The Fox and the Stork

Part One · Two Dinners

A sly fox lived at the edge of the forest. He loved playing tricks on his neighbors.

One morning he met a stork beside the river. She had very long legs and a long, narrow bill.

"Please come to dinner tonight," said the fox. "I am making a delicious soup."

"How kind of you," said the stork. "I will be there." She was very hungry, and she loved soup.

That night, she knocked at the fox's front door. The soup smelled wonderful, and she could hardly wait.

But the fox poured the soup onto two flat plates. It spread out thin and wide.

The fox slurped up his soup in a hurry. The stork tried to sip hers. Her long bill only went tap, tap, tap.

She could not get a single drop. "Is something wrong with my soup?" asked the fox. He tried not to laugh.

"It smells lovely," said the stork politely. "I think I am not very hungry." So the fox licked up her soup, too.

The stork walked home slowly with an empty tummy. She did not say one single cross word. She was thinking very hard.

The next morning she met the fox beside the river. "Thank you for dinner," she said. "Tonight, you must come to my house."

"Oh, yes please!" said the fox. He licked his lips, because he was already hungry. "I hope you are making fish stew."

That evening, the fox came to the stork's house. The stew smelled absolutely wonderful! His mouth began to water.

But the stork brought two tall jars with narrow necks. The stew was inside them.

The stork put her long bill into her jar. She ate every single bite. The fox could only lick the outside.

He pushed his nose against the top of the jar. He tried to tip it over. Nothing came out but a lovely smell.

"Is something wrong with my stew?" asked the stork. She tried not to smile.

The fox looked at her, and then at the jar. "I see," he said. "I played the same trick on you."

"I am very sorry," he said. The stork smiled and poured the stew onto a plate. "Now we can both eat."

And they did. After that, the friends used dishes that worked for both.