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Book of Fairy-Tale Foxes - Clifton Johnson · Legend of Sleepy Hollow

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Speaker 1: Chapter one of a Book of Fairytale Foxes. This is
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Speaker 1: a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
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Speaker 1: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
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Speaker 1: Recording by kel Taylor, Conestoga, Pennsylvania. A Book of Fairytale
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Speaker 1: Foxes by Clifton Johnson. The Robber Fox and the Little
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Speaker 1: Red Hen. Once upon a time there was a little
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Speaker 1: red hen who lived in a house by herself at
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Speaker 1: the edge of a piece of woodland. On the other
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Speaker 1: side of the wood dwelt the robber fox with his mother.
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Speaker 1: One morning, right after breakfast, the robber fox said to
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Speaker 1: his mother, I am going to catch the little red
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Speaker 1: hen today, so make a fire and get the pot boiling.
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Speaker 1: We'll cook her as soon as I come back and
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Speaker 1: have her for dinner. Then he slung a bag over
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Speaker 1: his shoulder and started for the little red Hen's house.
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Speaker 1: The little red hen never suspected any danger, and she
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Speaker 1: did her morning work as usual. After a while, she
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Speaker 1: looked at the clock to see what time it was. Well,
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Speaker 1: she said, now I must begin to get dinner, and
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Speaker 1: the first thing I'll do is to step out in
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Speaker 1: the yard for a few chips to make my fire
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Speaker 1: burn more briskly. Out she went. But while she was
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Speaker 1: filling her apron with the chips, the robber fox came
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Speaker 1: along and slipped into the house without her seeing him.
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Speaker 1: He hid behind a door and said, I'll catch her
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Speaker 1: easily enough. Now, pretty soon, the little red hen came in,
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Speaker 1: and she was just going to shut the door when
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Speaker 1: she saw the fox. Then she was so frightened that
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Speaker 1: she dropped all her chips and flew up to a
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Speaker 1: peg in the wall. Ha ha. The robber fox laughed,
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Speaker 1: it won't take me long to bring you down from there,
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Speaker 1: and he began running around and around after his tail.
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Speaker 1: The little red hen kept turning about on the peg
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Speaker 1: to watch him, and in a few minutes she got
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Speaker 1: so dizzy that she fell up and meetly the fox
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Speaker 1: picked her up, put her in his bag, and started
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Speaker 1: for home, feeling very smart. By and by he grew
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Speaker 1: tired and sat down to rest. The little red hen
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Speaker 1: did not like traveling in a bag, and she did
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Speaker 1: not want to be eaten. She began to wonder if
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Speaker 1: she could contrive to escape, and she thought and thought
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Speaker 1: until she happened to think that she had her scissors
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Speaker 1: in her pocket. Without wasting any more time, she took
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Speaker 1: the scissors and snipped a hole in the bag and
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Speaker 1: jumped out the ground just there was strown with stones,
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Speaker 1: and the little red hen picked up several as large
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Speaker 1: as she could lift and put them in her bag
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Speaker 1: in her place. Then she ran home as fast as
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Speaker 1: she could go. After a time, the fox got up
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Speaker 1: and went on, how heavy this little hen is? He
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Speaker 1: said to himself, she must be very plump and fat.
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Speaker 1: Aw won't she make a good dinner? And he smacked
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Speaker 1: his lips at the thought of how nice she would taste.
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Speaker 1: When he came in sight of his house, he saw
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Speaker 1: his mud standing in the doorway watching for him, and
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Speaker 1: he called out, Hi, mother, have you got the pot boiling? Yes? Yes,
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Speaker 1: his mother replied, and have you got the little red hen?
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Speaker 1: She's here in this bag that I have on my shoulder,
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Speaker 1: was his answer. And she'll make a fine dinner. He
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Speaker 1: walked on into the house, and his mother led the
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Speaker 1: way to the fireplace. Now, he said, when I count three,
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Speaker 1: you take the cover off the pot, and I'll pop
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Speaker 1: the little red hen right into the hot water. Very well,
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Speaker 1: his mother responded, already, fox said one, two, three, his
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Speaker 1: mother took the cover off, and splash went the stones
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Speaker 1: into the boiling water, and the pot tipped over and
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Speaker 1: scalded the Robert Fox and his mother to death. But
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Speaker 1: the little red hen lives yet in her house at
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Speaker 1: the edge of the wood by herself and Chapter one
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Speaker 1: recording by cal Taylor.
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Speaker 2: Chapter two of A Book of Fairytale Foxes. This is
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Speaker 2: a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
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Speaker 2: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
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Speaker 2: Recording by Devora Allen, A Book of Fairytale Foxes by
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Speaker 2: Clifton Johnson. Raynard's ride One day, Bruin the Bear killed
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Speaker 2: a horse. Afterward, he was eating him when Reynard the
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Speaker 2: Fox happened along ah. Raynard said to himself, here is
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Speaker 2: Bruin feasting, while I am wondering about hungry. That horse
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Speaker 2: looks good to me. I must contrive to get a
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Speaker 2: taste of him. He walked on softly, passed behind Bruin,
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Speaker 2: then turned and jumped to the other side of the horse.
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Speaker 2: Bruin looked up and growled, but quick as a flash,
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Speaker 2: Raynard snapped a mouthful of the meat, ran off don't
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Speaker 2: be in a hurry. Bruin called after him. Come back,
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Speaker 2: and I'll tell you how you can get a horse
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Speaker 2: all for your own eating. Raynard wanted very much to
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Speaker 2: know how to do that, and he returned, But he
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Speaker 2: did not go very close to Bruin, for he did
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Speaker 2: not wholly trust him. He stopped at a safe distance
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Speaker 2: and said, now tell me well. Bruin responded, just search
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Speaker 2: around and till you find a horse out at pasture,
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Speaker 2: lying asleep in the sunshine. Then bind yourself fast to
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Speaker 2: him by tying the hair of his tail to your brush.
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Speaker 2: After that, make your teeth meet in the flush of
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Speaker 2: his thigh. He may prance around little, but hang on,
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Speaker 2: and when the horse is dead, you can eat him
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Speaker 2: at your leisure. Thank you. The fox said, I think
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Speaker 2: that is a very good plan, and away he went
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Speaker 2: to the pastures where the farmers let their horses graze.
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Speaker 2: He kept a sharp look out until he found a
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Speaker 2: horse asleep in the sunshine. Without delay, he nodded the
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Speaker 2: long hair of the hor horse's tail firmly to his brush.
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Speaker 2: Then he made his teeth meet in the horse's thigh.
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Speaker 2: The horse gave a startled cry of pain, sprang to
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Speaker 2: his feet and began to kick and rear. Raynard at
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Speaker 2: first kept his grip, but he lost it when the
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Speaker 2: horse set off for a wild gallop about the pasture.
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Speaker 2: He was dashed against the earth and the stones, and
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Speaker 2: he got more battered and bruised every minute. In the
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Speaker 2: midst of the frantic race, the horse nearly ran over
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Speaker 2: Jack long ear as the rabbit. Jack leaped out of
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Speaker 2: the way just in time to save himself. Whither away
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Speaker 2: so fast Raynard. He called, never mind where Raynard cried,
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Speaker 2: I'm going post haste on business of life and death.
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Speaker 2: Jack stood up on his hind legs and laughed till
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Speaker 2: his sides ached. It was so funny to see Raynard
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Speaker 2: ride post haste. Luckily for Raynard, he at last broke loose,
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Speaker 2: and he was limping away to his den in the
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Speaker 2: forest when he met Bruin. He let the bear have
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Speaker 2: all the road and turned well out to one side.
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Speaker 2: If Bruin had not hailed him, he would have gone
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Speaker 2: along without speaking Hello. Raynard brewin and said, what is
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Speaker 2: the matter with you? You look as if you had
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Speaker 2: crawled through a that hole backward. You can laugh, Raynold retorted,
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Speaker 2: but I would have you know that I have been
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Speaker 2: doing nothing except to ride post haste. Bruin would have
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Speaker 2: talked more, but Reynoard hobbled along into the forest without
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Speaker 2: saying another word. He could not help acknowledging that Bruin
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Speaker 2: had outwitted him, and since then he has had no
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Speaker 2: desire to catch a horse for himself. End of chapter two,
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Speaker 2: Chapter three of A Book of Fairytale Foxes. This is
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Speaker 2: a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
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Speaker 2: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
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Speaker 2: Recording by Devora Allen, A Book of Fairytale Foxes by
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Speaker 2: Clifton Johnson. The Fox and the Wolf's Daughter. There was
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Speaker 2: once a wolf who had a beautiful, clever daughter. She
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Speaker 2: was the finest girl in the country, and all the
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Speaker 2: men animals who did not already have partners came courting her.
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Speaker 2: It made her proud to have so many to pick from.
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Speaker 2: But she was a lively creature, and though she smiled
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Speaker 2: on every one of them, she turned up her nose.
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Speaker 2: If a beau wanted to stop courting and go to
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Speaker 2: keeping house, no, she would say, I am not ready
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Speaker 2: yet to settle down like my mother, by and by her,
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Speaker 2: old Daddy got exasperated with all the foolishness He had
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Speaker 2: been kept awake night after night by the giggling and
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Speaker 2: chaffing of the young people. They were sitting in his
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Speaker 2: best arm chairs and wearing them out when they ought
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Speaker 2: to have been sleeping and getting strength to flax around
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Speaker 2: and earn their living the next day. So one morning
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Speaker 2: he said to his daughter, you must choose the man
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Speaker 2: you like best and start a home of your own.
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Speaker 2: I'm not going to have you trotting around any more
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Speaker 2: and fetching company here to eat our victuals and be
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Speaker 2: waited on by your mother. When he said that, the
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Speaker 2: girl sniffed and pouted, but she knew she must do
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Speaker 2: as he ordered, and after a while she told her
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Speaker 2: he might get ready whatever he was going to give
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Speaker 2: her for a wedding present. Who are you going to marry,
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Speaker 2: he asked. She blushed and dropped her eyes. I think
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Speaker 2: young mister Fox is a mighty nice man.
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Speaker 3: She said.
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Speaker 2: Well, the old wolf growled. It's true enough that he's
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Speaker 2: a sweet talker. He can't be beat when it comes
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Speaker 2: to courting the girls. The wolf was not over much pleased,
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Speaker 2: but he said no more, and he let it be
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Speaker 2: known that mister Fox would soon marry his daughter. The
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Speaker 2: wedding was to be a grand affair, and all hands
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Speaker 2: went to work to get ready for it. In the
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Speaker 2: midst of the preparations, young mister Fox called at mister
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Speaker 2: Wolf's house and began to brag about his wedding clothes.
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Speaker 2: I've been to the tailor, he said, and I've told
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Speaker 2: him to make as fine a suit as he knows how.
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Speaker 2: The clothes are to have pretty shiny buttons on him.
