orange fairy book

Chapter 13 The Fox and the Wolf
A long time ago, there was a small village under the rolling mountains. Not far away was a fork in the road. One road went east and the other went west.The villagers were quiet, industrious people who toiled in the fields all day long and did not return home until evening when the chapel bells rang.On summer mornings they drive their sheep to the pasture, happy and content from sunrise to sunset.

One summer night, the full moon hung high, and the bright moonlight sprinkled on the road like hoarfrost. An old wolf sprang out from a dark corner.

"I must have a good meal before I go home," said the wolf to himself, "I haven't eaten anything decent for almost a week, though I may not be able to tell from my figure! Of course, there are many rabbits in the mountains." , but only hunting dogs are capable of catching them, and I no longer have the skills of those days! I really miss the fox I saw half a month ago, she curled up to sleep like a delicious meat ball, if I could have eaten her, and nothing more. I could have eaten her then, but I was unlucky—her wife slept next to her, and everybody knows that foxes, big or small, Fast as a gust of wind. It seems that there is really no animal for me to eat except my kind, but as the saying goes 'wolves don't bite wolves'. Now, I want to see what there is to eat in this village , I'm starving."

Just when the wolf was thinking this way, the fox in his mind was galloping on another road.

"I've heard the hens in this village 'clacking' all day long, and I can't help it," the fox murmured as he ran, his feet as light as the wind. "If you like chicken and eggs, then Crowing is the most beautiful music. I must eat those chickens tonight, I am so skinny that I can run to the bone, and my children are crying for food." As he said, She came to a little meadow, where two roads meet, and there was a tree, and she threw herself down under it and rested a while, thinking of her plan.At this time, the wolf also came here.

As soon as he saw the fox lying there, his mouth watered.But when he noticed that the fox was as thin as a stick, his joy was like a deflated ball.Although the soles of the wolf's feet were as soft as velvet, the fox's sensitive ears still heard his footsteps. She turned her head and said politely to the wolf, "Is that you, my neighbor? We met in such a strange place." Yes! Are you all right?"

"My body is not bad," replied the wolf, his eyes gleaming greedily. "It's not bad to be able to maintain this state after being hungry for so long. But what's the matter with you? You were very plump half a month ago!"

"I'm sick, very sick," said the fox. "You're right, and an earthworm looks fat compared to me."

"True, but you're still a good meal to me, because 'hard bread is enough for a hungry man'."

"Gee, you're always kidding! I'm sure you're not half as hungry as I am!"

"We'll soon find out who is hungrier," said the wolf, opening his mouth as if to pounce.

"What are you going to do?" the fox screamed, backing away.

"What am I going to do? I'm going to eat you in one bite for dinner, faster than a rooster 'oooooooooooooooo'."

"Oh, you are joking." The fox said softly, keeping his eyes on the wolf.Then the wolf let out a great growl, baring all his teeth, and said:
"I don't want to be kidding, I just want to eat you up!"

"But even if you eat me completely, you will still feel empty in your stomach. You are so smart and you must know it!"

"The wisest man in the world is always the hungriest," replied the Wolf.

"Ah, that's right, but—"

"I don't want to listen to your 'although' and 'but' nonsense," the wolf interrupted the fox rudely, "let's get straight to the point, I just want to eat you and not talk nonsense to you."

"Have you no sympathy for a poor mother?" asked the Fox, putting his tail up to his eyes and pretending to wipe his tears, but in fact he was looking slyly at the Wolf.

"I'm going to starve to death." The wolf said stubbornly, and then grinned: "You also know that kindness is only shown when you are comfortable."

"You are right," replied the fox, "and I have no objection to your feeding me. But, if I am willing to make such a sacrifice to satisfy you, I would like to offer you, as a mother, the last a request."

"Hurry up then, don't waste my time, I can't wait. What do you want?"

"You know," said the fox, "there is a rich man in this village who made enough cheese this summer to last him a year and hid it in a dry well in his backyard. A post with two buckets hanging from it that used to be used to draw water. Many times I've sneaked up there at night and climbed into the buckets to get to the bottom of the well and steal enough cheese to go home to feed me My child. All I want of you is to go there with me, not to steal chickens, but to eat cheese before I die."

"But maybe it's been eaten up by now?"

"There are many, as long as you go and see!" The fox said with a smile, "Even if it is eaten up, you can still eat me."

"Okay, I'll go with you and lead the way! But I warn you, don't try to run away or play tricks, don't forget, my legs are no shorter than yours!"

