Master Crow perched on a tree
Was holding a cheese in his beak
Master Fox, attracted by the smell
Said something along the lines of:
“Well, Hello Mister Crow!
How cute you are! How beautiful you seem to me!
Frankly, if your voice
Matches your plumage
You are the Phoenix of all the inhabitants of these woods.”
To these words, the Crow is overjoyed
And in order to show off his beautiful voice
He opens wide his beak, lets his prey fall
The Fox grabs it, and says: “My good Sir,
You ought to learn that every flatterer
Lives at the expense of the one who listens to him:
This lesson, no doubt, is well worth a cheese.”
The Crow, ashamed and confused,
Swore, but a little too late, that he would not be duped again.