A fox invited a long-beaked stork to have dinner with him.
“I hope you don't mind sharing the same dish with me,” said the fox, “It is our custom in the woods to eat together to show that we are friendly.”
“Not at all,” said the stork politely.
The fox brought a wide, shallow bowl of thin soup and set it between them.
“Please help yourself,” he said, setting down to lap the soup with his long pink tongue.
The stork stood with her long legs apart and put the tip of her long, thin beak into the soup; although she tried to scoop up the thin liquid it was quite impossible for her to do so. Even when she did manage to hold a few drops in her beak they were lost long before they could trickle down to her throat. Too polite to complain, the stork went home hungry while the greedy fox lapped up all the soup. As she left she heard him laughing to himself at his own cleverness.
A few days later the stork invited the fox to have dinner with her in return and the fox made his way to her home.
“It is our custom to share a dish, too,” said the stork, “I hope you will join me.”
“Certainly, certainly,” said the fox, licking his lips. He had not eaten all day.
The stork brought her food. This time, however, it was served in a tall, thin jug with a narrow opening at the top.
“Please begin,” said the stork, thrusting her beak into the jug.
“Mmmm. It is good.”
Of course the fox could not get his nose into the jug at all. All he could do was sniff hungrily at the delicious smell and lick the occasional drop that spilled over the side.
“I suppose I can't complain,” he said to himself sadly as he made his way back to the woods, “After all, I taught her the trick myself.”
一只狐狸请一只长嘴鹳共进晚餐。
“希望你不介意和我吃一样的菜色，”狐狸说，“一起吃饭以示友好，是我们林子里的传统。”
“我一点也不介意。”长嘴鹳有礼貌地说。
狐狸把稀汤盛在一个又宽又浅的碗里端来放在他俩之间。
“请吧。”他一边说，一边坐下来用长长的粉色舌头舔着碗里的汤。
长嘴鹳站着，叉开两条长腿。她把又长又细的嘴伸进汤里，想用嘴尖舀起稀汤，可是根本舀不起来。好不容易用嘴含住几滴，可是没等这几滴流到嗓子眼儿里，早没了。长嘴鹳碍于礼貌，没法儿抱怨，她饿着肚子回到了家。贪婪的狐狸舔光了所有的汤。她离开的时候，听到狐狸暗自大笑，觉得自己很聪明。
几天以后，长嘴鹳礼尚往来，也请狐狸前去赴宴。狐狸就去了她家。
“我们这儿也有同吃一盘菜的传统，”长嘴鹳说，“希望您能和我一起吃。”
“当然，当然，”狐狸舔着嘴唇说。他已经一整天都没吃东西了。
长嘴鹳端来了饭。这次，饭装在一个又高又细的罐子里，罐子顶端的口儿很窄。
“请吧。”说着，长嘴鹳把嘴伸进了罐子里。
“嗯，真好吃。”
当然了，狐狸的鼻子根本伸不进罐子里去。尽管饥肠辘辘，他却只能闻着饭香，舔着偶尔从罐子里溢到边上的那一点儿饭。
“我觉得我不能抱怨，”回林子的路上，他难过地自言自语，“毕竟，这招是我教她的。”
-lap [læp] v. (动物)舔
-trickle [ˈtrɪkl] v. 细细地流
-sniff [snɪf] v. 嗅
汉语中的“以眼还眼”和“以牙还牙”表示“以其人之道还治其人之身”，这个表达源于《圣经》中多次出现的这样一句话：“An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.”例如，在《圣经·旧约(Old Testament )·申命记(Deuteronomy )》的第19篇中，摩西受上帝之命，成为领袖，他发布法令：“The punishment is to be a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand and a foot for a foot.”(要以命偿命，以眼还眼，以牙还牙，以手还手，以脚还脚。)