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Aesop's Fables, translated by Laura Gibbs (2002)

53. THE GOOSE AND THE STORK
Perry 570 (Ademar 53)

A stork had gone to her usual pond and saw a goose there who kept plunging down deep into the water. The stork then asked the goose what she was doing and the goose replied, 'We geese go down into the muddy bottom of the pond to look for food and to escape the hawk's attack.' The stork said, 'I am stronger than the hawk! You should be friends with me, and I will allow you to scoff at that other bird!' The goose agreed, and not long afterwards she called on the stork to come help her. The goose had not plunged into the water, so the hawk immediately swooped down and caught her up in his talons. As the hawk was about to devour her, the goose replied, 'A wretched death awaits anyone who puts his trust in such a worthless defender!'
For people who expect to be defended by someone who cannot offer them any protection.

Note: There appears to be a gap between the hawk's attack and the goose's final remarks, since Ademar's version says that the goose 'replied' to someone. Because this story is extant only in Ademar, there are no other versions that can supply the missing words.


Source: Aesop's Fables. A new translation by Laura Gibbs. Oxford University Press (World's Classics): Oxford, 2002.
NOTE: New cover, with new ISBN, published in 2008; contents of book unchanged.