Select one of the stories below.  In two to three sentences, explain what the theme of the story is and why you think so.

The Fox and the Grapes

Aesop

Once upon a time there was a fox strolling through the woods.
He came upon a grape orchard.  There he found a bunch of
beautiful grapes hanging from a high branch.

"Boy those sure would be tasty," he thought to himself.
He backed up and took a running start, and jumped.
He did not get high enough.

He went back to his starting spot and tried again.
He almost got high enough this time, but not quite.

He tried and tried, again and again, but just couldn't get high
enough to grab the grapes.

Finally, he gave up.

As he walked away, he put his nose in the air and said:
"I am sure those grapes are sour."

The Bear and the Two Travelers

Two men were traveling together, when a Bear suddenly met them on their  path.

One of them climbed up quickly into a tree and hid in the branches. The  other, feeling that he would be attacked, fell flat on the ground.

The Bear came up and felt him with his snout, and smelt him all over. He  held his breath, and pretended to be dead.

The Bear soon left him, for it is said bears will not touch a dead body.

When the bear was quite gone, the other Traveler came down out of the  tree.  With a clever grin, he inquired of his friend, "Just what was it that the Bear whispered in your ear?"

His companion replied, "He gave me this advice:  Never travel  with a friend who deserts you at the approach of danger."

The Scorpion and the Frog 

One day, a scorpion looked around at the mountain where he lived and decided that he wanted a change. So he set out on a journey through the forests and hills. He climbed over rocks and under vines and kept going until he reached a river.  The river was wide and swift, and the scorpion stopped to reconsider the situation. He couldn't see any way across. So he ran upriver and then checked downriver, all the while thinking that he might have to turn back.  Suddenly, he saw a frog sitting in the rushes by the bank of the stream on the other side of the river. He decided to ask the frog for help getting across the stream. "Hellooo Mr. Frog!" called the scorpion across the water, "Would you be so kind as to give me a ride on your back across the river?"

"Well now, Mr. Scorpion! How do I know that if I try to help you, you wont try to kill me?" asked the frog hesitantly.

"Because," the scorpion replied, "If I try to kill you, then I would die too, for you see I cannot swim!"

Now this seemed to make sense to the frog. But he asked. "What about when I get close to the bank? You could still try to kill me and get back to the shore!"

"This is true," agreed the scorpion, "But then I wouldn't be able to get to the other side of the river!"

"Alright then...how do I know you wont just wait till we get to the other side and THEN kill me?" said the frog.

"Ahh...," crooned the scorpion, "Because you see, once you've taken me to the other side of this river, I will be so grateful for your help, that it would hardly be fair to reward you with death, now would it?!"

So the frog agreed to take the scorpion across the river. He swam over to the bank and settled himself near the mud to pick up his passenger. The scorpion crawled onto the frog's back, his sharp claws prickling into the frog's soft hide, and the frog slid into the river. The muddy water swirled around them, but the frog stayed near the surface so the scorpion would not drown. He kicked strongly through the first half of the stream, his flippers paddling wildly against the current.  Halfway across the river, the frog suddenly felt a sharp sting in his back and, out of the corner of his eye, saw the scorpion remove his stinger from the frog's back. A deadening numbness began to creep into his limbs.

"You fool!" croaked the frog, "Now we shall both die! Why on earth did you do that?"

The scorpion shrugged, and did a little jig on the drownings frog's back.

"I could not help myself. It is my nature."

Then they both sank into the muddy waters of the swiftly flowing river.

sources: http://allaboutfrogs.org/stories/scorpion.html, http://www.bedtime.com/html/fables_.html