The Wolf and the Crane

A WOLF had been gorging on an animal he had killed, when suddenly a small bone in the meat stuck in his throat and he could not swallow it. He soon felt terrible pain in his throat, and ran up and down groaning and groaning and seeking for something to relieve the pain. He tried to induce every one he met to remove the bone. "I would give anything," said he, "if you would take it out." At last the Crane agreed to try, and told the Wolf to lie on his side and open his jaws as wide as he could. Then the Crane put its long neck down the Wolf's throat, and with its beak loosened the bone, till at last it got it out. "Will you kindly give me the reward you promised?" said the Crane.

The Wolf grinned and showed his teeth and said: "Be content. You have put your head inside a Wolf's mouth and taken it out again in safety; that ought to be reward enough for you."

Gratitude and greed go not together.

From The Wolf and the Crane by Aesop, translated by Joseph Jacobs (1894). Public domain.

Check your understanding

1. What caused the Wolf's terrible pain?

A small bone stuck in his throatA bite from another wolfA trap he stepped inA sharp rock he swallowed

2. What did the Wolf promise to anyone who could help him?

He would never eat meat againHe would give them anythingHe would protect them foreverHe would share his meal

3. Retell the steps the Crane took to get the bone out of the Wolf's throat.

4. Why did the Crane ask the Wolf for a reward after removing the bone?

5. What does the Wolf mean when he tells the Crane that taking its head out in safety ought to be reward enough?

6. How would you feel if you were the Crane at the end of the story, and why?