Dinner Guests (Aesop)

One afternoon a fox did see
A stork relaxing by the sea.

He asked if she at 7:10
Would like to dine within his den.

And she agreed and so they met
Around a table finely set.

The fox then on a dish quite flat
Served soup, and in his place he sat.

He lapped it up and didn’t stop.
The stork, did not consume a drop.

For her long beak could not obtain
The soup, but she did not complain.

But rather asked if in a day,
The fox might like to pass her way.

And they could eat beside her nest
For she made soup, the very best.

He said he’d come and did regret
That she could not enjoy his fête.

Then on the morrow, when he came
The stork had played a kindred game

For she had set two vases out
With necks too narrow for a snout

And as she sipped her soup with glee
The fox kept pleasant company.

But he could not the soup enjoy,
As he was tricked by his own ploy.

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For unto others should you do,
As you would have them treat you too.

(Index references: Oxford-Gibbs 156, Perry 426)