Fable
The Fox and The Crow
One bright morning as the Fox was following
his sharp nose through the wood in search of a bite to eat, he saw a Crow on
the limb of a tree overhead. This was by no means the first Crow the Fox had
ever seen. What caught his attention this time and made him stop for a second
look, was that the lucky Crow held a bit of cheese in her beak.
"No
need to search any farther," thought sly Master Fox. "Here is a
dainty bite for my breakfast."
Up
he trotted to the foot of the tree in which the Crow was sitting, and looking
up admiringly, he cried, "Good-morning, beautiful creature!"
The
Crow, her head cocked on one side, watched the Fox suspiciously. But she kept
her beak tightly closed on the cheese and did not return his greeting.
"What
a charming creature she is!" said the Fox. "How her feathers shine!
What a beautiful form and what splendid wings! Such a wonderful Bird should
have a very lovely voice, since everything else about her is so perfect. Could
she sing just one song, I know I should hail her Queen of Birds."
Listening
to these flattering words, the Crow forgot all her suspicion, and also her
breakfast. She wanted very much to be called Queen of Birds. So, she opened her
beak wide to utter her loudest caw, and down fell the cheese straight into the
Fox's open mouth.
"Thank
you," said Master Fox sweetly, as he walked off. "Though it is
cracked, you have a voice sure enough. But where are your wits?"
Moral
–
The flatterer lives at the expense of those who will listen to him.
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