《On Top of the Hill》P50
Once upon a time, a fox saw a crow with a big piece of cheese in her beak. That cheese looked delicious.
The fox thought, "I'm so hungry, and her cheese looks so good! Maybe I can talk Miss Crow into giving me some of it."
So the fox called, in his most pleasant voice, "That's a very nice, large piece of cheese you are holding in your beak. I do wonder if I might have just a small bit?"
The crow shook her head. Share her fine cheese with a greedy fox? Certainly not!
"Only one little taste," the fox begged.
But the crow kept on shaking her head and spread her wings to fly away.
The fox thought, "Well, if I can't have a little piece, I'll try to get it all."
So he said, in a friendly voice, "It's a funny thing - I was thinking about you, just this morning, Miss Crow."
The crow had to find out what the fox had been thinging about her. She decided not to fly away so soon, after all.
The fox went on, "Just this morning, I was saying to myself, 'What a beautiful bird Miss Crow is! She has such beautiful black feathers - and how they shine in the sunlight! I don't believe I've ever seen such black, shining feathers in my life!"
As he flattered her, the crow began to smile, and the cheese almost fell out of her beak. She stopped smiling and bit down harder on the cheese, but still she didn't fly away. She was greedy to hear more of these pleasant things about herself. She was sure the fox would say something nice about her eyes or her wings next.
But the fox shook his head sadly. "You are so beautiful, except for one thing - your voice. Your voice is so terrible! If only you had a voice that matched those beautiful feathers, you would really be the Queen of Birds."
This made the crow very angry. "Caw!" she screamed. "My voice! My voice is every bit as beautiful as I am! Caw!"
As soon as she opened her beak to answer, the cheese fell to the ground. Of course, this was exactly what the fox had planned.
Quickly, he covered the piece of cheese with his paw. He looked up at the foolish crow and laughed.
"Now I have exactly what I wanted, you silly bird," he cried. "But, in return, I'll tell you something useful. Don't ever trust anyone who flatters you too much; he may be trying to make you give away a thing you ought to keep." | 
