Page:Folk-lore of the Telugus.djvu/91

83 When the swan informed the crape that it partook of the buds of such lotuses, the latter impatiently asked the former if any oysters were procurable there. On receiving a reply in the negative, the latter burst into a fit of laughter and said;—"Why prattle of the excellences of a place void of oysters? It is a pity you do not know the excellences of oysters." Thus the crane put the swan to shame.

Moral:—People will talk big about the meanest things if they like them, and disparagingly of the best things if they do not like them.