The Wolf and the Crane

By Aesop

A Wolf had been feasting too greedily, and a bone had stuck crosswise in his throat. He could get it neither up nor down, and of course he could not eat a thing. Naturally that was an awful state of affairs for a greedy Wolf.

So away he hurried to the Crane. He was sure that she, with her long neck and bill, would easily be able to reach the bone and pull it out.

“I will reward you very handsomely,” said the Wolf, “if you pull that bone out for me.”

The Crane, as you can imagine, was very uneasy about putting her head in a Wolf’s throat. But she was grasping in nature, so she did what the Wolf asked her to do.

When the Wolf felt that the bone was gone, he started to walk away.

“But what about my reward!” called the Crane anxiously.

“What!” snarled the Wolf, whirling around. “Haven’t you got it? Isn’t it enough that I let you take your head out of my mouth without snapping it off?”

Expect no reward for serving the wicked.

Moral of the Story: 

In the story of “The Wolf and the Crane,” we learn an important lesson about helping others. The Wolf, who is greedy and careless, gets a bone stuck in his throat. He asks the Crane for help, promising a reward in return. Despite her fear, the Crane uses her long neck to remove the bone and save the Wolf. However, instead of being grateful, the Wolf turns away without giving the promised reward, showing his true nature.

This teaches us that we must be careful about who we help. Not everyone we assist will appreciate or reward our kindness. Sometimes, people may take advantage of our help and not give anything back in return. It is important to be wise and thoughtful when choosing to help others. We should try to help those who are kind and grateful, but be careful around those who are selfish or dishonest.

Helping others is a good thing, but we should be cautious and understand that not everyone will treat us fairly in return. The story reminds us to be careful in choosing our friends and to think wisely before offering our help.

Always help those who truly deserve it, and be cautious of those who may not appreciate your kindness.

— THE END –

 Source: www.gutenberg.org

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