[Illustration: THE HUSBANDMAN AND THE STORK.]
The Husbandman pitched a net in his fields to take the Cranes and Geese
which came to feed upon the new-sown corn. Accordingly he took several,
both Cranes and Geese; and among them a Stork, who pleaded hard for his
life, and, among other apologies which he made, alleged, that he was
neither Goose nor Crane, but a poor harmless Stork, who performed his
duty to his parents to all intents and purposes, feeding them when they
were old, and, as occasion required, carrying them from place to place
upon his back.--'All this may be true,' replies the Husbandman; 'but, as
I have taken you in bad company, and in the same crime, you must expect
to suffer the same punishment.'