Mercury?
3.	What did he get for his honesty?

PART D_1

Let’s discuss the story. Please answer the questions below and express your opinions.

PART D_2

1.	Why do you think the fortune of other Woodmen differed from the first woodman?
2.	What do you think the god Mercury felt when the other woodmen attempted to fool him?
3.	Do you think god Mercury would award the other Woodmen if they told the truth about their axes? Why or why not?
4.	When was the last time you showed honesty? Please tell me all about it.
5.	Why do you think it is important for people to be honest?

REVIEW AND FEEDBACK

Now, let us review the things that you learned in this lesson.

ではこのレッスンで学んだことを振り返りましょう。

(Please give a short feedback on how your student did on your class.)

	Grammar 文法	Pronunciation 発音	Vocabulary 単語	Comprehension 理解
GOOD	文法の誤りはほとんどなく、完全な文章で話すことができる	ほとんどの単語をはっきりと正しく発音することができる	習った表現を適切に使うことができる	文章を理解し、質問に正しく答えることができる
FAIR	文法の誤りはあるが、完全な文章で話すことができる	発音の練習が必要な言葉がいくつかある	たまにミスはあるが、習った表現を適切に使うことができる	文章を完全に理解するのは難しく、質問に正しく答えられないときもある
POOR	文章で話すのは難しく、単語だけで話すことができる	発音の練習が必要である	習った単語と表現を少しだけ使うことができる	文章を理解するのは難しく、質問に答えるのは難しい

TUTOR FEEDBACK

GRAMMAR
Good:	Was able to speak in complete sentences with minimal grammatical errors.
Fair:	Was able to speak in complete sentences with evident grammatical errors.
Poor:	Was able to speak using words only.
PRONUNCIATION
Good:	Was able to pronounce most of the words clearly and correctly.
Fair:	Mispronounced a few words.
Poor:	Mispronounced most of the words.
VOCABULARY
Good:	Used appropriate expressions learned in class.
Fair:	Used appropriate expressions learned in class and made a few errors in word choice.
Poor:	Used only a few words and expressions.
COMPREHENSION
Good:	Was able to understand the passages and answer the questions correctly.
Fair:	Had a little difficulty in understanding passages and answering questions.
Poor:	Had a hard time understanding passages and answering questions.

Parts of this lesson material are based on:
An eBook from The Project Gutenberg.
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