That story still bothers me...

[johnb]

I am trying to find out the name of a story I read in grade school because it still haunts me today. It must have been in the late 1970's. The story, as I remember it, is of a young boy in a village who was a woodcutter. He is made the village excutioner because of his skill with an axe. His mother is convicted of a crime and he must execute her and is so nervous at the execution that he misses her neck and hits her in the back. Ouch!
This story was something that I must have read around 10-12 years old. It seems amazing that this horror story was assigned to children this age!
Thanks for any thoughts.