The Thrush and the Fox

Long, long ago, in days of yore, when chickens crowed like roosters, a thrush built a nest, raised its chicks, and taught them everything they needed to know.

Just as they were about to fly out of the nest, a fox crept up, snatched them, and carried them away.

Returning to his nest, the thrush saw from afar that the fox was finishing off his chicks.

"What a cruel trick the fox has played on me!" said the thrush. "But the farm dog has been lying in wait for him for a long time. I’ll fly to her and ask for help to get revenge."

The thrush saw the farm dog and said:

"Avenge me against the fox—he ate my chicks."

"Gladly," replied the dog, "but how shall I do it?"

"Lie down and stretch out your legs as if you’re dead. I’ll tell the fox about it and start pecking at you in front of him. You just lie there like a log and don’t move. Then he’ll come closer, and you can strangle him."

The dog happily agreed to the plan. The thrush flew to the fox and said:

"You seem to know nothing, my friend. The farm dog is lying in the meadow with her legs stretched out. She’s really dead now. I pecked at her, and she did nothing to me."

When the fox approached, the thrush began pecking at the dog right in front of him, but the dog didn’t even twitch.

"Aha!" exclaimed the fox. "Finally, we’ll be rid of her. But before I eat her, I’ll relieve myself into her throat."

But the moment the fox lifted his paw, the dog grabbed him so fiercely that the fox met his end right there. The thrush said to the dog:

"You’ve greatly comforted me by avenging my chicks. I must reward you for your efforts. Look, here comes a peasant woman carrying lunch for the threshers. Just watch what I’ll do."

The thrush hopped along the path, dragging its leg as if injured. The peasant woman ran to catch it, but it limped away faster.

"What a beautiful thrush!" said the old farmer’s wife. "It won’t get far. I’ll catch it and give it to my little Jeanne—she loves birds so much."

The farmer’s wife put her bundle on the ground and began chasing the thrush, which deliberately led her away. Meanwhile, the dog ate the threshers’ lunch.

When the peasant woman returned, she found nothing on the road.

"What am I to do now?" said the distressed woman. "Someone has stolen my bundle!"

To keep the workers from getting too angry, she decided to placate them.

"Oh, my dears," she said, "don’t be mad at me for not bringing your lunch. I ran after the thrush and tried to catch it, but someone stole my bundle in the meantime."

"Don’t tell us tall tales!" shouted the threshers. "We’ll quit your work and leave."

"You old fraud," added another, "aren’t you ashamed to lie at your age? I ought to hit you with a pitchfork across the neck!"

"Look," cried the farmer’s wife, "there’s the bird, over there on the threshing floor! Now it’s sitting on my shoulder!"

At that moment, one of the threshers swung his flail to strike the thrush, but instead, he hit the farmer’s wife across the neck. He struck her so well that she sprawled out on the threshing floor, full length!

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The Thrush and the Fox

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