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Speaker 2: There'll be two rows down the front of the coat
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Speaker 2: and some on the sleeves, and I told the tailor
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Speaker 2: to put a button here. He started to reach around
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Speaker 2: to the back of his coat, but at that moment
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Speaker 2: a big flea gave him a terrible bite on his knee.
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Speaker 2: He could not help clapping his hand to the spot.
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Speaker 2: Fleas are very bad in the wolf houses, but the
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Speaker 2: wolves do not like to have anyone say so. They
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Speaker 2: get angry if a visitor shows that he has been bitten.
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Speaker 2: Mister Fox knew how touchy they were on that subject,
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Speaker 2: and when he grabbed for the flea, he pretended he
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Speaker 2: was just showing where a button was going to be. Then,
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Speaker 2: he went on to say, and I told the tailor
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Speaker 2: to put a button here. Again, he was about to
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Speaker 2: point around to the back of his coat when the
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Speaker 2: flea nipped him in the ribs, and he had to
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Speaker 2: make a clutch there without delay. He cleared his throat
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Speaker 2: and tried once more to show where the button was
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Speaker 2: to be. I'm going to have a button here, he said,
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Speaker 2: but the flea pinched him on the neck. No sooner
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Speaker 2: had he slapped that place and resumed his story than
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Speaker 2: he got a bite on the hip. The bites continued,
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Speaker 2: and he kept putting the buttons here and there till
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Speaker 2: he was wild with confusion and discomfort, and he had
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Speaker 2: scratched almost everywhere. Finally, the flea gave him a most
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Speaker 2: savage bite on the nose, just as he was telling
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Speaker 2: where a button was going, and he could not help
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Speaker 2: clawing the spot. Meanwhile, old mister Wolf had been getting
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Speaker 2: madder and madder right straight along, And when mister Fox
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Speaker 2: said he was going to have a button on the
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Speaker 2: end of his nose, he could hold in his wrath
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Speaker 2: no longer. Hi, he exclaimed, I can prove now that
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Speaker 2: I made no mistake when I said you were an
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Speaker 2: idiot while you were courting my daughter. I haven't been
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Speaker 2: at all anxious to welcome you into my family from
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Speaker 2: the start, but I gave in to the girl and
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Speaker 2: her mother. Now though I take my stand, and all
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Speaker 2: the women folks in the world can't persuade me to
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Speaker 2: have a son in law who wants to look as
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Speaker 2: if toadstools were growing all over him. Put a button
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Speaker 2: on your nose if you want to, but you are
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Speaker 2: not going to carry it into a house you share
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Speaker 2: with my daughter. Then he flung open the door and
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Speaker 2: drove mister Fox out, And he was so angry he
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Speaker 2: would not listen to a word from mister Fox, or
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Speaker 2: mister Fox's kinsfolk, or the neighbors, or his wife or
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Speaker 2: the girl. The next week he got his daughter married
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Speaker 2: to the leanest old timberwolf that ever drew breath, And
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Speaker 2: since that time he has not had a thing to
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Speaker 2: do with any fox whatever. End of chapter three, chapter
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Speaker 2: four of a Book of Fairytale Foxes. This is a
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Speaker 2: LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
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Speaker 2: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
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Speaker 2: Recording by Devora Allen a book of fairytale foxes by
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Speaker 2: Clifton Johnson, The Sleeping Fox and the Boy with a Stone.
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Speaker 2: Once upon a time there was a little boy who
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Speaker 2: lived with his father and mother on a farm in
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Speaker 2: the midst of a forest. The nearest village was on
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Speaker 2: the borders of the forest, three miles away. It was
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Speaker 2: there that the family went to market, and it was
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Speaker 2: there that they went to church. One sunday, the little
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Speaker 2: boy's father was sick, and when it was time to
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Speaker 2: start for church, the little boy's mother called him to
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Speaker 2: her and said, this time you can go to church alone.
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Speaker 2: Your father is not well and I must stay at
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Speaker 2: home to take care of him. But you know the
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Speaker 2: way as well as we do. Oh yes, the little
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Speaker 2: boy said, I know the way perfectly, and this is
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Speaker 2: a nice sunny morning. If you will brush my hair,
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Speaker 2: I will put on my best hat and coat and start.
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Speaker 2: I heard the church bell ringing a little while ago
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Speaker 2: when I drove our cow to pasture. So his mother
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Speaker 2: brushed his hair, and he put on his best coat
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Speaker 2: and hat and left home for the long walk through
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Speaker 2: the forest to church. At one place on the road
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Speaker 2: was a clearing where the choppers had been at work,
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Speaker 2: and not far from the highway was a rock on
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Speaker 2: which a fox lay sleeping.
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Speaker 4: By and by.
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Speaker 2: The little boy came walking along, and when he was
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Speaker 2: opposite the rock, he saw the fox lying there in
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Speaker 2: the sunshine, fast asleep. He stopped and looked at the
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Speaker 2: fox and thought a moment. Then he picked up a
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Speaker 2: good sized stone and prepared to throw it at the
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Speaker 2: sleeping reynard. I will kill that fox, he said. Afterward,
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Speaker 2: I can have his skin, and I will sell it.
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Speaker 2: I shall get money for the skin, yes, a great
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Speaker 2: deal of money. And with the money I intend to
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Speaker 2: buy some rye. I shall sew the rye in one
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Speaker 2: of my father's fields. When it has begun to grow
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Speaker 2: and has made the field all green, people who are
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Speaker 2: on their way to church will stop to look at it,
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Speaker 2: and they will say, oh, what splendid rye that boy
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Speaker 2: has got. Then I shall shout to them, Hello, there,
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Speaker 2: keep away from my rye. But they won't hear me,
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Speaker 2: and I shall shout again louder, Hello there, keep away
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Speaker 2: from my rye. But still they won't pay any attention
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Speaker 2: to me. So I shall scream with all my might,
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Speaker 2: keep away from my rye. Then they will listen to me. However,
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Speaker 2: the boy had screamed so loud that the fox waked
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Speaker 2: up and sprang to his feet. Raynard only paused to
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Speaker 2: give one startled look toward the boy, and scampered off
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Speaker 2: into the forest. He vanished so quickly that the boy
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Speaker 2: never even threw the stone at him. There is an
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Speaker 2: old saying it's always best to take what you can reach,
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Speaker 2: and not of undone deeds to loudly screech. If the
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Speaker 2: little boy had known this old saying and remembered it,
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Speaker 2: I might have had a very different story to tell.
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Speaker 2: End of chapter four.
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Speaker 5: Chapter five of A Book of Fairytale Foxes. This is
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Speaker 5: a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
15:14
Speaker 5: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
15:20
Speaker 5: Recording by Lisa Statler. A Book of Fairytale Foxes by
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Speaker 5: Clifton Johnson. The fox who did not want to be
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Speaker 5: a heathen. Once there was a goose who lived beside
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Speaker 5: a lake. Sometimes she paddled about on the water, Sometimes
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Speaker 5: she dived down under the surface. Sometimes she waddled along
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Speaker 5: the marshy borders of the lake, hunting for frogs. She
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Speaker 5: found plenty to eat, and she grew fatter every day.
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Speaker 5: But the fatter she became, the less inclined she was
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Speaker 5: to exert herself, so she spent much of her time
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Speaker 5: on a side bunny slope near the lake, asleep with
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Speaker 5: her head under her wing. In the wood. Not far
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Speaker 5: away dwelt a cunning red fox. One day, as he
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Speaker 5: was prowling about, he saw the goose asleep on that
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Speaker 5: sunny bank, which she found so comfortable.
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Speaker 1: Ha.
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Speaker 5: He said, what a fat goose. Here's a chance for
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Speaker 5: a good supper. He crept closer, made a sudden leap,
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Speaker 5: and the goose awakened to find herself held fast by
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Speaker 5: one of her wings. She struggled to get free, and
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Speaker 5: she honked and hissed loudly, but the fox only laughed
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Speaker 5: at her. It's of no use making such a fuss,
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Speaker 5: he told her. You can't scare me by your honking
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Speaker 5: and hissing, and you can't get away. I'm going to
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Speaker 5: eat you right here. Well, if you are going to
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Speaker 5: do that, the goose said, I hope you will do
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Speaker 5: it decently and not forget your manners. Forget my manners.
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Speaker 5: Raynard said, I don't understand what you mean. Please explain now.
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Speaker 5: If you had me in your mouth as I have,
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Speaker 5: you tell me what.
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Speaker 6: You would do.
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Speaker 5: You are a hea. Then Raynerd the goose declared, good
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Speaker 5: Christians ask a blessing on their food before they eat.
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Speaker 5: If I had caught you as you have caught me,
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Speaker 5: I certainly would not eat you until I had folded
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Speaker 5: my hands, shut my eyes, and said a grace. I
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Speaker 5: would be ashamed to gobble you down without doing that.
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Speaker 5: Thank goodness, I've been better brought up than to do
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Speaker 5: such a thing. God forbid that I should.
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Speaker 3: Be a he.
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Speaker 5: Then the fox exclaimed, you have the right idea of
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Speaker 5: what is proper. To be sure, I am eager to
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Speaker 5: eat you, for I see plainly that you are both
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Speaker 5: plump and tender. But I quite agree with you that
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Speaker 5: one ought not to neglect his manners. So he folded
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Speaker 5: his hands, shut his eyes, and with a very demure
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Speaker 5: look on his countenance, repeated a pious grace. But while
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Speaker 5: he expressed his thankfulness for the ample size and toothsome
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Speaker 5: fatness of his captive, and asked a blessing on the
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Speaker 5: bountiful repast of which he was about to partake, the
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Speaker 5: goose waddled softly away. However, she had only gone a
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Speaker 5: short distance when he finished his grace and opened his eyes.
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Speaker 5: No time was to be lost, and the goose spread
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Speaker 5: her wings for a flight. Good bye, she called back
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Speaker 5: to the fox as she left the ground. I like
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Speaker 5: your manners. I hope your supper will agree with you.
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Speaker 5: She flew far out over the lake and let herself
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Speaker 5: splash down on the water. Then she floated and rested.
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Speaker 5: After the exertion of flying and the excitement of her
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Speaker 5: narrow escape, the fox was left to lick his lips
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Speaker 5: in vain regret. Ah, he said in disgust, I will
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Speaker 5: learn a lesson from this. Never again in all my
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Speaker 5: life will I say a grace till after I feel
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Speaker 5: the meat warm in my stomach. End of chapter five.
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Speaker 1: Chapter six of A Book of Fairytale Foxes. This is
19:04
Speaker 1: a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in a public domain.
19:09
Speaker 1: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
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Speaker 1: Recording by cal Taylor. A Book of fairy Tale Foxes
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Speaker 1: by Clifton Johnson. The Limping Fox. Once upon a time
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Speaker 1: there was a man whose right eye always smiled, and
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Speaker 1: whose left eye always cried. This man had three sons,
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Speaker 1: Two of them were very clever, and the third very stupid.
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Speaker 1: When the three sons grew up, they were curious to
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Speaker 1: know why their father's eyes were so unlike the eyes
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Speaker 1: of other people. They could not puzzle out any reason
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Speaker 1: for it, and one day, when they were together in
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Speaker 1: the garden talking the matter over, the eldest son said,
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Speaker 1: why should we allow this uncertainty to continue to trouble us.
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Speaker 1: I will ask our father to explain the mystery. So
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Speaker 1: he marched into the house and said his father, I
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Speaker 1: would like very much to know why one of your
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Speaker 1: eyes always smiles and the other always weeps. But his father,
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Speaker 1: instead of answering, became very angry and ordered the son
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Speaker 1: out of the house. The young fellow ran into the
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Speaker 1: garden and joined his brothers. What did he say, they asked, anxiously,
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Speaker 1: You had better go yourselves if you want to find out,
20:23
Speaker 1: was all the reply he gave them. Then the second
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Speaker 1: son entered the house and asked his father the same
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Speaker 1: question the eldest son had asked. Again, the father became angry,
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Speaker 1: and he commanded the questionnaire to leave the house. The
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Speaker 1: youth returned to his brothers and said to the youngest,
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Speaker 1: it is your turn now to try your luck. The
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Speaker 1: simpleton did not hesitate. He marched boldly into his father
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Speaker 1: and said, my brothers will not tell me what answer
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Speaker 1: you gave them when they asked you about your eyes.
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Speaker 1: Will you please tell me why they are not like
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Speaker 1: those of other people as before. His father was fear
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Speaker 1: and ordered the son out of the house, but the
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Speaker 1: simpleton would not go. He was sure he had nothing
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Speaker 1: to fear from his father. Soon the old man ceased
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Speaker 1: threatening and said, I see that you have courage, and
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Speaker 1: I will satisfy your curiosity. My right eye laughs because
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Speaker 1: I am glad to have a son like you, And
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Speaker 1: my left eye weeps because a precious treasure has been
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Speaker 1: stolen from me. I formerly had my garden a vine
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Speaker 1: that yielded a ton of grapes every day, but some
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Speaker 1: one carried it off, and I have wept over the
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Speaker 1: loss ever since. The simpleton went out to his brother's
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Speaker 1: and repeated what his father had said. Then they all
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Speaker 1: decided to start without delay in search of the wonderful vine.
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Speaker 1: At first they traveled together, but by and by they
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Speaker 1: came to where the road parted and the two older
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Speaker 1: brothers took one way, and the simpleton the other. Thank goodness,
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Speaker 1: he decided to go on by himself. The eldest brother
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Speaker 1: said he never would have been any help in finding
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Speaker 1: the magic fine that he would not. The second brother agreed,
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Speaker 1: and now let us eat some of the food we
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Speaker 1: had brought along. They sat down by the roadside and
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Speaker 1: were eating when a lame fox came out of a
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Speaker 1: piece of woodland that was near by and begged them
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Speaker 1: to give him a portion of their food. But they
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Speaker 1: jumped up and chased them away with their canes. The
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Speaker 1: fox slumped off on three feet, and he hurried and
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Speaker 1: on until he came where the simpleton had sat down
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Speaker 1: to eat beside the other road. Sir, the fox said,
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Speaker 1: can you spare me a crust of bread? I have
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Speaker 1: only a very little bread. The simpleton replied, but you
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Speaker 1: shall have half of it. Where are you going, brother,
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Speaker 1: the fox asked, when he had finished his share of
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Speaker 1: the food. So the youth told him about his father
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Speaker 1: and of the wonderful vine, which he himself was now seeking.
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Speaker 1: Dear me, how lucky that you and I am, The
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Speaker 1: fox said, I know what has become of the vine.
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Speaker 1: Follow me, so They went on till they drew nearer
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Speaker 1: to a large garden. The vine for which you are
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Speaker 1: searching is in this garden, the fox said, but it
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Speaker 1: is very stoutly guarded. You must listen carefully to what
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Speaker 1: I say and heed my directions. You will have to
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Speaker 1: pass through twelve gates before you reach a vine, and
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Speaker 1: in each gate are posted two armed sentinels. But you
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Speaker 1: will find the gates open and the sentinels asleep. Go
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Speaker 1: on without fear, and when you get to the vine,
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Speaker 1: you will see two shovels near it, one of wood
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Speaker 1: and the other of iron. Be sure to use a
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Speaker 1: wooden shovel to dig up the vine, for the iron
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Speaker 1: shovel would make a noise and rouse the sentinels. Then
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Speaker 1: they would slam the gate shut and capture you. I
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Speaker 1: will do as you say, the young man promised. He
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Speaker 1: passed safely through the twelve gates and found the vine
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Speaker 1: and the shovels. But he thought it would be impossible
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Speaker 1: to digged the hard earth with a wooden shovel, and
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Speaker 1: he picked up the iron one. Scarcely. He started digging
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Speaker 1: when he struck some stones, and a noise wakened the
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Speaker 1: guards instantly They banged the gate shut and came running
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Speaker 1: to the vine. Then they seized the simpleton and dragged
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Speaker 1: him off to their master. Why did you try to
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Speaker 1: steal my vine? They yields a ton of grapes a day.
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Speaker 1: The owner of the garden demanded, The vine is not yours,
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Speaker 1: the simpleman asserted stoutly. It belongs to my father, and
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Speaker 1: if you will not give it to me, now, I
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Speaker 1: warn you I shall contrive to get it somehow, sooner
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Speaker 1: or later. Whoa, the man said, you shall have the
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Speaker 1: vine if you will bring me in exchange an apple
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Speaker 1: off the apple tree that blossoms every twenty four hours
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Speaker 1: and bears fruit of gold. Then he gave orders that
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Speaker 1: the simpletons should be released. The guards conducted the youth
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Speaker 1: outside of the grounds, and as soon as they set
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Speaker 1: him free, he hurried off to consult the fox. Now
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Speaker 1: ye see what comes of not following my advice? The
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Speaker 1: fox said, I am much displeased. However, I will help
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Speaker 1: you com We will go to the garden where the
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Speaker 1: wonderful tree is growing. The owner has guarded the tree
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Speaker 1: just as the vine was guarded. But there too, the
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Speaker 1: gates are open, and a sentinel sleeping near the tree,
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Speaker 1: you will find two poles, one of gold and the
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Speaker 1: other of wood. Take the wooden pole, and you will
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Speaker 1: be able to knock off an apple without making any noise.
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Speaker 1: They went to the garden, and near its outer gate,
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Speaker 1: the simpleton parted from the fox. Then he went alone,
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Speaker 1: and soon arrived at the apple tree. But he was
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Speaker 1: so dazzled by the sight of the beautiful golden fruit
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Speaker 1: that he quite forgot about all the fox had said.
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Speaker 1: He seized the golden pole and struck a branching sounding blow.
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Speaker 1: At once the guards awoke, slammed the gate shut, caught
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Speaker 1: the simpleton, and took him to their master. He told
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Speaker 1: his story, and the owner of the garden said, you
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Speaker 1: shall have a golden apple if you bring me in
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Speaker 1: exchange a golden horse that can go around the world.
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Speaker 1: In twenty four hours, the simpleton was allowed to depart,
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Speaker 1: and he rejoined the fox. This time the fox was angry,
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Speaker 1: and no wonder if you had only done as I
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Speaker 1: had directed, He said, you would be at home with
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Speaker 1: your father by this time. You don't deserve any more help. Nevertheless,
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Speaker 1: I will tell you how to get the swift horse.
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Speaker 1: He is in a stable in a neighboring force closely guarded.
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Speaker 1: But you will find the guards asleep. Nearest stall. Hang
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Speaker 1: two halters, one of gold, the other of hemp. Put
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Speaker 1: the hempen holder on him, for if you attempt to
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Speaker 1: use the golden holder to lead him away, he will
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Speaker 1: begin neighing, and he will awaken the gardens. The simpleton
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Speaker 1: found the golden horse and the two holders. What a
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Speaker 1: beautiful creature, the youth exclaimed. Surely the fox would not
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Speaker 1: have me put a hempen holder on a creature like that. No, no,
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Speaker 1: So he used the golden halter, and the horse began
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Speaker 1: to neigh loudly. That brought to guards, and the simpleton
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Speaker 1: was conducted to their master and his story. You shall
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Speaker 1: have the horse, the owner said, if you will bring
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Speaker 1: me in exchange a golden maiden who has never yet
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Speaker 1: seen the sun nor the moon. But if I am
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Speaker 1: to bring you the golden maiden, a simpleton respond, you
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Speaker 1: must lend me the golden steed to ride on in
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Speaker 1: my search for her. Very well, the man agreed, and
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Speaker 1: the youth rode away on the golden horse to consult
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Speaker 1: the fox. He had again disobeyed the fox's order. Yet
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Speaker 1: the fox once more hated him. Follow me, the fox said.
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Speaker 1: After the simpleton had told him of the new quest,
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Speaker 1: he was obliged to make. The maiden dwells in a
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Speaker 1: mountain grotto, and she has never been outside of it
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Speaker 1: to see either the sun by day or the moon
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Speaker 1: by night. Presently, they reached the grotto, and the young
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Speaker 1: man rode in on a golden horse, and there he
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Speaker 1: found a beautiful maiden, all of gold. He placed her
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Speaker 1: on a horse and led the steed out of the
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Speaker 1: grotto to where the fox was waiting. Are you not
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Speaker 1: sorry to give such a lovely maiden in exchange for
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Speaker 1: a horse? The fox asked, perhaps I could manage to
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Speaker 1: take her place, So saying, the fox transformed himself into
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Speaker 1: another golden maiden, so like the first that it was
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Speaker 1: very difficult to tell which was which. They left the
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Speaker 1: maiden of the grotto where she was and went to
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Speaker 1: the owner of the horse. He accepted the fox maiden,
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Speaker 1: and the youth took the golden horse to the owner
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Speaker 1: of the golden apples and received one of the apples
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Speaker 1: in exchange. Then he went and gave the apple for
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Speaker 1: his father's magic vine, and carried divine home. Lastly, he
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Speaker 1: returned to the mountain grotto and got the beautiful golden maiden,
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Speaker 1: and he took her to his father's house and married her.
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Speaker 1: End of chapter six.
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Speaker 6: Chapter seven of a Book of fairy Tale Foxes. This
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Speaker 6: is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the
28:53
Speaker 6: public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visitbrivox
29:00
Speaker 6: dot org. Recording by Kate Follis A Book of Fairytale
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Speaker 6: Foxes by Clifton Johnson. How missus Fox married again. There
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Speaker 6: was once a lady Fox whose husband died, and after
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Speaker 6: he was buried, she retired to her room and locked
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Speaker 6: herself in there. She stayed day after day and week
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Speaker 6: after week for a long time. She had a cat
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Speaker 6: for a servant, and this servant kept the house tidy
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Speaker 6: and attended to the cooking. At length, a suitor came
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Speaker 6: knocking at the door. The cat went to see who
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Speaker 6: was there, and found a wolf standing on the doorstep.
