Once upon a time there was a fox living in a forest. At the edge of the forest there was a pond and there lived a stork. One day the two became friends. And the fox invited the stork to dinner as his new friend.
“It wouldn’t be me if I didn’t trick him in some way,” the fox said to herself. She wondered what she could do to the stork. And then it came – an idea that could only be born in a red fox’s head! The fox was already laughing under her whiskers at the thought.
In the evening, when the stork arrived, the fox served the thin porridge into shallow plates. She began to lick it off the plate herself. But the stork, with its long beak, was unable to eat the porridge from the shallow plate. The fox knew this, of course, and deliberately tricked him. She smacked her lips and told the stork: “Why don’t you eat? Don’t you like the porridge I made?” The stork struggled for a while, but unfortunately he didn’t manage to eat anything.
“Well, it’s a pity you didn’t eat today. The porridge was very good. Maybe next time you’ll have more appetite,” the fox told him with feigned kindness.
“Well, yes, I’m sure it will be better next time. I’ll invite you to dinner tomorrow in return,” replied the stork. The fox was quite surprised and annoyed that the stork wasn’t upset at having pulled such an awesome prank on him, but she agreed to the invitation. Who would refuse a free dinner… Then the hungry stork went home.
The next day in the evening, the fox arrived at the stork’s dwelling to have a hearty meal with her new friend. She could smell the aroma at the door… The stork must have prepared something delicious. And he did. He’s prepared a delicious fish soup. The fox settled down and licked her lips hungrily. The stork placed a tall and very narrow jug in front of her – just right for the long and slender beak of a stork.
“Go on, fox, have some, my fish soup is especially good today,” the stork urged her. Well, the fox tried, and how hard she tried! But she couldn’t eat from the jug. She was so angry that all her hairs bristled.
“Why are you angry, my dear friend? I was only returning your treat. As you served me, so I served you. What’s wrong with that?”
The fox had nothing to say. She was sure she was the master of tricks and she thought she could mock everyone she fooled, but this time someone played tricked her. Suddenly she didn’t think taking a shot at her friend was such a great idea. Well, what could she do, she had to go to bed hungry tonight.
Many more times after that, the stork and the fox invited each other to dinner, but it was always friendly and they hosted each other as they should.