The village was silent, with no lights at all, only the bright moonlight in the night sky.The wolf and the fox walked on tiptoe.Suddenly, they stopped and looked at each other, because they smelled a smell of roast meat, but the sleeping dog smelled it too, and barked greedily.

"Do you think it's safe to go on?" the wolf asked in a low voice.Fox shook his head.

"Not when the dog is barking," she said, "someone might come out and see." She motioned for the wolf to curl up in her shadow.

After about half an hour, maybe the dogs were tired of barking, or the barbecue had been eaten, and there was no scent to stimulate them. The barking of the dogs stopped, so the wolf and the fox jumped up and ran to the foot of the wall in a hurry.

"I am lighter than him," thought the fox. "If I am quick, I can jump over this wall first, and when he is struggling to jump over, I should be able to jump over the opposite wall and run away." So the fox quickened his pace.However, although the wolf can't run fast, it can jump very well.He jumped to the side of the fox.

"Friend, what do you want to do?"

"Oh, nothing," replied the Fox, both anxious and annoyed at the failure of the plan.

"I think, if I bite your ass, you will jump better." After speaking, the wolf bit her, and the fox struggled back.

"Don't do this, or I will yell loudly." The fox said angrily.The wolf knew what would happen if the fox really barked loudly, so he let go of his mouth and signaled the fox to jump up the wall, and he jumped up after him.

Once they reached the top of the wall they crouched down and looked around.There were neither people nor animals in the yard, and there was a well in the farthest corner from the house, with two buckets hanging from a nearby post, and everything was just as the fox had described.They jumped down quietly and walked along the wall to the well.The fox stretched his neck at the mouth of the well, and saw that there was only a little water at the bottom of the well, but it was enough to reflect the big, round, yellow moon in the sky.

"Fortunately!" she said to the Wolf, "there is a piece of cheese in the well as big as a water wheel. Look! look! Have you ever seen such a wonderful thing?"

The wolf also approached the mouth of the well and looked down, and replied, "I've never seen it before!" His eyes were shining greedily, and he really imagined the reflection of the moon in the water as a big piece of cheese.

The fox smiled softly and said, "You didn't believe it just now, what do you want to say now?"

"You are a truth-telling woman, oh, a truth-telling fox." Before the wolf could finish, the fox said:

"Well, then, you can climb into that bucket and eat your fill."

"Oh, are you up to some trick?" asked the wolf, grinning. "No! No! You are the one who should go down in the bucket! If you don't go down, I'll let your head go down!"

The fox replied, "Of course I want to go down, I wish I could," because she had expected the wolf to say so.

"You must not finish eating that cheese, or your end will be worse." Wolf added.Then the fox raised his head and looked at him with teary eyes.

"Farewell, suspicious man!" she said sadly, and climbed into the bucket.

In a flash she reached the bottom of the well and found that the water was so shallow that even her calves were not submerged.

"My God, it's bigger and thicker than I thought it would be," she yelled to the wolf, who was bending over the mouth of the well.

"Bring him up quickly, then," said the wolf commandingly.

The fox said: "How can I take it up? It is much heavier than me."

The wolf said, "Since it's so heavy, you can take it up in two parts."

"But I have no knife," answered the Fox; "you must come down yourself, and we two will carry it up together."

"Then how do I get down?" asked the wolf.

"Oh, you're so stupid! Climb into that other bucket, it's just over your head."

The wolf looked up and saw the bucket hanging there, and he managed to climb in.As he was at least four times heavier than the fox, the bucket slid down to the bottom of the well, while the other bucket, on which the fox was sitting, rose up to the mouth of the well.

Instantly the wolf realized that he had been tricked, and began to howl angrily, but he took some comfort in remembering that he still had a cheese.

"But where's the cheese?" he asked the fox.This time, it was the fox's turn to lie on the mouth of the well and smile at him.

"Cheese?" answered the Fox. "I will take it home now to my children, who are too young to find something for themselves."

"Ah, you have deceived me!" cried the Wolf, howling angrily.But the fox was too lazy to listen to his insults. She had already left the dry well and went to the chicken coop next door. A few days ago, she noticed that there were many fat and tender chickens there.

"Perhaps I was being cruel to him that way," said the fox to himself, "but it seems that there are more clouds in the sky, and if there is a heavy rain, the upper bucket will be filled with water and sink to the bottom of the well." , so that he can come up—at least there is a possibility!"

(End of this chapter)