Fox's Tricks
The fox was running across the threshing floor. She saw some ears of grain lying around, going to waste. She thought, "These ears of grain will bring me good fortune." She sat down and began to gather the ears, tying them into a whole sheaf, tucked it under her arm, and went on her way.Night caught her on the road. The fox approached a house and called out, "Will you let me in?"
"We will!" they replied.
The fox gave them her sheaf and said, "Take it to the henhouse."
They took the fox's sheaf and carried it to the henhouse, placing it so the chickens wouldn’t peck at it. At midnight, when everyone was asleep, the fox got up, entered the henhouse, took her sheaf, and scattered the ears of grain near the largest red rooster. In the morning, the fox demanded her sheaf back. The owner went into the henhouse and brought out the empty ears of grain.
The fox began to cry, "That was all I had, and your rooster pecked out all the grain." The owner asked, "What should we do now, little fox? How can we help you?"
"Either give me back the grain or give me that rooster!"
What could the owner do? He took the rooster and gave it to the fox. The fox took the rooster and went on her way. Whether she walked a long time or a short time, night caught her on the road again. She spent the night at a shepherd's place, tied up her rooster, and said, "Make sure you don’t kill my rooster, or I’ll take one of your sheep."
"Alright," they said.
At midnight, the fox got up, took her rooster, and placed it on the horns of the fattest sheep. In the morning, the fox demanded her rooster back. "I’m leaving," she said.
They went to look, and there was the fox’s rooster on the sheep’s horns. The fox began to cry, "That was all I had. Every night he woke me up, and now I’m left an orphan!"
They gave the fox the sheep and let her go. The fox was delighted and walked away singing, "I bought the rooster with grain, the sheep with the rooster."
Night caught the fox again on the road. She spent the night at a peasant’s house. She gave him her sheep for safekeeping and said, "Make sure your oxen don’t gore my sheep, or I’ll take the ox that touches it."
They took the sheep and tied it far from the oxen. At night, the fox got up, sneaked into the barn, took her sheep, and placed it on the horns of the largest ox. In the morning, she took the ox from the owner and drove it ahead of her. The fox ran, rejoicing. Again, night caught her, but this time no one would let her stay.
The fox approached a widow, "I have an ox, and I’m afraid a wolf might take it at night. Let me tie it in your barn, and I’ll sleep by the door to guard it."
At night, the fox got up, took a knife, slaughtered her ox, and slipped the knife into the pocket of the widow’s youngest daughter. In the morning, the fox demanded her ox, "I need to go!"
They went to look, and the ox was slaughtered. The widow was frightened. The fox began to cry and said, "Whoever slaughtered my ox, I’ll take them." The widow’s daughters denied it, "We didn’t slaughter your ox!"
"Whoever has the bloody knife did it," said the fox.
They checked the pockets and found the knife with the youngest sister. The fox took her. She put her in a wineskin, tied it to her back, and walked away singing:
"I bought the rooster with grain,
The sheep with the rooster,
The ox with the sheep,
And for the ox, I got a beauty!"
As she walked, she saw people plowing in the field. They called out to the fox, "Rest, little fox, eat with us." The fox rested. They gave her a sieve and said, "Go fetch water while we cook the food." The fox went, but when she tried to carry water in the sieve, it all poured out.
While the fox was struggling with the sieve, the people opened the wineskin, took out the girl, and put in a large dog instead. They gave the dog some bread to keep it quiet, tied up the wineskin, and put it back in place. The fox returned and said, "Let me go, I’m leaving." They let the fox go with her wineskin.
The fox walked, dragging the wineskin with the dog inside, and sang, rejoicing.
The dog ate its bread and began scratching at the dry skin of the wineskin. The fox said, "What’s wrong, girl? What’s bothering you? If you’re thirsty, I’ll take you out and give you water. If you’re hungry, I’ll feed you. If you need something else, just do it right there in the wineskin."
The "girl" didn’t listen to the fox, scratching and grunting. The fox finally dragged the wineskin to her den. She crawled inside, untied the wineskin, and out jumped the dog. It pounced on the fox, tore off her skin, and shredded her to pieces.
There’s death here, a feast there,
Chaff here, grain there.
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