It was dark when Crow arrived, taking the form of a ragged old man. Thrice he knocked upon the door before there was an answer. Upon the third knock the woodcutter who lived there answered. When Crow saw the man he said "I am tired and old, it is late and the forest is dangerous. Would you let an old beggar rest here for the night?"
The woodcutter was a poor man, and full of compassion, and so agreed to let the old man stay and invited him inside. Once inside, his daughter looked up and questioned who the old man was. "Father, who is this wretch you've invited into our home?" She asked disdainfully. "We barely have enough food to feed ourselves. We can't afford to feed him."
The Crow, seeing the daughter's beauty, and hearing her rudeness smiled and decided to play a trick on her. "I do not require food fair maiden, just shelter. I in my youth acquired an axe that so long as it remains in my possession shall keep me fed no matter where I am." And in saying, he reached into his ragged cloak and pulled out a hatchet and promptly brought it down upon the table in the middle of the room. Immediately a great feast appeared on the table, awing the Woodcutter and his daughter.
The Daughter and Woodcutter both looked on in amazement as Crow invited them to eat. While they ate though, the daughter couldn't stop thinking about the magickal axe. "I will steal that axe tonight while the old man sleeps" She thought to herself, "And sell it to be out of this forest forever. A woodcutter's daughter no more I'll be."
That night, while they slept, the daughter snuck over to the Old Man, and took his axe. As soon as she touched it, she and the old man were sent to an area far from the woodcutter's house, and where once there was the Old Man, Crow stood before her in his normal Youthful appearance. "You would steal from an old man who had given you a feast for a space on the floor?" He asked her, "Your rudeness knows no bounds. Now you shall serve me forever." He told her.
With fear she looked up at Crow and begged to be released. "Please, do not keep me, my father needs me!"
But Crow only laughed, "You intended to abandon him once you'd stolen my axe, would he have been better off then?"
"Please!" She begged, "I will be kind and gentle from now on! Let me return to my father!"
Crow looked upon her and waved his hand over her face, and then placed a mirror into her hand. "Look into the mirror." He told her. She did as he bid and saw an aged woman, scarred and broken in it. "If you ever treat another soul as you would have treated me, you will lose all of your beauty, and become an aged hag, cursed to wander forever." He then waved his hand over her face again and she was young and beautiful again. "Now, take this axe, and take care of your father. And remember, do not treat others how you tried to treat me."
With that, he turned into a crow and flew away and she fell asleep. The next morning she awoke in her own bed with the axe next to her. She immediately went to find the Old Man, sure it must have been a dream, but the old man wasn't there anymore. She returned to her room and saw the axe on her bed. Next to it was a note she hadn't seen before. On it were the words "A Hard Day's Work Reaps Better Rewards". She went to the table and attempted to use the axe, but only bowls of porridge appeared. Then she understood. She took the axe out to where her father had been working and joined him in his efforts. Together they made a great profit and ate well from then on.
Every now and then the Maiden would see a Crow that looked to be smirking at her, and she would say only two words. "Thank You"