Aesop's Fables · Крылов Fables

Author: Zhang Dongqing
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-09-01
Features: The tailless fox is a greedy fox. During one of its foraging trips, it discovered a piece of lamb hanging on a pole. It ran over to the pole and kept circling around it, too afraid to get close. However, finally, it couldn’t resist the temptation of the meat and used its tail to test the distance. Sure enough, it got its tail caught in the hunter’s trap. Although it struggled desperately to free itself, its tail was still torn off. From then on, it became a tailless fox. It felt very regretful, and since some of its companions often teased it about its tail, it couldn’t take the humiliation and found its life unbearable. It thought that before this incident, it was both prettier and smarter than its companions. But now, whenever it saw its companions with complete tails frolicking and playing around, it felt ashamed and couldn’t raise its head. To escape this inferior position, it thought that if all the other foxes had their tails cut off, they would be just like it, and its flaw would be hidden. So, it hatched a malicious plan. One day, it gathered all the foxes together and said to them, “Tails are both unattractive and cumbersome. Because of them, I almost lost my life. I advise you all to follow my advice and have your tails cut off.” After the foxes heard its speech, they discussed it among themselves, but none of them agreed to cut off their own tails. Suddenly, an older and wiser fox spoke out loudly, “Friend, if it weren’t beneficial to you, you wouldn’t propose such a harmful suggestion to us!” The fox saw that its trick had been exposed and couldn’t say anything more, so it lowered its head and slipped away. P1