The Fox and the Stork

The Fox and the Stork is a fable by Aesop that tells of a cunning Fox inviting a Stork to dine with him, only for the Stork to find the food in a shallow dish she couldn't eat from due to her long beak. Later, the Stork returns the favor by inviting the Fox over and serving dinner in a long-necked jar the Fox couldn't reach into. The fable is a gentle lesson in treating others how you would want to be treated.

• Children

								
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.
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