The Wolf and the Crane
- 2 minute read
- Ages 6-10
- Aesop's Fables
A wolf ate too fast, as wolves do, and a bone lodged sideways in his throat.
He could not swallow. He could not cough it out. He ran up and down the riverbank in a panic, and every animal he met made themselves scarce, because a wolf in trouble is still a wolf.
The offer
At last he found a crane standing in the shallows.
"Help me," he gasped. "You have a long neck and a long beak. Reach down and pull it out. I will pay you anything you ask."
The crane looked at the wolf's open mouth and did not much like the look of it.
"Anything?"
"Anything at all. Name it."
So the crane put her head into the wolf's mouth, right down past the teeth, took hold of the bone and drew it out.
The wolf swallowed twice, breathed properly for the first time in an hour, and lay down on the bank feeling enormously better.
The payment
The crane waited.
"Well?" she said at last. "My payment."
The wolf opened one eye.
"Your payment," he said, "is that you put your head inside a wolf's mouth and took it out again with the head still attached. Not many can say that. I would not ask for anything more if I were you."
And he got up and walked away into the trees.
Moral of the story
Some people think not harming you counts as doing you a favour. Expect nothing from someone who was dangerous before you helped them.
Questions and answers
- What was the wolf's problem?
He had eaten too quickly and a bone had become stuck sideways in his throat, so he could neither swallow nor cough it up.
- Why did the crane hesitate?
Putting her head inside a wolf's mouth was extremely dangerous, even with the wolf promising a reward.
- What did the crane do?
She reached down past the wolf's teeth with her long beak and pulled the bone out.
- What payment did the wolf give?
None. He said her reward was that he had not eaten her while her head was in his mouth.
- What is the crane's mistake?
Trusting a promise from someone who had nothing to lose by breaking it, and taking a serious risk on the strength of it.
Word meanings
- lodged
- Stuck firmly in one place.
- shallows
- The part of a river where the water is not deep.
- scarce
- Hard to find, in short supply.
- gasped
- Spoke while struggling to breathe.
Questions about The Wolf and the Crane
What is the moral of The Wolf and the Crane?
The moral is that helping a bad character rarely earns you anything. Some people consider simply not hurting you to be generous.
Is the wolf lying at the end?
Not exactly, and that is what makes it sting. He is telling the truth, just using it to avoid paying her.
What should the crane have done?
Asked for payment in advance, or refused. The fable is often used to introduce the idea of getting an agreement settled before you do the work.
What age suits this fable?
Ages six and above. Nothing violent happens, and the twist is easy for children to understand and object to.