Oban's Myths & Legends
The Fox without a Tail
Aesop fable retold by Oban
One day a fox was out walking when suddenly he heard a loud snapping noise and felt a sharp pain in his rear.
“Ooooow!!!!” howled the fox, tears coming to his eyes. “That hurts. Ooooow!!!
The fox looked behind him and saw his tail was caught in a trap. He struggled and struggled to get free but his tail was firmly stuck in the jaws of the trap.
With one last frantic effort the fox used all his strength and broke free.
“Ooooow!!!!” howled the fox as he looked behind him and saw his tail still stuck in the trap. All he had left was a little stump on his backside.
“My tail, my beautiful fluffy tail. What will I do?” he cried. “How will I face all the other foxes without my beautiful tail? It will be so embarrassing.”
The fox thought and thought and finally came up with a plan.
He called all the other foxes together for a meeting.
When the other foxes saw the little stump on his backside they began to laugh.
“I've cut off my tail on purpose and I want you all to do the same” he yelled over the laughter.
“A
large tail is more trouble than it's worth”, he shouted. “When
we're being chased by dogs it gets in the way, and when we get together
for a talk you never know what to do with it. Do you wrap it around
your feet, do you sit on it, or do you leave it out for some one to
trip over?” asked
the fox.
“So now is the time to free yourself from your tail and join me in a tailless society.”
One of the older foxes shook his head and said, “You wouldn’t be saying that if you still had a beautiful tail. You’re only saying that out of your own self interest and because you’re embarrassed.”
All the other foxes walked off laughing with their big bushy tails proudly pointing upwards.
The End
What is the moral of this story?
Do
not trust some one with self-interest
Misery loves company
Losing a tail is embarrassing.
