a fox one day invited a stork to dine with him, and, wishing to be amused at his guest's expense, put the soup which he had for dinner in a large flat dish, so that, while he himself could lap it up quite well, the stork could only dip in the tip of his long bill.
some time after, the stork, bearing his treatment in mind, invited the fox to take dinner with him. he, in his turn, put some minced meat in a long and narrow-necked vessel, into which he could easily put his bill, while master fox was forced to be content with licking what ran down the sides of the vessel.
the fox then remembered his old trick, and could not but admit that the stork had well paid him off. "i will not apologize for the dinner," said the stork, "nor for the manner of serving it, for one ill turn deserves another."