The Fox and the Crow

A Crow, having stolen a bit of flesh, perched in a tree, and held it in her beak. A Fox, seeing her, longed to possess himself of the meat, and by a wily stratagem succeeded. 

"How handsome is the Crow," he exclaimed, "in the beauty of her shape and in the fairness of her complexion! Oh, if her voice were only equal to her beauty, she would deservedly be considered the Queen of Birds!" 

This he said deceitfully, having greater admiration for the meat than for the crow. But the Crow, all her vanity aroused by the cunning flattery, and anxious to refute the reflection cast upon her voice, set up a loud caw, and dropped the meat. The Fox quickly picked it up, and thus addressed the Crow: "My good Crow, your voice is right enough, but your wit is wanting."

He who listens to flattery is not wise, for it has no good purpose.


一只乌鸦偷了一块肉，用嘴衔着，栖息在一棵树上。一只狐狸看见她，非常渴望得到这块肉，于是用一种诡计得逞了。

“乌鸦多漂亮啊，”他大声说道，“她的体形很美，皮肤也很漂亮！哦，如果她的声音和她的美貌一样，她就应该被认为是鸟中的女王！”

他说的都是假话，比起仰慕乌鸦，他其实更仰慕那块肉。但是乌鸦的虚荣心已经被狡猾的奉承激发，急于想反驳狐狸，证明一下自己的声音也非常棒。于是响亮地叫了一声，嘴里的肉就掉了下来。狐狸立刻把肉捡了起来，对乌鸦说：“我的好乌鸦，你的声音是很好听，但你的智慧就很欠缺啦。”