Once upon a time, a fox saw a raven sitting on a tree with a piece of meat in its beak. The fox was very fond of meat and when he saw it in the raven’s beak, he was determined to have it. The fox went near the tree, sat down under it, looked up to the raven and began to praise him, “O my dear friend, how wonderful you look today! Your colour is pure black that shows that you have the wisdom of Lao-tse who knows how to preserve his obscurity.
The way you feed your mother equals Master Chung’s solicitude for his parents. You are indeed the King of birds.” The raven was deeply flattered and said, “You’re too kind!” And before raven knew it had dropped the piece of meat from its opened beak. The fox ate it up, laughed and said, “Remember, my friend, whenever anyone sings your praises without cause, he is after something.”
