A farmer set some traps in a field which he had sown with corn to catch the cranes which had been eating up all the seed. When he returned to check his traps he was satisfied to find that he had caught several cranes.
A stork was among them. The stork begged to be let go, and said, "Please don't kill me. I am not a crane, but a stork, as you can easily see by my feathers. I am the most honest and harmless of birds, as you must know."
But the farmer replied, "It doesn't matter what you are. Even if you are a stork, I found you with these cranes who have been ruining my crops, and so you will receive the same punishment."
