A long time ago, there lived a heron, by the side of a pond brimming with fresh fish. He was a lazy creature, who wanted to find a way to catch all the fish without any effort.
One day, he got an idea! He went to the side of the pond and put on a gloomy face. His friend, the crab, came alongside him and asked, “What is bothering you, my dear friend?”
The heron said, “Alas, my friends! I spotted fishermen making hungry nets in the village nearby! Soon, they will come to our pond, to catch all the fish.” On hearing this, the inhabitants of the pond were devastated.
The heron said, “Luckily, I know of a pond not far from here, where all the fish will be saved.” So, everyday, some fish would volunteer to be carried in the heron’s beak, to the safe pond.
The heron would take the fish each day and on reaching a large rock, he would eat all the fish, leaving nothing but their bones behind. For many days, the sly heron got a continued supply of fish without any effort.
But the wise crab was suspicious of the heron’s motives and one day, volunteered to go with the heron to the new pond. As they were flying, the crab was shocked to see his friends’ bones lying around the rock.
He realized there was something fishy going on, but chose to wait and watch. The heron took the crab to the rock to eat him up. Seeing this, the alert crab tightened its claws around the heron’s long neck and threatened to choke him.
“Please, spare me!” cried the scared heron, knowing his game was up. The wise and merciful crab let go of the heron’s neck, who promised never to be so deceitful again. The wise crab had saved the day.
For more interesting Panchatantra stories for kids, go to : https://mocomi.com/fun/stories/panchatantra/
For other interesting stories for kids, browse though our huge collection of short stories here : https://mocomi.com/fun/stories/