The Farmer and The Stork
Aesop | Greece
A farmer catches a stork with cranes eating his crops, ignores the stork's pleas, and punishes it with the cranes.
Once upon a time, in a distant countryside, there lived a farmer who was troubled by the cranes that came to his fields every day. These cranes would eat the seeds he had sown, which made it difficult for him to grow crops and provide for his family.
To deal with this problem, the farmer devised a clever plan. He set a trap in his field, hoping to catch the cranes and put an end to their mischief. One day, as the cranes arrived to feast on the seeds, they fell into the farmer's trap, just as he had hoped.
However, along with the cranes, the trap had also caught a stork who had been standing nearby. The stork pleaded with the farmer to let him go, saying, "Please, kind sir, have mercy on me! I am not one of those mischievous cranes that have been eating your seeds. I am a stork, a harmless and innocent bird. I do not deserve to be punished like them!"
The farmer listened to the stork's pleas but was not swayed. He replied, "You may claim to be an innocent stork, but you were caught in the company of the cranes, who have caused me much trouble. Whether you are innocent or not, you must share their fate."
And with that, the farmer carried out his punishment, disregarding the stork's pleas for mercy.
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