The Tiger and the Stork: A Fable About Broken Promises
A tiger gets a sharp bone stuck in his throat and walks through the jungle moaning in pain. He begs every animal he meets for help and promises a big reward. The animals don't trust him. If they help, won't he just eat them?
Finally a stork, tempted by the reward, agrees. It reaches its long beak into the tiger's mouth and pulls the bone out. Then it politely asks for its reward. The tiger growls that letting the stork take its beak out of his jaws in one piece is reward enough. The scared stork flies up into a palm tree, and right then a heavy palm fruit drops onto the tiger's head. Thump.
What kids can learn
This is our version of the old fable usually told as the wolf and the crane. A promise is a promise, and trickery has a way of coming back around. It also raises a fair question: was the stork wise to trust the tiger?
Talk about it: Was it fair that the tiger didn't give the reward? Should the stork have helped him? Why or why not?
