A burlesque retelling of the fable occurs in François Rabelais's 16th-century novel "Gargantua and Pantagruel". It takes up most of the author's prologue to the 4th Book and is considerably extended in his typically prolix and circuitous style. The woodcutter's cries disturb the chief of the gods as he deliberates the world's business and he sends Mercury down with instructions to test the man with the three axes and cut off his head if he chooses wrongly. Although he survives the test and returns a rich man, the entire countryside decides to follow his example and gets decapitated. So, Rabelais concludes, it is better to be moderate in our desires. Much the same story is told in La Fontaine's Fables (V.1) but in more concentrated form. However, rather than beheading the woodman's imitators, Mercury merely administers a heavy blow.