Once upon a time, in a beautiful village, lived a Stork with his wife and their children. Outside the village lived a cunning Fox with reddish fur and a tufted tail.
One day, the stork and the fox happened to meet in the forest.
- "Good morning Mr. Stork! What brings you here?" the Fox asked him.
- "I came to the forest to gather food for my children," answered the Stork.
- "Since you came to my neighborhood, would you like to have lunch with me?"
The Stork was taken aback by the Fox's proposal, but in the end he accepted. So he went to her house, sat down at the table and the fox served him a hot and steaming soup in a shallow dish. Τhe Stork realized that the fox wanted to mock him, since his long beak made it impossible to eat the soup in a shallow dish. So he pretended to eat and after the Fox had finished, he thanked her and said:
- "The soup was very tasty. To repay your hospitality, would you like to come to my house tomorrow and have dinner with my family?"
The Fox accepted his proposal and the Stork started to walk back to his home thinking that the Fox had laughed at him and that he should teach her a lesson.
The next day, the Stork explained to his wife what happened with the Fox. So he asked her to prepare a very nice dinner and serve it in tall-necked glasses.
When the time came, the Fox, set off proudly for the Stork's house. She knocked on the door and the family greeted her with a smile.
- "It smells so good! I'm so hungry!" commented the Fox.
She sat down at the table, and the Stork and his wife brought her the glasses. The Stork immediately stuck his beak into the high neck of the glass and began to eat his food with great appetite. The Fox tried to stick her muzzle in, but in vain. She didn't manage to eat a single bite.
After the Stork and his wife had finished their meal, they rose from the table. The Fox didn’t manage to eat a single bite, but didn’t say a word. She wished goodnight to the family and left for home.
On the way she was thinking that if this story was spread, the other animals would no longer respect her.
And then finally the fox realized that the Stork was the one who had the last laugh!
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Thanks to the following sources for the illustration: