Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful Fox with her two little kids. One morning after sweeping and tidying her house, she said to her children who were sitting on the floor playing:
- My children, there is no food for lunch. I will go down to the village to get something to eat. But until I come back, be sure to be wise and cautious.
And after she had given them the motherly advice, she prepared herself since there would be a lot of people in the bazaar, and left pensive. The children threw themselves into the game until their mother returned. What troubled the Fox was how she would get food for her children, without money.
Meanwhile, two crows on the branches of a tree were chatting.
"What are we going to eat today?" they were also wondering...
A magpie who heard them told them that passing through the bazaar, he saw all kind of goodies. He would fly low, he told them, in case he grabbed something, but he was afraid…
As soon as the Crow heard this, it flew towards the village.
A grocer was chatting with a woman and next to him on the counter, were spread out delicious and fragrant large pieces of cheese.
The Crow was so hungry, that didn't hesitate. While the grocer was looking after a customer, he swooped down and grabbed a large piece of cheese with his beak. The grocer turned, saw him and shouted:
- The bird, the Crow, grabbed my cheese!
The grocer was running after the Crow, shouting that he wanted his cheese back but the Crow flew away behind some trees…
Meanwhile, the Fox was tired from walking and sat down under a tree to rest. Just as she was about to get up to continue on her way, she hears a phrrrr... from above the tree branches. She turns her head and sees a Crow with a large piece of cheese in his beak.
"No need to search any further," thought the Fox. "Here is a dainty bite for our lunch."
Up she trotted to the foot of the tree in which the Crow was sitting, and looking up admiringly, she cried,
"Good-morning, beautiful creature!"
The Crow, his head cocked on one side, watched the Fox suspiciously. But he kept his beak tightly closed on the cheese and did not return her greeting.
"What a charming creature he is!" said the Fox. "How his feathers shine! What a beautiful form and what splendid wings! Such a wonderful Bird should have a very lovely voice, since everything else about him is so perfect. Could he sing just one song, I know I should hail him King of Birds."
Listening to these flattering words, the Crow forgot all his suspicion, and also his breakfast. He wanted very much to be called King of Birds. So he opened his beak wide to utter his loudest caw, and down fell the cheese straight into the Fox's open mouth.
"Thank you," said the Fox sweetly, as she walked off. "Though it is cracked, you have a voice sure enough. But where are your wits?"
The flatterer lives at the expense of those who will listen to him.
You can download the PDF version of this fairy tale from here.
Thanks to the following for the illustrations: