One winter morning, someone dropped a warm cake on the way home from the fair. The crow found it — ah, still warm, still steaming! She snatched it up in her beak and flew to a high branch.
Along came a fox. One sniff of that warm cake and he stopped short. He looked up — there it was, right in the crow's beak! The fox's mouth watered. "I know a way," he said to himself. "A little sweet talk!"
The fox sat under the tree and called up — "Oh, Crow! Your feathers shine like black jewels! And that voice — they say even the songbirds bow to you. Won't you sing me just one song?" The crow's chest puffed right up.
The crow couldn't hold back. She opened her beak wide and sang — "Caw-aa-aa!" And down dropped the cake — plop! The fox caught it in a flash. "Thank you! That song cost you your cake!"
At first the crow wanted to cry. But then she thought… and thought… until her eyes began to twinkle! She flew down and said — "My, Fox, how clever you are! They say your singing is even sweeter than your words. Surely that can't be true?"
The fox's tail puffed up with pride. "Not true? Then listen!" He opened his mouth and howled — "Owoo-oo-oo!" Down went the cake! The crow swooped, snatched it, and flew up into the sky.
The crow came back. She broke the cake and gave the fox half — "Here, friend. Sweet words fooled us both!" In the last light of the sun, the two of them shared it. Now you tell me — who was the truly clever one that day?