The Fox & the Stork
The Fox one day thought of a plan to amuse himself at the expense of
the Stork, at whose odd appearance he was always laughing.
"You must come and dine with me today," he said to the Stork,
smiling to himself at the trick he was going to play. The Stork
gladly accepted the invitation and arrived in good time and with a
very good appetite.
For dinner the Fox served soup. But it was set out in a very shallow
dish, and all the Stork could do was to wet the very tip of his
bill. Not a drop of soup could he get. But the Fox lapped it up
easily, and, to increase the disappointment of the Stork, made a
great show of enjoyment.
The hungry Stork was much displeased at the trick, but he was a
calm, even-tempered fellow and saw no good in flying into a rage.
Instead, not long afterward, he invited the Fox to dine with him in
turn. The Fox arrived promptly at the time that had been set, and
the Stork served a fish dinner that had a very appetizing smell. But
it was served in a tall jar with a very narrow neck. The Stork could
easily get at the food with his long bill, but all the Fox could do
was to lick the outside of the jar, and sniff at the delicious odor.
And when the Fox lost his temper, the Stork said calmly:
Do not play tricks on your neighbors unless you can stand the same
treatment yourself.
The Fox and the Goat
A Fox fell into a well, and though it was not very deep, he found
that he could not get out again. After he had been in the well a
long time, a thirsty Goat came by. The Goat thought the Fox had gone
down to drink, and so he asked if the water was good.
"The finest in the whole country," said the crafty Fox, "jump in and
try it. There is more than enough for both of us."
The thirsty Goat immediately jumped in and began to drink. The Fox
just as quickly jumped on the Goat's back and leaped from the tip of
the Goat's horns out of the well
The foolish Goat now saw what a plight he had got into, and begged
the Fox to help him out. But the Fox was already on his way to the
woods
"If you had as much sense as you have beard, old fellow," he said as
he ran, "you would have been more cautious about finding a way to
get out again before you jumped in."
Look before you leap.
