Aesop’s Fables
READING PLAN – ENGLISH II – UNIT 4
The Fox and the Stork
At one time the Fox and the Stork were on visiting terms and seemed very
good friends. So the Fox invited the Stork to dinner, and for a joke put nothing
before her but some soup in a very shallow dish. This the Fox could easily lap
up, but the Stork could only wet the end of her long bill in it, and left the meal
as hungry as when she began. ‘I am sorry,’ said the Fox, ‘the soup is not to your
liking.’ ‘Pray do not apologize,’ said the Stork. ‘I hope you will return this visit,
and come and dine with me soon.’ So a day was appointed when the Fox
should visit the Stork; but when they were seated at table all that was for their
dinner was contained in a very long-necked jar with a narrow mouth, in which
the Fox could not insert his snout, so all he could manage to do was to lick the
outside of the jar. ‘I will not apologize for the dinner,’ said the Stork: ‘One bad
turn deserves another.’
