THE FARMER AND THE STORK
A Farmer set some traps in a field which he had lately sown with corn,
in order to catch the cranes which came to pick up the seed. When he
returned to look at his traps he found several cranes caught, and
among them a Stork, which begged to be let go, and said, "You ought
not to kill me: I am not a crane, but a Stork, as you can easily see
by my feathers, and I am the most honest and harmless of birds." But
the Farmer replied, "It's nothing to me what you are: I find you among
these cranes, who ruin my crops, and, like them, you shall suffer."
If you choose bad companions no one will believe that you are
anything but bad yourself.