The Rooster and the Fox |
| Written by fairystory.org | |||
"I will fly up to the top of the barn and show the sun what an early bird I am," the rooster said to himself. So he spread his bronze and green wings and flew up to the top of the red barn. He looked up at the big round sun and flapped his wings proudly. "Cock-a-doodle-doo," he crowed.  A fox who lived in the woods heard him crow, and came running toward the barn as fast as he could.He thought that the plump rooster would make a fine meal for him. "I will try to get the rooster to come down from the top of the barn," said the fox to himself. "Then I can catch him and eat him for my dinner. I am so clever I shall have no trouble at all in making him come down." So he began, "Good morning, Friend Rooster, how early you are up this fine day. Have you heard the good news?" "And what news is that, Mr. Fox?" asked the rooster. "After this," answered the fox, "the birds and the animals are going to live together." "No, I have not heard about that," said the rooster. "Well, it is true, anyway," said the fox. "The birds and the animals are going to be friends." "That is very strange news," said the rooster. “Yes,” said the fox, "but it is true. The birds and the animals are never going to harm each other any more." "Well, well," said the rooster. "They will never think of such a thing as eating one another," the fox went on. "Well, I cannot understand that," the rooster answered. "Do come down and I will explain it to you," said the fox. "You are so far away up there on the top of the barn that we cannot talk easily." But the rooster knew that the fox was full of tricks, so he would not come down. Instead he looked far off in the distance. "What do you see off there?" asked the fox. "I see the dogs," answered the rooster. "They are running this way as fast as they can." "Well, goodbye, Mr. Rooster," said the fox. "I must be going along now. "What is your hurry, Mr. Fox?" asked the rooster. "You surely do not mind having the dogs come. You know you just told me that the animals and the birds were going to live together and never hurt one another after this." But the fox began to hurry away. "Oh, do stay," begged the rooster, "and talk about the good news." But the fox was running off as fast as he could. He called back, "Oh, no, thank you. Perhaps the dogs have not heard the good news yet." The fox ran away to hide in the woods. But the rooster flapped his wings and crowed, "Cock-a-doodle-doo." He was laughing to himself, for this time the rooster was wiser than the fox.
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