Once upon a time, there lived a fox and a stork (鹳) in a forest. One day the fox asked the stork to dinner, with the purpose of playing a joke on his guest.
The stork came happily for a meal. But she was little surprised that it was made of very tiny pieces of meat and served up in a shallow (浅) dish. With her long slender bill (细嘴), she could hardly pickup any food! The fox kept eating all the time, only stopping a minute to say, "I hope, madam, that you enjoy your big meal. Don't you think that my specially-prepared meal is first-grade?" The stork made no reply, but left, hungry and angry, from the almost untouched meal.
A few days later, the stork returned the fox's invitation by asking him to dinner.
The fox hurried to the the stork's house. The fox became greatly unpleasant, looking at the food served up in a long-necked bottle, which let in the stork's slender bill, but not even his sharp nose!
"I hope, sir, that you like your big meal," said the stork, who was not kind enough to return good for evil, and who wished to give the fox a lesson. And as the hungry fox looked sadly up into her face, the stork added, "Never do to others what you would not like them to do to yourself."
