Fable · 声匠改编 · 3:21
The Fox and the Crow
A crow with a piece of cheese, a fox full of compliments, and one proud caw. Aesop's fable about the price of flattery, retold with a wise old owl.
Narrator
The Fox
The Crow
Old Owl
SquirrelOther languages · 2 languages
About this story
The Fox and the Crow is one of Aesop's Fables; the Roman poet Phaedrus retold it in Latin, and Jean de La Fontaine's French version from 1668 has been learned by heart by generations of French schoolchildren. Older tellings give the crow a piece of meat, later ones a piece of cheese. This VoiceSmiths retelling adds a nosy squirrel and a wise old owl who tries to warn the crow, so the fox's honeyed compliments play out as a full-cast audio story.
What it teaches
Be careful of people who flatter you because they want something. Sweet words cost nothing, and a compliment that comes with a request deserves a second thought.
Suits
Ages 4–9
Tips for telling it
- Have fun with the crow's mumbled lines; children love guessing what she is trying to say with her beak full.
- Stop before the crow sings and ask: what do you think the fox really wants?
- Talk about the difference between a kind compliment and flattery that wants something back.
Questions people ask
- What is the moral of The Fox and the Crow?
- Don't trust flatterers. The fox praises the crow only to make her open her beak and drop the cheese; in La Fontaine's version, he adds that every flatterer lives at the expense of whoever listens.
- Who wrote The Fox and the Crow?
- It is one of Aesop's Fables, traditionally credited to Aesop, a storyteller said to have lived in ancient Greece around the sixth century BCE. Phaedrus retold it in Latin and Jean de La Fontaine in French; this version is a VoiceSmiths retelling.
- What age is The Fox and the Crow for?
- It suits children from about 4 to 9. Younger children enjoy the crow's mumbling and her big caw, and older children can talk about how to spot flattery.
Theater
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Borrowing Arrows with Straw Boats
Romance of the Three Kingdoms · Luo Guanzhong (original) · VoiceSmiths adaptation · 1522
Zhou Yu sets a trap: 100,000 arrows in ten days. Kongming asks for three, waits for fog, and lets Cao Cao pay. Same cast as the Chinese episode.
The North Wind and the Sun
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The boastful North Wind and the gentle Sun bet on who can make a traveler take off his cloak. Aesop's fable of why warmth wins where force fails, retold.
