The Wolf, the Fox, and the Dog

One day, a fox sneaked into a henhouse, ate its fill, and quickly ran away before the owner noticed anything.

But then the fox felt extremely thirsty; it began searching for water but couldn’t find a single drop anywhere. Nearly dying of thirst, it wandered around until it finally stumbled upon a well. Without a second thought, the fox jumped into the bucket tied to the well, hoping to find at least a little water. However, the bucket, weighed down by the fox’s body, began to descend to the bottom of the well, lifting the other bucket to the surface.

At that moment, a wolf happened to pass by. He saw the fox at the bottom of the well and asked:

- How did you manage to fall down there, sister?
- I saw a lot of fish here, brother, and came down to catch some. If you don’t believe me, come here and see for yourself. Oh brother, what a satisfying and tender meal it is!
- What’s going on, sister? This is the first time you’ve invited me to eat. This has never happened before. The cunning fox retorted:
- If you doubt that I’m telling the truth, my friend, look at the bottom of the bucket, and you’ll see a big fish.

The wolf believed the fox and jumped into the bucket. It began to descend rapidly, while the other bucket, with the fox, started to rise. When the buckets met, the wolf saw the fox rising and asked in amazement:
- Where are you going?
- Such is life, it’s like a ladder: one goes up, the other goes down, the fox replied slyly.

At the very moment the wolf reached the bottom of the well, the fox safely jumped out of its bucket onto the ground. Pleased with her cunning, she was about to run away when she suddenly saw a dog blocking her path.

- Where are you going? the dog asked. What were you doing here?
- I avenged you against the wolf, the fox replied and began to boastfully tell how she had tricked the wolf.
- You did well, the dog said, the wolf deserves death. But you know, I don’t like deceit and hate deceivers. You must get what you deserve.

With that, the dog pounced on the fox, grabbed it by the throat, and strangled it.

More fairy tales

• The Tale of Abu-Kir and Abu-Sir
• 5. Sinbad the Sailor (The Fifth Voyage)
• Aladdin and the Magic Lamp
• Bread and Gold
• 3. Sinbad the Sailor (The Third Voyage)