The Farmer and the Stork

A farmer planted a wide field of wheat. Each morning he checked the young shoots, hoping to grow enough grain for his family. Then cranes began visiting. They pulled up plants and ate the seeds. The farmer shouted and put up a scarecrow, but the birds soon returned.

One evening, a hungry young stork saw the cranes gathering. “Where are you going?” he asked. “To find supper,” they said. He followed without asking whose food it was.

In the field, the cranes began pulling up wheat. “Does this belong to you?” the stork asked. “The farmer has plenty,” a crane answered. The stork knew taking someone else’s crop was wrong. Still, he stayed and ate some grain.

The farmer had set a net where the birds usually landed. When it rose around them, the stork pleaded, “Please let me go. I am an honest bird.”

“Perhaps you did not plan to cause trouble,” the farmer said. “But when you saw what the cranes were doing, you stayed and joined them.”

The stork lowered his head. He could not deny it. The farmer decided the young bird had learned a lesson and opened the net. “Choose your company carefully, and leave when you see wrongdoing.”

The stork thanked him and flew away. From then on, he asked where others were going and what they intended to do before following them.