SHORT STORY: A Crane And A Dog

At the edge of a paddy field were some bushes. In the bushes lived a crane.

      Every day, the crane would be at the paddy field to look for food. Early every morning, the crane would be at the paddy field and only late in the evening will it went back to its nest.
   
      Every time the field was being ploughed, will also be the happiest time for the crane. This was because the field would be full of water and the crane could easily find fish in the field.

      When the field was dry, the crane would have to look for food in other places. Luckily there's a swamp not far from the crane's home. The crane would be there to look for fish.

      The crane lived his daily life in that manner. His life was easy because there is plenty of food around.

      One day, the crane had a thought, "What a lonely life I have because I have no friends. I have live for a long time here but yet I am all alone." Then crane got an idea, he will find himself a friend.

 The next day, the crane wandered around to a place quite far from its home. The crane wanted to look for a friend. But sad to say, he could not find another crane anywhere around.

      "Oh, How unlucky I am," the crane sighed to himself. "There is no other crane living in this area."

      The crane went back to his nest felling very disappointed and unhappy.

      One day, the crane saw a dog wondering around on the bund of the paddy field.

      "Hello! Mr. Dog. Where are you going?" asked the crane.

      "Oh! it's you, Mr.Crane. I'm not going anywhere," answered the dog.

      "If you are not going anywhere, then why are you here?" asked the crane feeling a little astonished.

      "Actually, I'm just walking around and enjoying the sights here," answered the dog.

"Oh, that!" said the crane after knowing the real intention of the dog.

      The next day, the dog again came to the same place. The crane thought to himself, "It would be really good if I can make friend with the dog. Maybe the dog would like to be my friend. If the dog can become my friend then my life will not be lonely anymore."

      The crane decided to talk to the dog. The crane told the dog that he had never had a friend.

      "Would you like to be my friend?" asked the crane.

      "Oh! I am so sorry for you. If a friend is what you wanted, then I am willing to be your friend," answered the dog.

      The crane felt very happy to hear the answer from the dog.

      From then on, they became good friends. Every day, they would talk and play together. The crane felt so happy to have the dog as a friend.

One day, the dog decided to invite the crane to his house. "We have been friends for a long time, but I had never invited you to my house," said the dog.

      "Alright, I will go to your house tomorrow," said the crane.

      The next day, very early in the morning, the dog arrived to take the crane to his house. When they reached the dog's house, the dog quickly set out plates of food.

      "Please enjoy the food," said the dog.

      "Thank you," answered the crane.

      The crane could not eat because of its long beak. No matter how many times he tried, he still could not pick up the food from the plates.

      "Mr. Dog purposely placed the food on plates so that I cannot eat," thought the crane to himself.

      The dog suddenly realised that the crane could not pick up the food from the flat plates.

 "I am very sorry, my good friend. I did not have any other kinds of utensils except for these plates. I did not realise that you could not pick up the food from the plate," said the dog.

      "That's alright," answered the crane. But the crane actually felt very angry with the dog.

      The crane went home feeling very angry and hungry.

      The next day, the crane decided to invite the dog to his house.

      "My dear friend Mr. Dog, yesterday, I went to your house and it would be really nice if you could come to my house soon," said the crane.

      "Alright then, I will come to your house tomorrow," said the dog.

      Early the next morning, the dog came to the crane's house. The crane served food to the dog but the food was placed inside a long neck container.

      "Please, help yourself," invited the crane.

      "Thank you," answered the dog.

The dog could not eat from the container because the container had a long and narrow neck.

      The dog looked with wonder as the crane ate from the container. The crane's long beak easily picks up the food from the long narrow necked container and the crane ate hungrily.

      The dog realised that the crane had purposely placed the food inside the long narrow neck container as payback for what had happened when the crane visited the dog's house. The dog thought to himself, "This crane indeed has a black heart."

      After he has finish eating, the crane asked, "Why didn't you eat? Isn't the food tasty enough for you?"

      Upon hearing that, the dog said "Mr. Crane, you are indeed a friend with a black heart. You purposely did all these. What I had done was not on purpose. I had already apologised for what had happened but you still wanted revenge."

      After saying that, the dog straight away left for his own home. From then on the dog did not come to see the crane anymore.

 The crane felt very ashamed for his conduct. The crane really felt sorry for what he had done but regretting what had already happened will not undo what had already been done.

      Feeling very guilty and ashamed for his conduct and for what he had done, the crane decided to leave his home to start life elsewhere.

MORAL VALUE

      We should always be ready to forgive mistakes committed by an another person if and when the other person had already apologised for mistakes committed against us, we should not be bearing grudges, plan revenge or bad actions against them. To be vengeful and to harbour bad intend towards another person is not a good moral conduct.

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