On a warm summer day in the forests of Madhya Pradesh, a hungry fox named Lomdi was walking around looking for food. She hadn’t eaten anything since morning.

As she walked along a dusty path, she saw something wonderful. A tall vine was growing over an old wall, and hanging from it were bunches of big, juicy purple grapes!

“Oh, those grapes look delicious!” said Lomdi, licking her lips. “They are exactly what I need!”

She jumped up to grab the grapes. But the vine was too high. She missed!

“Let me try again,” she said. She took a few steps back, ran forward, and leaped as high as she could. Her paw just touched the bottom of the bunch — but she couldn’t hold on. She fell back down.

Lomdi tried again. And again. And again. She jumped from the left. She jumped from the right. She even tried climbing the wall. But the grapes were always just out of reach.

After many attempts, Lomdi was tired and frustrated. Her legs were aching. Her body was covered in dust.

Finally, she gave up. She turned away from the grapes and walked off with her nose in the air.

“Those grapes are probably sour anyway,” she said loudly. “I don’t even want them! Who wants sour grapes? Not me!”

But deep inside, Lomdi knew the truth. The grapes were not sour. She just couldn’t reach them.

A wise old owl sitting on a nearby branch watched everything. He shook his head and said, “It is easy to despise what you cannot have.”

And that is how we got the famous saying: “Sour grapes!”

Whenever someone pretends not to want something they can’t get, we call it “sour grapes.” Don’t be like Lomdi — be honest about your feelings instead!