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Speaker 6: He bowed very politely and said, good day, miss cat,
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Speaker 6: so brusk and gay, pray. Tell me why alone you
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Speaker 6: stay and what it is you cook to day? The
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Speaker 6: cat answered, I am melting some butter and warming some beer,
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Speaker 6: won't you kindly come in and partake of my cheer.
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Speaker 6: The wolf bowed again and said, I thank you very much,
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Speaker 6: miss cat, most gladly. Will I do just that? And
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Speaker 6: while I eat, pray, go and see if missus Fox
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Speaker 6: will welcome me. The cat said, she is sitting upstairs
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Speaker 6: in her grief, and her eyes, with her weeping, are
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Speaker 6: sore from her sorrow. She gets no relief now that
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Speaker 6: poor mister Fox is no more. Won't she take another
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Speaker 6: spouse to protect her and her house? The wolf asked,
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Speaker 6: I will go and find out, so you'll know without doubt.
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Speaker 6: The cat replied, Then she ran upstairs, pitapat, pitapat, and
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Speaker 6: knocked at the door. Rat a tat, ratitat. Missus Fox,
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Speaker 6: my lady fair, tell me please if you are there,
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Speaker 6: She said, yes, I'm here, my pussy dear, where I've
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Speaker 6: been for half a year. Missus Fox answered, there's a
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Speaker 6: suitor below. Shall I tell him to go? The cat said.
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Speaker 6: Missus Fox opened the door and asked, does the gentleman
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Speaker 6: wear red breeches and has he appointed nose? No, the
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Speaker 6: cat answered, then I won't have him. Missus Fox declared,
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Speaker 6: send him away. So the cat went downstairs and sent
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Speaker 6: the wolf away. A few days later, a dog came
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Speaker 6: to woo the lady Fox. The cat went to her
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Speaker 6: mistress's room to announce him, and missus Fox asked, does
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Speaker 6: he wear red breeches and has he appointed nose? No,
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Speaker 6: the cat said, send him away, then, missus Fox. Or
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Speaker 6: another day a bear came, but his breeches and his
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Speaker 6: nose were not satisfactory, and he had no better luck
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Speaker 6: than the others. Not long afterward a lion called, and
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Speaker 6: he too was sent away, And for the same reason.
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Speaker 6: At last a fox came to court missus Fox, and
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Speaker 6: when she learned from the cat that he wore red
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Speaker 6: breeches and had a pointed nose, she said, then I
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Speaker 6: will have him, and you must make haste to prepare
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Speaker 6: the wedding feast. So the cat caught as many mice
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Speaker 6: as she could in celebration of the happy event, and
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Speaker 6: got ready a fine feast, and swept out the house.
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Speaker 6: Presently the wedding took place with mirth, dancing, and rejoicing.
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Speaker 6: And as I have never heard anything to the contrary,
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Speaker 6: perhaps the bride and groom and their guests are dancing yet.
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Speaker 6: End of chapter seven.
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Speaker 7: Chapter eight of a book of Fairytale Foxes. This is
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Speaker 7: a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
33:20
Speaker 7: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
33:27
Speaker 7: Recording by Diana Foster. A Book of Fairytale Foxes by
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Speaker 7: Clifton Johnson, Chapter eight, The Fox and the Boastful Rooster.
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Speaker 7: Once upon a time there was a rooster who was
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Speaker 7: very proud of his strong legs, and bright feathers and
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Speaker 7: red comb. But most of all, he was proud of
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Speaker 7: his powerful voice. As he strutted around the barnyard, he
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Speaker 7: stopped every now and then to crow, and to say
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Speaker 7: to himself, I am the handsomest rooster in all the world,
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Speaker 7: and no other rooster lives who can crow as loud
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Speaker 7: as I can. One morning, while he was strutting around
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Speaker 7: as usual and making more noise than all the rest
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Speaker 7: of the barn yard people put together, the brown hand
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Speaker 7: came and spoke to him, What a lovely day this is,
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Speaker 7: she said, The sun shines bright, and all the birds
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Speaker 7: are singing. Let us fly over the fence and hunt
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Speaker 7: for worms in the garden. All right. The rooster agreed,
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Speaker 7: and they flew over the fence and hurried away to
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Speaker 7: the garden. It so happened that a sly old fox
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Speaker 7: was lurking near by. He saw the rooster and said
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Speaker 7: to himself, that fellow is just what I want for
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Speaker 7: my dinner. I wish he would come over here where
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Speaker 7: I am hiding in the bushes, so I could pounce
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Speaker 7: on him. But there he is scratching around in the
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Speaker 7: middle of the garden. I shall have to go out
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Speaker 7: in the open and speak to him. So the fox
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Speaker 7: walked toward the rooster. However, the rooster and the hens
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Speaker 7: saw him coming, and they were careful to keep at
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Speaker 7: a safe distance. Don't be afraid, mister rooster, The fox said,
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Speaker 7: I want to have a friendly chat with you, all right.
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Speaker 7: The rooster responded, I don't object to visiting with you,
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Speaker 7: if only you don't come any nearer. Your suspicions hurt
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Speaker 7: my feelings, the fox said, but never mind. I wanted
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Speaker 7: to ask you how many tricks you could do. I
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Speaker 7: can do three tricks, the rooster replied, how many can
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Speaker 7: you do? Three score and thirteen? The fox declared, can you?
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Speaker 7: I wouldn't have thought it, the rooster said, And what
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Speaker 7: is the best one of all? It is the one
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Speaker 7: my grandfather taught me. The fox answered, he could shut
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Speaker 7: both eyes and give a great shout, and I learned
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Speaker 7: to do the same thing. Why that's nothing, I could
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Speaker 7: do that myself, the rooster bragged, Do you really think
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Speaker 7: you could? The fox asked, try it. So the rooster
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Speaker 7: swelled out his breast and crowed as loud as he
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Speaker 7: could cock a doodle doo, And then he flapped his
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Speaker 7: wings as if he had done a great thing. But
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Speaker 7: he had only shut one eye, for he wanted to
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Speaker 7: watch the fox with the other. Very pretty, the fox commented,
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Speaker 7: almost as pretty as when the parson preaches in church. However,
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Speaker 7: you didn't shut both eyes. I hardly thought you could
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Speaker 7: do the trick as well as my grandfather did. Yes,
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Speaker 7: I can too, the rooster affirmed, and he forgot the
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Speaker 7: need of caution, closed both eyes and crowed cock a
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Speaker 7: doodle doo. But he never finished the crow, for as
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Speaker 7: soon as his eyes were shut, the sly fox leaped forward,
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Speaker 7: gripped him by the neck, and started to run to
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Speaker 7: the woods. The brown hen at once gave chase, crying,
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Speaker 7: let go of that rooster. He belongs to me, mister fox.
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Speaker 7: The rooster said, that brown hen can go very swift.
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Speaker 7: Do you know what it is to be hen pecked?
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Speaker 7: I do, and it is far from pleasant. I assure you.
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Speaker 7: If you don't want her to catch up with us
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Speaker 7: and peck you, I advise you to call back. This
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Speaker 7: rooster is not yours, he is mine. The fox found
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Speaker 7: it slow work lugging along the heavy rooster, and he
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Speaker 7: did not wish to be pecked. He thought the plan
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Speaker 7: the rooster suggested was a very good one, and he
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Speaker 7: opened his mouth to shout back to the hen that
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Speaker 7: the rooster was his. But by by doing so, he
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Speaker 7: let go his grip on the captive's neck. And no
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Speaker 7: sooner did the rooster find himself at liberty than he
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Speaker 7: flew up into a tree. Then he shut both eyes
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Speaker 7: and gave a loud crow. And that is all there
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Speaker 7: is to this story. End of chapter eight. Recording by
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Speaker 7: Diana Foster.
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Speaker 8: Chapter number nine of A Book of Fairytale Foxes. This
38:32
Speaker 8: is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the
38:35
Speaker 8: public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit
38:39
Speaker 8: LibriVox dot org. Recording by Anthony Hynd A Book of
38:44
Speaker 8: Fairytale Foxes by Clifton Johnson, Reynard and the fox Hunter.
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Speaker 8: Once upon a time there was a fox hunter who
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Speaker 8: lived all alone in a hut near a forest. He
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Speaker 8: came home one evening, tired after a long day spent
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Speaker 8: in hunting, started a fire in his fireplace, and then
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Speaker 8: sat down and fell asleep in his chair. By and by,
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Speaker 8: he awoke and was surprised to see a fox sitting
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Speaker 8: comfortably at the sight of the fire. Reynard had come
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Speaker 8: in at a hole under the door provided for the
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Speaker 8: convenience of the dog, the cat, the pig, and the hens.
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Speaker 8: It was a chilly autumn evening, and he had evidently
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Speaker 8: visited the hut to get warm. Oho, the fox hunter exclaimed,
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Speaker 8: here is a fox right in my own house. Well,
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Speaker 8: mister fox, here you'll stay till I have a chance
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Speaker 8: to wrap you over the head. The hole under the
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Speaker 8: door is you only escape, and I'll see that you
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Speaker 8: don't get out there. Then he sat down on the
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Speaker 8: floor with his back against the hole. N Ah, the
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Speaker 8: fox said to himself. Now soon made that stupid fellow
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Speaker 8: get up. So he searched around till he found the
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Speaker 8: man's shoes, and he picked them up with his teeth.
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Speaker 8: And dropped them into the fire. Hurry, he said to
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Speaker 8: the fox hunter, jump up and save your shoes. I
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Speaker 8: sha'n't get up for that, my fine gentleman, the fox
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Speaker 8: hunter responded stubbornly. Then I'll try again, the fox said.
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Speaker 8: He soon found the man's stockings and put them in
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Speaker 8: the fire. You'll have to be quick if you want
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Speaker 8: to save them, he said to the man. I sha'n't
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Speaker 8: get up for that, my fine gentleman, the fox hunter declared.
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Speaker 8: So the fox made another exploring trip around the room
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Speaker 8: and found the man's overcoat. He brought it and pushed
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Speaker 8: it into the fire. You'll be cold when winter comes
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Speaker 8: if you don't have that coat, he said to the man.
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Speaker 8: Hurry and rescue it. I shan't get up for that,
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Speaker 8: my fine gentleman, the fox hunter persisted. I'm not through
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Speaker 8: with you yet, the fox retorted. He next dragged the
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Speaker 8: man's best trousers across the floor and fed them to
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Speaker 8: the flames. Surely you can't afford to lose these, he
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Speaker 8: said to the men. Hustle over here and save them. No,
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Speaker 8: I shan't get up for that, my fine gentleman, the
40:39
Speaker 8: fox hunter said, I don't see much left in the
40:43
Speaker 8: hut except your straw bed. The fox remarked, We'll see
40:45
Speaker 8: how you like having that burned. He tugged at the
40:48
Speaker 8: bed until he got it to the fire. Then he
40:50
Speaker 8: pushed it in. Now will you get up, the fox cried.
40:55
Speaker 8: The flames fled hot and high, and crackled fiercely, and
40:58
Speaker 8: the hut was filled with smoke. That is more than
41:00
Speaker 8: I can stand, the man shouted, and he jumped up
41:03
Speaker 8: in great alarm. Now the fox had the chance he
41:05
Speaker 8: had been working for. So he took advantage of the
41:08
Speaker 8: confusion and slipped out of the hole under the door
41:10
Speaker 8: and ran off into the forest. End of chapter nine,
41:19
Speaker 8: Chapter ten of A Book of Fairytale Foxes. This is
41:22
Speaker 8: a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
41:27
Speaker 8: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
41:31
Speaker 8: Recording by Anthony Hynd A Book of Fairytale Foxes by
41:36
Speaker 8: Clifton Johnson. The Fox and the Old Cat and Dog.
41:40
Speaker 8: There was once a man and his wife who had
41:42
Speaker 8: an old cat and an old dog. One day, the man,
41:45
Speaker 8: whose name was Simon, said to his wife, whose name
41:47
Speaker 8: was Susan, why should we continue to keep our old cat.
41:50
Speaker 8: She never catches any mice nowadays. I have made up
41:53
Speaker 8: my mind to drown her, but his wife said, don't
41:56
Speaker 8: do that. I think she can still catch mice. Rubbish exclaimed,
42:01
Speaker 8: the mice might dance on her and she could never
42:02
Speaker 8: catch one. No, I will put her in a bag
42:05
Speaker 8: and drown her. Susan was very sorrowful when she heard
42:08
Speaker 8: him say that, and so was the cat, who had
42:10
Speaker 8: been sitting under the table listening to the conversation. Simon
42:14
Speaker 8: went out to the barn to get a bag, and
42:16
Speaker 8: at once the cat began to mee ow and look
42:18
Speaker 8: her beseechingly into the face of her mistress. This was
42:21
Speaker 8: more than Susan could bear, and she opened the door
42:23
Speaker 8: and said, fly for your life, you poor beast, and
42:26
Speaker 8: get well away from here before your master returns. The
42:29
Speaker 8: cat took her advice and ran as fast as she
42:31
Speaker 8: could into the forest. And when Simon brought his bag
42:34
Speaker 8: into the house, his wife told him that the cat
42:36
Speaker 8: had vanished so much the better for her, was Simon's comment.
42:40
Speaker 8: And now that she is out of the way, we
42:41
Speaker 8: must consider what to do with our old dog. He
42:44
Speaker 8: is so nearly blind and death that he is worse
42:46
Speaker 8: than useless. He always barks when there is no need,
42:48
Speaker 8: and makes not a sound when he ought to buck.
42:51
Speaker 8: I think I shall have to shoot him, but the
42:54
Speaker 8: soft hearted Susan said, and surely he is not as
42:56
Speaker 8: useless as you imagine. And remember how long and faithfully
42:59
Speaker 8: he served. We can very well afford to take care
43:02
Speaker 8: of him for the rest of his life. Don't be foolish,
43:05
Speaker 8: Her husband responded, the courtyard might be full of thieves,
43:08
Speaker 8: and he would never know it. Besides, no thief would
43:10
Speaker 8: be afraid of him, for he is not a tooth
43:12
Speaker 8: in his head. If he has served us, he has
43:15
Speaker 8: had his food every day to pay for it. No,
43:17
Speaker 8: it's all up with him. I am going to the
43:19
Speaker 8: shed to load my gun, and then I'll take him
43:21
Speaker 8: out and shoot him. Susan was very unhappy at these words,
43:25
Speaker 8: and so was the dog, who was lying in a
43:27
Speaker 8: corner of the room and had heard everything. As soon
43:30
Speaker 8: as the man went to the shed, the old dog
43:32
Speaker 8: stood up and held so mournfully that Susan opened the
43:34
Speaker 8: door and said, fly for your life, you poor beast,
43:38
Speaker 8: and the dog ran off to the forest with his
43:40
Speaker 8: tail between his legs. When Simon came in. Susan said
43:44
Speaker 8: to him, the dog has disappeared. That's lucky for him,
43:47
Speaker 8: Simon remarked, But his wife sighed. She had been very
43:51
Speaker 8: fond of the old dog, and though she was glad
43:53
Speaker 8: he had escaped, she did not like to think of
43:55
Speaker 8: his wandering around homeless. It happened that the dog and
43:58
Speaker 8: the cat met each other in the forest. They had
44:01
Speaker 8: not been the best of friends at home, but each
44:03
Speaker 8: was glad of the other's company. There in the lonely woodland.
44:06
Speaker 8: They sat down under a tree and were relating their
44:08
Speaker 8: woes to one another when a fox came along. He
44:11
Speaker 8: saw the two disconsolate creatures sitting there talking over their
44:14
Speaker 8: sad fate, and he asked them what they were grumbling about.
44:18
Speaker 8: The cat replied, I have caught no end of mice
44:21
Speaker 8: in my day, but now that I am old and
44:23
Speaker 8: past work, my master wants to drown me. Gys for me,
44:26
Speaker 8: The dog said, many a night have I watched and
44:28
Speaker 8: guarded my master's house, But now that I am old
44:31
Speaker 8: and deaf, he wants to shoot me. That's the way
44:34
Speaker 8: of the world. The fox commented, however, I will help
44:37
Speaker 8: you to regain your master's favor. If you will first
44:40
Speaker 8: help me in my own troubles. They promised to do
44:43
Speaker 8: their best, and the fox said, the wolf has declared
44:45
Speaker 8: war against me, and is at this moment marching to
44:48
Speaker 8: fight me, supported by a bear and a wild ball.
44:51
Speaker 8: To morrow there will be a fierce battle between us.
44:54
Speaker 8: I haven't the least desire to do any fighting, the
44:56
Speaker 8: dog responded, but I will stand by you, yes, and
45:01
Speaker 8: so will I. The cat said, if we are killed,
45:03
Speaker 8: it at any rate. Is better to die in the
45:05
Speaker 8: field of battle than to perish it nobly at home.
45:08
Speaker 8: They shook paws with the fox and concluded the bargain.
45:11
Speaker 8: Then the fox sent a message to the wolf, naming
45:14
Speaker 8: a certain place where he and the cat and dog
45:16
Speaker 8: would be on the morrow, ready for the battle. Early
45:19
Speaker 8: the next day, the three friends set forth to encounter
45:21
Speaker 8: the fox's enemies, but the wolf, the bear, and the
45:24
Speaker 8: wild boar arrived on the spot first. When they had
45:27
Speaker 8: waited some time for the fox and his allies, the
45:29
Speaker 8: bear said, I will climb up into the great oak
45:32
Speaker 8: that grows here, and perhaps I can see them coming up.
45:35
Speaker 8: He scrambled, and after looking around, he said, Nah, there
45:38
Speaker 8: they are off in the distance, marching in this direction,
45:41
Speaker 8: like a mighty army. They seem to be carrying a
45:43
Speaker 8: great sword. No, it is not a sword, but the
45:46
Speaker 8: tail of a cat. She is lame and limps on
45:49
Speaker 8: three legs, and I suppose holds her tail erect from pain.
45:53
Speaker 8: The bear and his companions laughed and jeered and made
45:55
Speaker 8: merry over the appearance of their enemies, and did not
45:57
Speaker 8: doubt that they could easily vanquish them. It was a
46:00
Speaker 8: warm day, and presently the bear said, the heat makes
46:03
Speaker 8: me sleepy. We shall have to wait here for those
46:05
Speaker 8: fellows a long time at the rate they are coming.
46:07
Speaker 8: I'm going to cumb myself up into the fork of
46:09
Speaker 8: the tree and have a nap. The wolf thought he
46:12
Speaker 8: also would have a nap, and he lay down under
46:14
Speaker 8: the tree. Then the wild boar concluded to make himself
46:17
Speaker 8: comfortable by creeping into a heap of dead leaves, where
46:20
Speaker 8: he covered himself so that no portion of him was
46:22
Speaker 8: in sight except one ear. They were all asleep when
46:26
Speaker 8: the fox, the dog, and the cat arrived. Just then
46:28
Speaker 8: the boar chanced to twitch his exposed ear. The cat
46:31
Speaker 8: saw it and thought it was a mouse. Immediately she
46:34
Speaker 8: made a spring and fastened her claws and teeth into it.
46:37
Speaker 8: At this the ball leapt up in a dreadful fright,
46:39
Speaker 8: and gave one loud grunt of dismay, and scampered off
46:42
Speaker 8: into the woodland. The cat was no less startled than
46:45
Speaker 8: the boar. She spit with terror and scrambled up the
46:47
Speaker 8: tree right into the face of the bear. Now it
46:50
Speaker 8: was the bear's turn to be alarmed, and with a
46:52
Speaker 8: startled growl, he half jumped and half fell out of
46:54
Speaker 8: the oak. He came down on the wolf and killed
46:57
Speaker 8: him as dead as a stone. But the bear did
46:59
Speaker 8: not stop to find how badly the wolf was hurt.
47:01
Speaker 8: He made all haste to escape into the forest. The
47:04
Speaker 8: fox had won the battle, and he said to his companions,
47:07
Speaker 8: you can now return to your old home, and I
47:09
Speaker 8: will go with you and try to make you welcome.
47:12
Speaker 8: On the way, he caught a score of mice. When
47:14
Speaker 8: he and the cat and the dog reached Simon's cottage,
47:17
Speaker 8: he laid the mice down beside the door and said
47:19
Speaker 8: to the cat, take in one mouse after another and
47:22
Speaker 8: lay them down before your master. I will do whatever
47:25
Speaker 8: you tell me to do. The cat agreed. It was
47:28
Speaker 8: just after sundown. The day's work was done. And Simon
47:30
Speaker 8: and his wife were sitting at the fireside. The cat
47:33
Speaker 8: brought in the twenty mice, one at a time and
47:35
Speaker 8: laid them at the man's feet. Then Susan said to
47:38
Speaker 8: her husband, just look, here is our cat back again,
47:41
Speaker 8: and see what a lot of mice she's caught. Winders
47:44
Speaker 8: will never cease, Simon exclaimed, I certainly thought the old
47:47
Speaker 8: cat would never catch another mouse. Well, Susan remarked, I
47:50
Speaker 8: always said our cat was a most excellent creature. But
47:53
Speaker 8: you men think you know best. Meanwhile, the fox said
47:56
Speaker 8: to the dog, your master has recently killed a pig.
47:59
Speaker 8: When then, just a little darker, you must go into
48:01
Speaker 8: the courtyard and bark with all your might, just as
48:04
Speaker 8: if the pork were being stolen. All right, the dog said,
48:08
Speaker 8: And after he had waited about half an hour, he
48:10
Speaker 8: went into the courtyard and began to bark loudly. Our
48:13
Speaker 8: dog must have come back, Susan said to her husband,
48:15
Speaker 8: For I hear him barking. Do go out and see
48:17
Speaker 8: what is the matter. Perhaps thieves are stealing our sausages.
48:21
Speaker 8: But Simon said, that foolish beast is as deaf as
48:23
Speaker 8: a post and is always barking at nothing, and he
48:26
Speaker 8: would not go out to investigate. The Next morning, Susan
48:29
Speaker 8: got up early to get ready to go to church
48:31
Speaker 8: in a neighboring town, and she thought she would take
48:33
Speaker 8: some sausages to her aunt, who lived there. But when
48:36
Speaker 8: she went to her larder, she found a great hole
48:38
Speaker 8: in the floor and all the sausages were gone. Simon,
48:41
Speaker 8: she called to her husband, thieves have been here last night,
48:43
Speaker 8: and they've not left a single sausage. You see, I
48:46
Speaker 8: was perfectly right about the warning our old dog gave
48:48
Speaker 8: us no if you'd only gone out when I asked
48:50
Speaker 8: you to. Simon scratched his head and said, I can't
48:54
Speaker 8: understand this thing. I did not think it possible that
48:56
Speaker 8: the old dog was so quick at hearing ah, Susan said,
48:59
Speaker 8: I I told you again and again that our dog
49:01
Speaker 8: was the best dog in the world, but as usual,
49:03
Speaker 8: you thought you knew better than I did. Why is
49:05
Speaker 8: it that men are so unreasonable? After that, the cat
49:09
Speaker 8: and the dog were restored to favor. They were satisfied,
49:11
Speaker 8: and Simon and Susan were satisfied, and so was the fox,
49:14
Speaker 8: for he had carried away the sausages. End of chapter ten.
49:25
Speaker 1: Chapter eleven of the Book of Fairytale Foxes. This is
49:29
Speaker 1: a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in a public domain.
49:34
Speaker 1: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
49:40
Speaker 1: Recording by cal Taylor. A Book of Fairytale Foxes by
49:44
Speaker 1: Clifton Johnson. The Two Foxes and the Hot Rolls. Two
49:49
Speaker 1: foxes lay at the edge of some woods near a roadway.
49:52
Speaker 1: One was a big fox and the other was a
49:55
Speaker 1: little fox. They were wondering how they could get something
49:58
Speaker 1: to eat. It was winter time, and the snow whitened
50:02
Speaker 1: all the earth. Not a blade of grass was to
50:05
Speaker 1: be seen, and not a bird or a mouse stirred
50:07
Speaker 1: in the fields. This is hungry weather, the big fox said,
50:12
Speaker 1: I feel as hollow as an eggshell, So do I.
50:15
Speaker 1: The little fox said, I'm hungry enough to eat my
50:18
Speaker 1: own ears if I could reach them. Let us hunt
50:21
Speaker 1: for some game in the forest. Oh no, that would
50:24
Speaker 1: be too much like work, the big fox objected, we
50:27
Speaker 1: will fare just as well if we wait here and
50:29
Speaker 1: depend on our wits. Pretty soon they saw a peasant
50:33
Speaker 1: girl walking along the road with a basket on her back,
50:36
Speaker 1: and out of the basket came a very pleasant smell,
50:39
Speaker 1: the smell of hot rolls. That girl is bringing us
50:43
Speaker 1: our dinner, The big fox said, I think not. The
50:46
Speaker 1: little fox side. She is going right along past. She
50:50
Speaker 1: doesn't know we are here. The girl needs to be
50:53
Speaker 1: taught a lesson, the big fox declared. She has our
50:57
Speaker 1: dinner in that basket she is carrying, and we must
51:00
Speaker 1: make her give it to us. But how can you
51:03
Speaker 1: make her do that, little little fox asked, We will
51:06
Speaker 1: hurry to get ahead of her. The big fox replied,
51:09
Speaker 1: Then you lie down on a road and pretend to
51:11
Speaker 1: be dead. The girl will put down her basket to
51:14
Speaker 1: take you up, and I will leap forward and run
51:17
Speaker 1: off with the basket. Those rolls will make us a
51:21
Speaker 1: splendid feast. Very well, the little fox agreed, I can
51:26
Speaker 1: do my part if you can do yours. So they
51:30
Speaker 1: ran in a round about way through the woods till
51:33
Speaker 1: they had gone far enough to get into the road
51:35
Speaker 1: ahead of the girl without being seen. The big fox
51:39
Speaker 1: hid behind a snowdrift, and the little fox lay down
51:43
Speaker 1: in the road. Presently, the girl came along and saw
51:46
Speaker 1: the fox stretch out there motionless. She stopped and looked
51:50
Speaker 1: at him and poked him with her cane. Oh ho,
51:53
Speaker 1: she exclaimed, I'm in luck to day. Here's a dead fox,
51:58
Speaker 1: and he is a nice, sleek beast whose skin will
52:01
Speaker 1: sell for a good bit of money. She put down
52:04
Speaker 1: the basket and stooped to pick up the little fox,
52:07
Speaker 1: But that instant the big fox snatched up the basket
52:10
Speaker 1: and scampered off with it. The girl turned away from
52:13
Speaker 1: the little fox to see what was going on, and
52:16
Speaker 1: in a twinkling he came to life and followed his companion.
52:20
Speaker 1: But the big fox ran on ahead and showed quite
52:23
Speaker 1: plainly that he meant to keep the rolls all to himself.
52:27
Speaker 1: At length, he came to a blacksmith's shop and stopped,
52:30
Speaker 1: and the little fox joined him. A horse was tied
52:34
Speaker 1: at the door, and a horse was shod with golden shoes.
52:38
Speaker 1: The foxes noticed that one of the shoes had a
52:41
Speaker 1: name on it. Come. The big fox said to his companion,
52:45
Speaker 1: let us go near and see what is written on
52:47
Speaker 1: that shoe. No, I will not go, the little fox responded,
52:52
Speaker 1: for I do not know how to read. Then I
52:55
Speaker 1: will go alone. The big fox said, I never saw
52:59
Speaker 1: a name on a horse shoe before, and I am
53:01
Speaker 1: curious to learn what it is. But when he drew nearer,
53:05
Speaker 1: the horse lifted the foot on which was a golden
53:08
Speaker 1: shoe with the name on it, and gave the fox
53:10
Speaker 1: a kick that killed him. Ah, the little fox said,
53:14
Speaker 1: I am glad, I am no scholar, and he went
53:17
Speaker 1: off with all the rolls. End of chapter eleven.
53:26
Speaker 9: Chapter twelve of A Book of Fairytale Foxes. This is
53:30
Speaker 9: a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
53:35
Speaker 9: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
53:41
Speaker 9: Recording by Matthew Thompson from www dot scribblings dot blog.
53:47
Speaker 9: A Book of Fairytale Foxes by Clifton Johnston. A Fox
53:53
Speaker 9: and his Friends in a certain village, There once was
53:56
Speaker 9: a man whose whole property consisted of the house. He
53:59
Speaker 9: dwelt a horse, a greyhound, and a gun. His only
54:04
Speaker 9: occupation was hunting, and he depended on the game he
54:07
Speaker 9: shot for his living. One fine day, he took his
54:11
Speaker 9: gun and called his dog, mounted his horse, and set
54:14
Speaker 9: off to hunt. He went up among the high mountains,
54:17
Speaker 9: and after riding a long distance, he reached a little
54:20
Speaker 9: open valley on its far side. He tied his horse
54:23
Speaker 9: to a tree and walked forward into the thick wood
54:26
Speaker 9: with his gun on his shoulder and his dog by
54:28
Speaker 9: his side. All day the man hunted, but he only
54:32
Speaker 9: killed a single deer. When he returned with it to
54:34
Speaker 9: the little valley, he was astonished to see a fox
54:37
Speaker 9: lying on the ground beside his horse. He raised his
54:41
Speaker 9: gun to shoot the creature, but Reynard, who had observed
54:44
Speaker 9: what the man was about, sprang quickly to his feet
54:47
Speaker 9: and said, imploringly, for the love of Heaven, spare my life.
54:51
Speaker 9: Let me be your servant. I will do your bidding
54:54
Speaker 9: faithfully and will guard your horse while you're hunting. The
54:57
Speaker 9: man took pity on the fox and said, all right,
55:01
Speaker 9: you can go home with me, and you shall be
55:04
Speaker 9: well treated as long as you do as you've promised
55:06
Speaker 9: to do. Then he laid the deer across the horse
55:09
Speaker 9: in front of the saddle, mounted and returned to the
55:12
Speaker 9: village with his dog and the fox running along at
55:15
Speaker 9: the horse's heels. After he reached home, he skinned the deer,
55:19
Speaker 9: put away such portions of it as he wanted to eat,
55:22
Speaker 9: and threw the rest to the fox. The night passed,
55:25
Speaker 9: and in the first dawn of morning, the man set
55:28
Speaker 9: out again. He took the fox with him and went
55:31
Speaker 9: to the same high valley to which he'd gone the
55:33
Speaker 9: day previous. There he tied his horse and left the
55:36
Speaker 9: fox to guard him while he went into the forest
55:39
Speaker 9: to hunt. By and bye. A bear came along and
55:42
Speaker 9: saw the horse and would have killed it and devarred him.
55:45
Speaker 9: But the fox said, I beg you not to harm
55:47
Speaker 9: this horse. He belongs to a hunter who is my master.
55:50
Speaker 9: Stay with me till the hunter returns, and he will
55:53
Speaker 9: allow you to become his servant, and will take us
55:55
Speaker 9: both to his home and feed us. If that is so,
55:59
Speaker 9: he is just master as I would like to have.
56:02
Speaker 9: The bear said joyfully, and he lay down beside the
56:05
Speaker 9: fox to await the man's return. Late in the day,
56:08
Speaker 9: the man came out of the woods carrying two deer
56:10
Speaker 9: that he had killed. He was much surprised to see
56:13
Speaker 9: a bear laying there with the fox, and he threw
56:15
Speaker 9: down the deer and hastily took aim at the bear
56:18
Speaker 9: with his gun. But the fox sprang forward and said,
56:21
Speaker 9: I beseech you, good sir, to spare this bear's life.
56:25
Speaker 9: Take him home with you, and he will keep me
56:27
Speaker 9: company in guarding your horse and he will aid you
56:29
Speaker 9: in every need and danger. Very well, the man said,
56:33
Speaker 9: it shall be as you wish. Then he adjusted the
56:37
Speaker 9: two deer across his horse and rode home in high
56:40
Speaker 9: good humor, accompanied by the fox and the bear. On
56:43
Speaker 9: the following day, he again went hunting in the mountains
56:46
Speaker 9: and left his horse in the same little valley the
56:49
Speaker 9: fox and the bear had come to, and they stayed
56:52
Speaker 9: with the horse as guards. While the man was roaming
56:55
Speaker 9: in the forest with his gun and his dog, a
56:57
Speaker 9: wolf saw the horse and would have sprung on him
57:00
Speaker 9: had the fox not interposed. Do not do this horse injury,
57:04
Speaker 9: the fox said, This bear and I are here to
57:06
Speaker 9: protect him, and he belongs to our master. I advise
57:09
Speaker 9: you to join us in serving the owner of the horse.
