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?”
The flatterer lives at the expense of those who will listen to
him.
