The Fox and the Crane

The Fox and the Crane

Once upon a time, there was a fox and a crane who were good friends. One day, as they were standing on the banks of a river, the fox decided to invite the crane for dinner just to insult him. So, he politely asked the crane if he would be interested to come to his house the next day for dinner. The crane said that he would be delighted and so the fox told him that he could come to his house at 7 P.M. the next day. With this, both of them went their separate ways.

The next day at the fox’s house, the table was set with plates of soup and the candle was lit. Just as the fox took his place, the crane flew in and after both of them exchanged greetings, they both sat down. After talking for some time, the fox started to lick soup from his plate. However, the crane could not do this as he had a long beak and when he tried to drink the soup, the plate just moved around the table and he was unable to drink any soup. The fox was pleased as he saw the crane struggling to drink the soup. It was then that the crane knew the fox was not his true friend. Before leaving, the crane invited the fox to dinner at his home the next day at the same time.

Next day, the crane had set up the table well in advance with the food and was awaiting the arrival of the fox. As expected, the fox came hopping about happily to the house. The crane took him to the table and after having a casual conversation, the crane started to drink soup from a tall tumbler. When the fox tried to do the same, he could not reach the soup. He even put his entire head into the tumbler and stretched out his tongue, but he was still unable to even lick a drop of the soup. The crane saw this and then stopped drinking.

He told the fox that this was how he was humiliated yesterday when the fox had invited him for dinner. The fox did not know what to do as he sat with his head hung low. The crane then broke his friendship with the fox and sent him out of the house.

Moral - As you sow, so shall you reap.

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