57:12
Speaker 9: He will take you to his house and feed and
57:14
Speaker 9: lodge you. Then I will be his servant, the wolf said.
57:20
Speaker 9: The man presently came back to the valley, and he
57:22
Speaker 9: would have shot the wolf had the fox not leapt
57:24
Speaker 9: forward and explained that the wolf intended to serve him.
57:28
Speaker 9: This time. He had three of the wild creatures of
57:30
Speaker 9: the forest following him. When he went home the next day,
57:33
Speaker 9: he rode forth and climbed once more to the remote
57:36
Speaker 9: valley in the mountains, and there he left his three
57:39
Speaker 9: servants guarding his horse. While he was hunting. This time,
57:43
Speaker 9: a great bird of the desert came soaring over the
57:45
Speaker 9: forest heights. The bird spied the hunter's steed and swooped
57:49
Speaker 9: down to carry him off, But the fox entreated the
57:51
Speaker 9: bird not to harm the horse, and urged him to
57:53
Speaker 9: join the other animals in serving the horse's master. The
57:57
Speaker 9: bird of the desert agreed to do this as the
57:59
Speaker 9: fox adjet, and they all went home with the man,
58:02
Speaker 9: and he fed them and took care of them. They
58:05
Speaker 9: lived very happily with him, and always accompanied him when
58:08
Speaker 9: he went hunting. One day, the fox said this to
58:11
Speaker 9: his companions. See here, my friends, we must provide a
58:15
Speaker 9: wife our worthy master.
58:17
Speaker 8: Good.
58:18
Speaker 9: The others exclaimed, but how shall we go about it?
58:21
Speaker 9: We do not know where to find any suitable made
58:23
Speaker 9: him for him. The emperor has a daughter, Reinard said,
58:27
Speaker 9: let us get her for our master, Bird of the desert,
58:30
Speaker 9: I think you'd better attempt to task while the rest
58:33
Speaker 9: of us remain here. Set off at once to the
58:35
Speaker 9: imperial castle. And after you arrive, watch until the princess
58:39
Speaker 9: goes out for a walk, then seize her and bring
58:42
Speaker 9: her back with you. So the Bird of the Desert
58:45
Speaker 9: spread his broad wings, and away he flew to the
58:48
Speaker 9: imperial castle. There he alighted in a tall tree and
58:52
Speaker 9: watched for the Emperor's daughter. Just at nightfall, she and
58:55
Speaker 9: her waiting women came out of the castle and started
58:58
Speaker 9: for a walk. But in a try, the Bird of
59:01
Speaker 9: the Desert flapped on to where she was, put her
59:03
Speaker 9: on his back, and flew with her to the home
59:06
Speaker 9: of his master. The princess was beautiful and amiable, and
59:10
Speaker 9: the hunter was youthful and clever, and they grew very
59:13
Speaker 9: fond of each other. Everything progressed as the fox and
59:16
Speaker 9: his friends could have desired, and presently the wedding was celebrated. Meanwhile,
59:20
Speaker 9: there was great consternation at the imperial castle. The Emperor
59:24
Speaker 9: was much distressed to have his daughter carried off, and
59:27
Speaker 9: he offered a rich reward to whoever should bring her
59:29
Speaker 9: home safely. But for some time no one would undertake
59:33
Speaker 9: the adventure. Then a gypsy woman presented herself before the Emperor,
59:38
Speaker 9: Your highness, she said, if your daughter still lives here,
59:42
Speaker 9: I think I can find her. Hurrah. The Emperor cried
59:46
Speaker 9: out in delight, and as soon as you bring her
59:48
Speaker 9: here to me, you shall have the rich reward. The
59:52
Speaker 9: gypsy woman went home, and by her enchantments, learned that
59:55
Speaker 9: the princess was distant ten days journey at the home
59:59
Speaker 9: of the hunter her. In order to go thither, she
1:00:02
Speaker 9: decided to use a magic rug that was in her possession.
1:00:05
Speaker 9: Without delay, she seated herself on the rug, gave it
1:00:08
Speaker 9: a crack with her riding whip, and up rose the
1:00:11
Speaker 9: rug into the air. It carried her straight to the
1:00:13
Speaker 9: place where the hunter was living with his wife, the
1:00:16
Speaker 9: Emperor's daughter. She allowed herself to descend to the ground
1:00:20
Speaker 9: a short distance from the hunter's dwelling, and left her
1:00:23
Speaker 9: rug and riding whip lying there. Then she hid among
1:00:26
Speaker 9: some bushes close to the house entrance and watched until
1:00:29
Speaker 9: the princess came out for her evening walk. The princess
1:00:33
Speaker 9: had gone only a little way when the gypsy woman
1:00:35
Speaker 9: joined her, as if by chance, and they went along together. Presently,
1:00:40
Speaker 9: the gypsy woman artfully induced her companion to turn aside
1:00:43
Speaker 9: on a bypath that took them to where the magic
1:00:46
Speaker 9: rug lay out spread on the grass. No sooner did
1:00:49
Speaker 9: the princess see it, than she exclaimed, Why here is
1:00:53
Speaker 9: a nice rug, Let us sit on it. Nothing could
1:00:57
Speaker 9: have pleased the gypsy woman better. They seated themselves on
1:01:00
Speaker 9: the rug, She gave it a blow with her riding whip,
1:01:03
Speaker 9: and away they went through the air to the Imperial Castle,
1:01:06
Speaker 9: as swift as the wind. The joy of the Emperor
1:01:10
Speaker 9: was boundless when his daughter was restored to him, and
1:01:13
Speaker 9: he gave the gipsy woman a generous reward. Afterward, he
1:01:17
Speaker 9: shut the princess up in her room and forbade her
1:01:20
Speaker 9: to leave. There she had to stay with two maids
1:01:23
Speaker 9: to watch and wait on her. The hunter and his
1:01:26
Speaker 9: servants were a good deal disconcerted by the disappearance of
1:01:29
Speaker 9: the princess, and the fox did not rest until he
1:01:32
Speaker 9: learned what had become of her. Then he summoned his
1:01:36
Speaker 9: fellow animals to a council and addressed them in these words,
1:01:40
Speaker 9: friends and comrades, we succeeded in marrying our master to
1:01:44
Speaker 9: the daughter of the Emperor. But she has been forcibly
1:01:46
Speaker 9: taken away, and he is left lonely. We must bring
1:01:49
Speaker 9: her back. She is not in the emperor castle, kept
1:01:52
Speaker 9: under strict watch, and is never allowed to leave her chamber.
1:01:56
Speaker 9: It's only by strategy that we can regain possession of her.
1:02:00
Speaker 9: What shall we do, the bird asked, Well, the fox said,
1:02:05
Speaker 9: I can think of nothing better than to have the
1:02:07
Speaker 9: Bird of the Desert carry me to the Emperor's garden.
1:02:10
Speaker 9: After we get there, I will transform myself into a
1:02:13
Speaker 9: pretty striped kitten and will play about under the Princess's window.
1:02:17
Speaker 9: When she sees me, she will send her maids to
1:02:20
Speaker 9: catch me. But I shall not allow myself to be
1:02:22
Speaker 9: caught until the princess herself comes out. Bird of the Desert,
1:02:26
Speaker 9: you are to be near at hand, and the moment
1:02:27
Speaker 9: she seizes me, you are to pick her up and
1:02:30
Speaker 9: carry us both back here. They all agreed that this
1:02:33
Speaker 9: was a good plan, and the Bird of the Desert
1:02:35
Speaker 9: immediately took the fox on his back and flew with
1:02:37
Speaker 9: him to the Imperial castle. There he sat him down.
1:02:41
Speaker 9: No sooner did Reinard Field sow a groand under his
1:02:43
Speaker 9: feet than he transformed himself into a pretty strouped kitten,
1:02:47
Speaker 9: and began to spring about in the most graceful and
1:02:50
Speaker 9: fantastic fashion beneath the window of the Princess's chamber. Thus
1:02:55
Speaker 9: he succeeded in attracting her attention, and she sent her
1:02:58
Speaker 9: maids down to bring the kitten to her. But Reynard,
1:03:01
Speaker 9: though in a cat form, still had a fox's cunning,
1:03:05
Speaker 9: and he did not allow himself to be caught. When
1:03:07
Speaker 9: the princess saw how the kitten eluded her maids, she
1:03:10
Speaker 9: herself came out and joined in the chase, and she
1:03:13
Speaker 9: caught the kitten with no trouble at all. But that instant,
1:03:17
Speaker 9: the bird of the Desert flew forth from his place
1:03:19
Speaker 9: of concealment, seized her, with the kitten still in her grasp,
1:03:23
Speaker 9: and bore them away to the home of the hunter.
1:03:26
Speaker 9: As soon as the Emperor was informed of what happened,
1:03:28
Speaker 9: he ordered his army to prepare for war and to
1:03:31
Speaker 9: march as promptly as possible against the Hunter and his beasts.
1:03:35
Speaker 9: About the time that the army set forth on its expedition,
1:03:39
Speaker 9: Reynard learned of the Emperor's plans and summoned his comrades
1:03:42
Speaker 9: to consider what has to be done. We are in
1:03:46
Speaker 9: great peril, he said, the Emperor's marching with this whole
1:03:50
Speaker 9: army to exterminate us. Our only way to defeed him
1:03:53
Speaker 9: is to raise a great force of our friends and
1:03:55
Speaker 9: make a brave stand against him. Mister Bhaer, how many
1:03:59
Speaker 9: bears can you must? More than three hundred, the bear replied,
1:04:04
Speaker 9: What can you do, mister wolf? The fox asked next,
1:04:07
Speaker 9: I can bring five hundred wolves. The wolf answered, and you.
1:04:11
Speaker 9: But at the desert, what can you furnish? The fox inquired,
1:04:15
Speaker 9: I promise to recruit at least two hundred birds, like myself.
1:04:19
Speaker 9: Was the response. Splendid. The fox cried, go all of
1:04:23
Speaker 9: you and assemble your forces when they are ready. I
1:04:25
Speaker 9: will tell you what to do next. So the bear
1:04:28
Speaker 9: and the wolf betook themselves to the forest, and the
1:04:31
Speaker 9: great bird flew off to the desert. Soon heaven and
1:04:34
Speaker 9: earth resounded with the din of approaching multitudes. Here came
1:04:38
Speaker 9: the army of the bears. There came the wolves, and
1:04:41
Speaker 9: the sky was darkened with a thundercloud by the host
1:04:44
Speaker 9: of birds of the desert. When the creatures were all
1:04:47
Speaker 9: drawn up in martial array, the fox said, tonight, after
1:04:51
Speaker 9: the emperor has encamped, you bears must go and stampede
1:04:54
Speaker 9: all of his horses. But he will procure fresh horses,
1:04:58
Speaker 9: and the next night you wolves us creep into the
1:05:00
Speaker 9: camp and gnaw all the saddles, so they will be useless. However,
1:05:04
Speaker 9: the Emperor will get another supply of saddles, and on
1:05:07
Speaker 9: the third day will be ready to begin his march.
