One day, a wolf sat down to enjoy his dinner. It was a fine meal and he was so hungry that he gobbled down the delicious meat with careless greed. He bolted down one mouthful after another so fast, and so recklessly, that he swallowed a large bone which stuck in his throat.
The bone in his throat hurt so much that the wolf went around howling with pain. Barely able to speak, he promised a reward to any animal who would remove the bone. But most of the creatures that met him were suspicious of his nature and did not want to help him.
At last, a kind-hearted stork with a long, slender neck and a long bill, took pity on the wolf. She asked him to sit still while she put her bill down his throat and took out the bone.
When she got the bone out, the wolf sighed with relief, and the stork then asked for the promised reward.
“Go away and don’t be silly,” said the wolf.
“But you promised a reward,” the stork insisted.
“Of course, I did,” said the wolf. “But don’t you think I rewarded you well by not biting your head off, when it was in my mouth?”
After saying this, Wolf went on his way happily while dejected Stork looked on sadly.
Moral of the story:- It is hopeless to expect gratefulness when you help a bad person. The most we can hope for is that he will not hurt us.
