The Fox and the Stork

A fox was jealous of his neighbor the stork for her elegance and grace. He longed to find a way to make her look foolish, and at last he had an idea. "My dear friend," he said, hiding his cunning with gracious manners, "would you be so kind as to join me for dinner?"

          "Why, I'd love to," replied the stork.

          But when the stork arrived at the fox's house, all he served her was a thin broth in a shallow bowl. The hungry stork could only wet the tip of her long bill, while the fox lapped up his dinner eagerly. But the stork didn't complain, for she was hatching a plan of her own. "What a delicious dinner!" she said politely. "You must dine with me tomorrow, good neighbor."

          When the fox arrived at the stork's house the next day he smelled a delicious fish soup. He licked his lip eagerly. But when he got to the table, the soup was served in a tall glass jar with a narrow neck. With her long bill, the stork drank her soup easily, but the fox could only lick a few drops from around the neck of the jar.

          "What is this?" he growled. "I can't eat this, and you know it!"

          "My dear friend," replied the stork calmly, "I'm sure you will enjoy this dinner just as much as I enjoyed the one you served me."

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

          This story is basically saying the golden rule that I was taught when I was very little, around kindergarten. Since then and up to 3rd or 4th grade, that was what all teachers based their classes' rules of behavior and respect on. If you have never heard of this rule, that is a shame. A lot of our lives are based on this rule. If you have a friend who always treats you badly, then you want to treat him bad back right? But if he treats you well, then you want to treat nicely as well. It also goes the other way. If you treat your friend badly he will treat you badly and you'll lose your friendship. The golden rule: you want to treat your friend the way you would want to be treated.

          I personally used to think that this rule was bizarre and not really important. I also used to think that the teachers overused this rule. But now after reading this story, I know that this rule really is important and crucial to know for when you grow up. If you treat your friends and coworkers badly, then you will most likely be left alone and no one will be around you when you need them. You'll end up growing old alone. This must be why they repeat this rule every single time you do something bad in elementary school.

          All in all, the golden rule, I think is named appropriately for it is truly golden; take this rule with you for the rest of your life so you don't lose your friends' respect and trust like the fox lost the stork's.