The Husbandman and the Stork

A husbandman fixed a net in his field to catch the cranes that came to feed on his new-sown corn. When he went to examine the net, and see what cranes he had taken, a stork was found among the number. "Spare me," cried the stork, "and let me go. See I am no crane. See I have eaten none of your corn. I am a poor innocent stork, as you may see the most pious and dutiful of birds. I honor and succor my father and mother. I?"

But the husbandman cut him short. "All this may be true enough, I dare say, but this I know, that I have caught you with those who were destroying my crops, and you must suffer with the company in which you are taken."

One is often judged by the company one keeps.