A wolf was enjoying his dinner when suddenly a small bone in the meat stuck in his throat. The stuck bone caused pain in his throat. Soon, he was pleading everyone who passed by to remove his bone. He said, “I would give anything if you took it out.” At last, a crane agreed to try. The crane put its long beak down the wolf’s throat, and loosened the bone, till at last he got it out. The wolf was relieved. Then the crane asked the wolf, “What will you give me for helping you out?” The wolf laughed cunningly and said, “Have I not spared your life? I could have killed you when you put your beak in my mouth.” The crane was very disappointed and went away thinking, ‘What an ungrateful wolf he was. I should not have helped him.’
The Ungrateful Wolf
