Aesop

The Heron

Summary

This story follows a Heron who is strolling along the bank of a stream, intent on finding breakfast. Despite the abundance of fish in the clear waters, the Heron is overly selective, deeming many of the small fish unworthy of his attention. He even dismisses a young Perch as not worth opening his beak for. However, as the sun rises and the fish retreat to cooler, deeper waters, the Heron finds himself without food and eventually settles for a tiny snail. This story conveys a moral lesson about the consequences of being overly picky and missing out on opportunities, reminding readers to appreciate what is available before it is too late.

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A Heron was walking sedately along the bank of a stream, his eyes on the clear water, and his long neck and pointed bill ready to snap up a likely morsel for his breakfast. The clear water swarmed with fish, but Master Heron was hard to please that morning.

De reiger

“No small fry for me,” he said. “Such scanty fare is not fit for a Heron.”

Now a fine young Perch swam near.

“No indeed,” said the Heron. “I wouldn’t even trouble to open my beak for anything like that!”

As the sun rose, the fish left the shallow water near the shore and swam below into the cool depths toward the middle. The Heron saw no more fish, and very glad was he at last to breakfast on a tiny Snail.

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