Herbie the Heron had just moved in to live near Freddie the Fox.
Tit for tat"As he's a new neighbor, I suppose I'll have to invite him to dinner," thought Freddie. "Bother, I don't really like herons. They're just big, useless birds. I'll make sure he doesn't want to come a second time." So when Herbie arrived, feeling quite puckish, Freddie gave him a big plate and poured out some soup. Poor old Herbie pecked and scooped with his long, long beak, but however hard he tried he couldn't swallow more than a teaspoon's worth of soup. "Thank you for dinner," said Herbie politely. "Why don't you come to my house tomorrow night?" Freddie ate nothing next day, leaving plenty of room for what he hoped would be a delicious supper. But when he got to Herbie's house, he was given a tall narrow vase with a fish at the bottom. However much he stuck his tongue out trying to reach the bottom, he couldn't get any food at all, while Herbie had seconds. Freddie staggered home weakly, feeling very silly.