Wolf and Crane
A Wolf had been gorging on an animal he had killed, when suddenly a small bone in the meat stuck in his throat and he could not swallow it. He soon felt a terrible pain in his throat, and ran up and down groaning and groaning and seeking for something to relieve it. He tried to induce every one he met to remove the bone.
“I would give anything,“
said he,
“if you would take it out.“
At last the Crane agreed to try, and told the Wolf to lie on his side and open his jaws as wide as he could. Then, the Crane put its long neck down the Wolf’s throat, and, with its beak, loosened the bone, till at last he managed to take it out.
“Now, won‘t you give me the reward you promised?“
said the Crane.
The Wolf only grinned and said:
“Be content. You put your head inside a Wolf’s mouth and managed to take it out again safely; that ought to be reward enough for you.“
Gratitude and greed do not go together.
