In one of Aesop's Fables, (specifically, The Honest Woodman) a workman dropped his axe into the river. The god Mercury found out what was wrong, and offered his aid. First Mercury pulled out a silver axe, and asked whether it was the one the workman lost. He told the god that no, it wasn't. Then Mercury pulled out a golden axe, and asked whether it was his. Again...no. Finally, Mercury pulls out [...] [tvtropes.org]