A wolf had been gorging on an animal he had killed, when suddenly a small bone in the meat stuck in his throat and he could not swallow it. He soon felt terrible pain in his throat, and ran up and down groaning and groaning and seeking for something to relieve the pain. He tried to induce every one he met to remove the bone. “I would give anything,” said he, “if you would take it out.”
At last the crane agreed to try, and told the wolf to lie on his side and open his jaws as wide as he could. Then the crane put its long neck down the wolf's throat, and with its beak loosened the bone, till at last it got it out.
“Will you kindly give me the reward you promised?” said the crane. The wolf grinned and showed his teeth and said: “Be content. You have put your head inside a wolf's mouth and taken it out again in safety; that ought to be reward enough for you.”
一只狼正在对刚猎杀来的动物大快朵颐，突然，他被肉里的一小块骨头卡住了喉咙，吞也吞不下去，吐也吐不出来。很快，他感到喉咙剧痛，他上蹿下跳，不断呻吟，想找法子减轻痛苦。不管见到谁，他都引诱对方帮他把骨头取出来。“你想要什么我都答应，”他说，“只要你帮我把它取出来。”
最后，鹤答应一试。鹤先让狼侧身躺下，尽量把嘴长大，然后，把长长的脖子伸进狼的喉咙，用嘴叼住骨头，终于拽了出来。
“现在该是回报我的时候了吧？”鹤问。狼一咧嘴，龇着牙说：“你知足吧。你都把头伸进狼嘴里了，还能活着出来，我已经对你够意思了。”
-gorge [ɡɔːdʒ] v. 狼吞虎咽
-beak [biːk] n. (猛禽等的)嘴；喙
相传由被释放的古希腊奴隶伊索创作于公元前六世纪，搜集有古希腊民间故事、印度、阿拉伯及基督教故事的《伊索寓言》(Aesop's Fables )中有这样一句话：“Gratitude and greed go not together.”(贪婪者绝不会有感恩图报之心。)