THE FOX WHO HAD LOST HIS TAIL.
A fox who went to steal some young chicks was caught in a trap, from which he got free, but with the loss of his tail; and when he came to mix with the world, he saw how high a price he had paid for it, for none of the beasts who stole a look at him could hide a laugh, and the fox thought it would have been well for him if his life had gone with the “brush.” But, to make the best of things, he sent to all the rest of his race to beg of them to meet him on a heath, and there the fox held forth and said, “I would have you all cut off your tails. You know not the ease with which I can now move. Of what use is the tail to us? If we creep through a hole in the hedge, as we fly from the hounds, it stops us in the way. It is the ‘brush,’ you know, that man strives for in the hunt; and then, too, in spite of all we can do, it is apt to be caught in a trap.” A sly old fox who heard him, said, with a leer, “It strikes me that you would not so much care to see us part with our tails, if you had a chance to get your own back!”
Bought wit is the best.
The Fox who had lost His Tail.—Page 22.
Æsop.