Page:Folk-lore of the Telugus.djvu/80

 XXXIV. THE CRANE AND THE FISH. Lake Vimalavati has been occupied from time immemorial by large numbers of fish. Once upon a time, a crane, which happened to pass by, conceived the idea of preying on them, and stood on the brink of the lake. But it saw the fish going away from it shaking with fear, and so it said:—"I very much regret your going away from me in the belief that birds of my order make you their prey, and that I would do the same. But I have not come here with such an object in view. I, following others of my kind, have killed a good many fish, and became a sinner, but I am now grown very old, and have renounced the world. I am come here to perform penance. Fear not any harm from me. You may roam anywhere you please."

The poor fish believed the wily words of the crane, especially as the crane did not interfere with them at all, though they approached it.