Wisdom story: The fox and the stork playing tricks

There once lived a clever fox in the fields between a big city and a small farm where a farmer lived with his family. The fox was the farmer’s greatest adversary as she was always sneaking into his farm and eating his ducks or chickens and playing tricks on him such as hiding his tools, puncturing tires on his bicycle or car, and much more. One morning the fox heard a car going down the road from the farm. In the car were the farmer, his wife, and their children going to the market. This was the opportunity the fox was waiting for, as she knew the house was now empty at least for a couple of hours and it was safe to get a chicken or two for dinner. Once the fox was at the farm she found out that the chickens and ducks were safely locked in the hen house. Looking for a way into the hen house she noticed that one window in the main house was open. At first, she was skeptical as maybe the farmer was playing tricks on her and was trying to lure her into the house where he had set a trap for her. Why would he close all the windows in the hen house but leave that one window open in the main house? Then suddenly an intoxicating smell filled her nostrils which was coming out of the opened window. She quickly forgot all of her worries and changed her plan from getting into the hen house to getting into the main house. She climbed the nearby vine, slipped through the window, and hurried downstairs to the kitchen. Once she was in the kitchen the couldn’t believe what delicacies she saw! Fresh sausages hung from a large hook on the ceiling. Loaves of cheese were stacked in the corner, each larger than a wagon wheel. And jars of olives and wine and baskets of shiny walnuts waiting to be crushed. The fox had barely started eating when she heard a car pull over and someone walking towards the house. Maybe it was the farmer and this was his trap to finally get her, or maybe it was one of the neighbors that the farmer asked to keep an eye on the house. Whoever it was the fox had no intention of finding out. She stashed all she could in a bag that was next to the storage room and ran through the window above into the field.

Once she reached the edge of the field she didn’t have much longer to go to get home. She could already smell all the delicious meals she would prepare with her loot. Once home she lit a fire and boiled water. She sliced the meat and cheese and threw them into the pot along with the olives adding all kinds of ingredients she had never had at the same time. Soon her home was filled with an enticing scent. While waiting for the dish to be cooked the fox sat on the doorstep, enjoying a pleasant breeze. “That smells so delicious, I have never smelled anything so delicious in my life.” said the doe, who lived right next to the fox as she was just leaving her home with the stork that was visiting her. Even the stork praised the smell, “It smells so nice that my stomach started rumbling.” The doe continued, “Is that your cooking fox?” The fox confirmed and asked the doe if she would like to join her. “I would love to join you, but sadly I already have an appointment and I am in a hurry. But stork would probably join you if you would have her,” said the doe. The stork grabbed the opportunity and told the fox that she would be happy to join her if she didn’t mind. The fox didn’t really feel like sharing her lunch with the stork. The only reason why she invited the doe was that she owed her a favor. But now she found herself in an unpleasant situation. If she would refuse the stork, the doe would surely think the fox is rude so she had to invite the stork, but on the other hand, she really didn’t want to waste her delicious meal on a stork for not gaining anything. In the end, the fox decided to invite the stork and be a “good host”. As the stork was finishing preparing the table the fox brought her dish to the table. To the surprise of the stork, the dish was served on large shallow plates. But the dish looked and smelled so good! Both of them were drooling as the casings of the sausages had popped and the cheese had softened and melted nicely. The fox used her big tongue to clean every last morsel off the plate while the poor stork barely ate anything. No matter how hard she tried, she could only dip the tip of her beak into that tempting dish.

The cruel fox chose the shallow plates perfectly. She knew that the stork wouldn’t be able to eat anything that way. “I see you haven’t even touched the food. Don’t you like it?” grinned the fox as she licked her plate clean. “On the contrary, it was a real feast. You must come to my place tomorrow for dinner so that I can repay you. I will make something with fish,” said the stork, trying to hide her disappointment at not being able to eat anything. The fox gladly accepts the stork’s invitation, because she knew that the stork is an excellent cook. So the next day at sunset the fox knocked on the stork’s door. The smell of boiled fish and fried onions filled the air through the opened windows. The fox started drooling uncontrollably, and it didn’t help one bit that she hadn’t eaten the whole day, due to the fact that she wanted to eat as much as she could at the stork’s dinner. The stork invited her into the house with outstretched wings. “Dinner is ready, I hope you are hungry.” said the stork, leading the fox to the table, where there were already two placemats. The stork told the fox to close her eyes and she would be right back from the kitchen with dinner. The fox did as she was told. 

She heard the stork go into the kitchen and come back and place something on the table, something that smelled so enticing that she almost fainted at the thought of eating it. “Now you can open your eyes.” said the stork to the fox. The fox immediately did so, tongue out, ready to pounce on the food. But just imagine how surprised the fox was when she saw that the stork cooked the ragout and served it in tall, narrow glasses. “Get started before it gets cold. I’ve cooked a lot, enough for another serving!” said the stork, as if she didn’t see the anger in the fox’s eyes. The poor fox was trying to squeeze the snot into the glass. She even tried to vacuum up the food, but no matter what she did, she couldn’t reach the delicious food. She wanted to smash the glass on the floor, but she knew that the noise would attract the attention of the neighbors and that the whole neighborhood would then make fun of her and think she is rude. The stork’s plan worked perfectly and she got her revenge on the fox for playing tricks on her the night before. As the stork finished her meal she acted surprised and asked the fox, “I see you haven’t even touched your food. Don’t you like it?” The fox just grinned and said it was delicious but she had a big snack before and couldn’t eat that much now. With that being said she stood up and went home even more hungry than she came. The whole way home the fox thought about how it was not nice that the stork was playing tricks on her.