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Do Unto Others As You Would
Have Them Do Unto You
There
was once a fox who liked nothing better than getting one over on other
creatures. And so it happened that he came to be on visiting terms with Stork
—and Fox encouraged the Stork so that she came to believe they were very good
friends. One night Fox invited Stork to his house for dinner. As a joke the Fox
gave Stork only a shallow bowl of soup for their meal. The Fox, of course, could
easily lap up the soup, but the Stork’s long bill would not allow her much of a
chance to get the food into her mouth. She could merely wet her bill a bit, and
when she left Fox’s house, she was hungry and annoyed by the way she had been
treated.
“I’m sorry,” the Fox said as she departed. “You didn’t like the soup?”
“Please, don’t apologize,” said the Stork. “I was hoping that you would come to
my house for supper tomorrow night.”
So the next night Fox visited the Stork at her home. Stork said, “Please, make
yourself at home. I’ll be right back with the food.” With that she swooshed into
the kitchen. In a moment, she came back with a long-necked jar with a narrow
mouth. The Fox found that he could not get his snout into the long jar. He was
reduced to licking the outside of the jar, and he left the house hungry. There
were no apologies from the Stork.
The moral: When you treat someone poorly,
the behavior likely will ricochet right back to you.
— As retold from
Aesop’s Fables
When Cornered, Use
Your Head
A young goat
once was returning from the pasture without any protection, and by chance he
found himself being pursued by a hungry wolf. The goat, seeing that escape was
impossible, stopped and faced the wolf. He implored, “Dear Wolf, my friend, I
know that I will serve as your supper on this day. And that means I shall die.
But before you take my life from me, could you please do me one favor and play a
tune for me, because I do so love to dance, and as you know, this will be my
last chance to do so.
 The
Wolf scratched his chin and thought for a while and then agreed to play the
pipes for the young goat. The goat began to dance for his life. As it happens,
some hounds heard the sound of the pipes and came running. The hounds took chase
after the wolf. The Wolf as he was being chased away turned his head back and
growled to the goat, “I’m getting exactly what I deserve! I am a wolf and you
were to be my dinner; that is the nature of our existence. I should not have
made myself a piper just to please you!” With that he dashed across the pasture
and was no longer a threat to the young goat.
The moral: When times get tough, clever
thinking is often the key to getting yourself out of a tight spot.
— As retold from Aesop’s
Fables
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