In the world of Aesop’s fables, there are many short stories that contain profound life lessons, just like the story of the fox and the crow we are going to tell today. It can help our children better understand the world and learn some important lessons.
The crow’s luck and preparation
There are many villages scattered around a vast forest. A crow has been hungry for a long time. In order to find food, it keeps flying in the sky, passing by village after village. Its wings are a little sore from fatigue, but it still doesn’t give up looking. Finally, its efforts pay off and it finds a piece of meat. To the hungry crow, it’s like finding a treasure. It cherished the meat so much that it didn’t want to eat it right away. So it carefully carried the meat in its beak and flew back to its nest, planning to find a comfortable time to slowly enjoy the delicious meal.
The fox’s discovery and trick
Just as the crow was happily preparing to enjoy the meal, a fox passed under the crow’s nest. The fox was also hungry, almost fainting with hunger. When it looked up and saw the crow standing on the branch with a large piece of meat in its beak, it suddenly perked up and its mouth watered. The fox really wanted to eat that piece of meat, but the crow was in the tree and there was no way it could just go and grab it. What should it do? The fox’s eyes rolled around, and soon it had an idea. It had to find a way to make the crow drop the meat itself.
The fox’s first attempt
The fox pretended to admire the crow, beaming from ear to ear, and greeted the crow, saying, “Hey, it’s my crow buddy! How have you been?” But the crow knew that the fox was always cunning and might be up to no good again, so it pretended not to hear and ignored the fox completely. The fox didn’t give up when it saw that the crow ignored it. It continued to speak to the crow in a polite manner, saying, “Do you know that a singing competition is about to be held in the forest? Many birds have signed up, like the larks and the thrushes. It’s such a fun event, why don’t you go and watch?”
The crow’s wavering and restraint
The crow was excited to hear that there was going to be a singing competition in the forest. It also wanted to participate in the competition and show off its singing. It was about to answer the fox when it suddenly saw the meat in its mouth. It then remembered that if it spoke, the meat would fall. So it quickly swallowed the words it was about to say and didn’t make a sound. Although it still really wanted to participate in the competition, it didn’t want to lose the meat it had worked so hard to find.
The fox’s ultimate temptation
When the fox saw that the crow still wasn’t taken in, it continued to think of ways to trick it. It said, “The other day I heard the little squirrel say that he thought the most beautiful song in the world was the lark’s, and that the ugliest cry was the crow’s. I don’t think so. I think your song is much more beautiful than the lark’s! I just came to tell you that you should teach the lark a lesson, so that it knows it was wrong, and show the squirrel whose singing is really the best.”
The crow’s mistake and remorse
The crow was overjoyed to hear the fox praise it so highly. It felt that its singing was really as beautiful as the fox had said, and it became carried away with pride. It couldn’t help but say, “Of course…” But before it could finish, the flesh in its mouth dropped. The fox had been waiting for this opportunity. It was quick and nimble, and immediately picked up the meat and ran off. The crow looked at the fox as it ran away, and suddenly it dawned on him. The fox had never really thought the crow’s song was beautiful; it had only said those kind words to trick it into giving up its meat. The crow was filled with regret, but it was already too late. The meat had already been taken by the fox.
The moral of the story
Children, let’s think about it. Was the crow’s crowing really as beautiful as the fox said? In fact, it wasn’t. The fox was very cunning. It discovered that the crow liked to hear people praise it, so it used this weakness and used sweet words to deceive the crow. This tells us that in life, when we hear praise from others, we must not be carried away like the crow. We must have a correct understanding of ourselves, know our strengths and weaknesses. If you are happy and forget everything when someone praises you, you will easily fall into the trap set by others. Just like in learning, if someone praises you for doing well in a subject, you should not become complacent and stop studying hard. You should be aware that there may still be a lot for you to improve. Similarly, when getting along with your friends, if someone keeps saying nice things to you, you should also think about whether he has any ulterior motives. We must learn to keep a clear head and not be carried away by flattery. Only in this way can we avoid being like the crow, which loses something important because of momentary elation. I hope that all the children can learn a useful lesson from this story and become smarter and more sensible.
