The Fox and the Grapes

　　The Fox and the Grapes

　　One hot summer day a Fox was walking through an orchard. He stopped in front of a bunch of Grapes. They were ripe and juicy.

　　“I’m rather thirsty,” he though. So he backed up a few paces, got a running start, jumped up, but could not reach the grapes.

　　He walked back. One, Two, Three, he jumped up again,but still, he missed the grapes.

　　The fox tried again and again, but never succeeded. In the end he decided to give up. He walked away with his nose in the air, and said, “I am sure they are sour.”

The Fox Without a Tail

　　The Fox Without a Tail

　　A Fox’s tail was caught in a trap. When he was trying to release himself, he lost his whole tail except the stump.

　　At first he was ashamed to see the other foxes because he had no tail, but he was determined to face his misfortune. He called all the foxes to a meeting.

　　When they met together, the Fox said that they should all do away with their tails. He said that their tails were very inconvenient when they met with their enemies.

　　He did not talk about any advantages of the tail. “You are right,” said one of the older foxes, “but I don’t think you would advise us to do away with our tails if you hadn’t lost yours first.”

The Fox and the Goat

　　The Fox and the Goat

　　An unlucky Fox fell into a well. It was quite deep, so he could not get out by himself.

　　A Goat passed by. He asked the Fox what he was doing in the well. “Oh, have you not heard?” said the Fox, “there is going to be a great drought, so I jumped down to get some water. Why don’t you come down here too?”

　　The Goat believed his words, and jumped down into the well.

　　But the Fox immediately jumped on the Goat’s back and up to the edge of the well. “Good–bye, friend,” said the Fox, “remember , next time don’t trust the advice of someone in difficulties.”

The Fox and the Stork

　　The Fox and the Stork

　　Once a Fox invited a Stork to dinner. He put nothing on the table except some soup in a very shallow dish.

　　The Fox could easily lap up the soup, but the Stork could only wet the end of her long bill in it. When she left the meal, she was still very hungry. “I am sorry,” said the Fox, “the soup is not to your taste.”

　　“Please do not apologize,” said the Stork. “I hope you will come to my house, and dine with me soon.”

　　A few days later the Fox visited the Stork. He found that his food was put in a long bottle, and the mouth of the bottle was very narrow. He could not insert his big mouth into it, so he ate nothing. “I will not apologize,” said the Stork, “One bad turn deserves another.”