The Wolf and the Stork (LBA 252-56]
La Fontaine (Livre 3, # 9) Trans. By M. Moore

Wolves can outeat anyone;
      Indeed at a festivity,
      Such gluttony second to none
      Almost ended fatally
When a bone choked a wolf as he gulped what he ate;
But happily since he was inarticulate,
      A stork who chanced to hear him groan,
      Was besought by frowns to run and peer,
And, ah, had soon relieved the beast of the bone;
Then, having done him a service, had no fear,
      So asked him now to compensate her.
      "Compensate?" he inquired with bared teeth,
      "A humorist, I infer!
      You should be glad that you draw breath.
Thrust your beak down my throat and you somehow escaped death?
      Be off. You are unappreciative;
      Shun my paws if you care to live.

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