1:05:11
Speaker 9: As soon as he starts, You birds of the desert
1:05:14
Speaker 9: must be prepared to drop great pieces of rock down
1:05:17
Speaker 9: on the army. All agreed to do as the fox
1:05:20
Speaker 9: had ordered, and the several detachments of the beasts set forth.
1:05:24
Speaker 9: The first night, when the imperial hosts had encamped, the
1:05:27
Speaker 9: bears drove off all the horses. Early the next morning,
1:05:31
Speaker 9: the soldiers went to the emperor and said, wild beasts
1:05:34
Speaker 9: prowled into the camp last night and frightened the horses
1:05:37
Speaker 9: so that they have all run away. Then get me
1:05:39
Speaker 9: more horses, the emperor commanded, and be ready to march
1:05:44
Speaker 9: on the morrow. The horses were procured, but on the
1:05:47
Speaker 9: second night the wolves came and gnawed at the saddles.
1:05:51
Speaker 9: In the morning, the soldiers awoke and saw the havoc
1:05:53
Speaker 9: and went to the Emperor, Your majesty, they said, bending
1:05:57
Speaker 9: low some wild creatures again to the camp last night,
1:06:01
Speaker 9: and they've ruined all the saddles by gnawing them to tatus.
1:06:04
Speaker 9: Then buy more saddles and be ready to march tomorrow.
1:06:08
Speaker 9: At dawn, the Emperor ordered more saddles were hurriedly bought,
1:06:12
Speaker 9: and the next morning the troops mounted their horses to
1:06:14
Speaker 9: ride forward on their expedition. But they had scarcely started
1:06:18
Speaker 9: when the birds of the desert began to let fall
1:06:20
Speaker 9: great numbers of heavy stones into the midst of the troops.
1:06:24
Speaker 9: The men became frightened and confused. Their horses pranced about
1:06:28
Speaker 9: in terror, and the Emperor shouted, my brave soldiers, it
1:06:31
Speaker 9: is impossible for you to fight when you are assailed
1:06:33
Speaker 9: in such a fashion. Let the hunter and the beasts
1:06:36
Speaker 9: keep my daughter. I command you to retreat before you
1:06:39
Speaker 9: are destroyed by the rocks that descend from the sky.
1:06:42
Speaker 9: So they all went as fast as they could go,
1:06:45
Speaker 9: and after that the hunter and his wife lived in
1:06:48
Speaker 9: peace and joy to the end of their days. End
1:06:53
Speaker 9: of chapter twelve. Recording by Matthew Thompson from www dot
1:06:59
Speaker 9: scribblings dot log.
1:07:05
Speaker 10: Chapter thirteen of A Book of Fairytale Foxes. This is
1:07:09
Speaker 10: a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
1:07:15
Speaker 10: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot
1:07:20
Speaker 10: org recording by Uldiazabaska. A book of fairytale boxes by
1:07:27
Speaker 10: Clifton Johnson. The Hungry Fox and his Breakfast. Once there
1:07:32
Speaker 10: was a fox who lived all alone in the little
1:07:36
Speaker 10: house in the forest. He woke up one morning and
1:07:40
Speaker 10: he went to the cupboard to get something in and
1:07:43
Speaker 10: found nothing there. Well, he said, if I am to
1:07:48
Speaker 10: have any breakfast, I shall have to go and look
1:07:51
Speaker 10: around in the woods for it. So out he went
1:07:54
Speaker 10: and rambled along the forest by way until he met
1:07:58
Speaker 10: a hand. She was a raid of him and got
1:08:01
Speaker 10: over to the other side of the road. You needn't
1:08:05
Speaker 10: be scared, the fox said. I used to eat hands,
1:08:09
Speaker 10: but I have given up those old ways of mine.
1:08:13
Speaker 10: What are you doing, hen asked, Oh, I'm just going
1:08:17
Speaker 10: for a walk. The fox replied, you can go with
1:08:21
Speaker 10: me if you like. I will let you ride on
1:08:23
Speaker 10: my back. Thank you. The hand said, I think I
1:08:27
Speaker 10: would like to go if I can ride on your back.
1:08:31
Speaker 10: Get on, then, the fox said, and make yourself comfortable.
1:08:36
Speaker 10: So the hen got on his back and the fox
1:08:38
Speaker 10: walked on. Presently they met the dove, and the dove
1:08:42
Speaker 10: started to fly away. You need a fly away because
1:08:46
Speaker 10: you're afraid of me. The fox called out, I used
1:08:50
Speaker 10: to eat doves, but I don't anymore. But are you going?
1:08:55
Speaker 10: The dove asked, I'm going for a walk. The fox answered,
1:08:59
Speaker 10: do you see this hand that I have on my back?
1:09:02
Speaker 10: She's going with me. I am giving her a ride,
1:09:06
Speaker 10: and I will give you a ride to That will
1:09:09
Speaker 10: be very nice, the dad said, and I will go
1:09:12
Speaker 10: with you. She flew to the fox's back and settled
1:09:16
Speaker 10: down beside the hand. Then the fox resumed his walk,
1:09:20
Speaker 10: and after a time he met a mouse. As soon
1:09:23
Speaker 10: as the mouse saw the fox, he ran into the
1:09:26
Speaker 10: toll roadside grass and head little mouse. The fox said,
1:09:32
Speaker 10: you needn't be frightened. I used to eat little mice,
1:09:36
Speaker 10: but I don't anymore. Where are you going, the mouse asked,
1:09:41
Speaker 10: I'm going for a walk. The fox replied, the hand
1:09:45
Speaker 10: and the death that you see on my back are
1:09:48
Speaker 10: going with me. There's room for one more if you
1:09:51
Speaker 10: care to ride. I don't often have a chance to ride.
1:09:55
Speaker 10: The mouse responded, and I think I will go. The
1:10:00
Speaker 10: fox helped the mouse on to his back and walked
1:10:03
Speaker 10: on and on by a roundabout way until he reached
1:10:06
Speaker 10: his home. But this is where I live, he said
1:10:10
Speaker 10: to the passenger as he was carrying. Come in and
1:10:13
Speaker 10: see what a nice little house it is. He was
1:10:16
Speaker 10: so polite, and had been so kind in giving them
1:10:20
Speaker 10: a arrive that they could not well refuse. But as
1:10:24
Speaker 10: soon as he had them inside, he slumped the dog
1:10:27
Speaker 10: shut and locked it. Then he turned to the hen
1:10:31
Speaker 10: and said, now I will help my breakfast, and I
1:10:34
Speaker 10: will begin with you. How mercy, the hen cried, Why
1:10:39
Speaker 10: should you treat me so you scratch in the garden,
1:10:43
Speaker 10: the fox said, and he pounced on her and ate her.
1:10:47
Speaker 10: Now that it's your turn, he said, spare me the
1:10:52
Speaker 10: dout begg Surely I have not done anything. No, the
1:10:57
Speaker 10: fox fox nodded, you have not, and that is just
1:11:02
Speaker 10: the trouble. You are a lazy thing who sits idle
1:11:07
Speaker 10: on the roof all day and never walks. He maid
1:11:11
Speaker 10: suddenly seized the dove in his sharp teeth and ate him.
1:11:16
Speaker 10: Then he looked about once more and said, come here, mouse,
1:11:21
Speaker 10: But the mouse was not there. He had found a
1:11:24
Speaker 10: crack at the bottom of the door and had crawled
1:11:27
Speaker 10: through it. As soon as he was outside, he hastened
1:11:31
Speaker 10: to the road and ran along until he met a
1:11:34
Speaker 10: man with a gun. Mister man he said, A wicked
1:11:38
Speaker 10: fox lives in a little house back there, and he
1:11:41
Speaker 10: has just killed and eaten a hen and a dove.
1:11:45
Speaker 10: He invited them and me into his house, but I
1:11:48
Speaker 10: crawled out of a crack under the door and run away.
1:11:51
Speaker 10: I will show you where he lives. Go ahead, then,
1:11:54
Speaker 10: the man said, and I will follow you. Pretty soon
1:11:58
Speaker 10: they approached the fox's house. Rain had saw them coming
1:12:02
Speaker 10: and jumped out of a wanda and started to act.
1:12:06
Speaker 10: But he was not quite quick enough, and the man
1:12:09
Speaker 10: shot him. Ah does a mouse laugh as he climbed
1:12:13
Speaker 10: up on the stump and waved his tail. End of
1:12:16
Speaker 10: chapter thirteen. Recording Fire Dyasaska.
1:12:21
Speaker 4: Chapter fourteen of A Book of Fairytale Foxes. This is
1:12:26
Speaker 4: a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
1:12:32
Speaker 4: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
1:12:38
Speaker 4: Recording by Catlady. A Book of Fairytale Foxes by Clifton Johnson.
1:12:46
Speaker 4: Chapter fourteen Reynard and the Little Birds. Once upon a
1:12:52
Speaker 4: time a little bird built a nest and a hedge
1:12:56
Speaker 4: laid some eggs in the nest and hatched a brood
1:13:00
Speaker 4: of young birds. She was very happy taking care of
1:13:03
Speaker 4: her family, until one day a fox came prowling around
1:13:09
Speaker 4: and discovered the fledglings. Aha, here's a fine breakfast for me,
1:13:16
Speaker 4: he said to himself, And then he addressed the mother bird,
1:13:20
Speaker 4: who was singing gayly near by. Good an mornin, little bird,
1:13:27
Speaker 4: he said, how beautiful you are, and how sweetly you sing.
1:13:33
Speaker 4: But though I admire you and your song, I like
1:13:38
Speaker 4: better still your little ones in the nest here in
1:13:42
Speaker 4: the hedge. I intend to eat them. His words made
1:13:47
Speaker 4: the little bird feel very anxious, but she concealed her
1:13:51
Speaker 4: distress and said, with a smile, what eat these tiny birds?
1:13:58
Speaker 4: You're not as clever as I thought. If you would
1:14:01
Speaker 4: do that, they would not make you a mouthful. Wait
1:14:05
Speaker 4: until they are grown, and then return and eat both
1:14:10
Speaker 4: them and me.
1:14:12
Speaker 3: Good.
1:14:13
Speaker 4: The fox exclaimed, that is just what I will do.
1:14:19
Speaker 4: So the bird appointed a day when he was to
1:14:23
Speaker 4: have his feast, and the fox walked off whistling in
1:14:28
Speaker 4: high glee. Not long afterwards, the bird went to a
1:14:33
Speaker 4: dog and said, I know how you can get a
1:14:38
Speaker 4: delicious meal. How the dog asked, The bird told him
1:14:43
Speaker 4: of her arrangement with the fox, and said, in conclusion,
1:14:48
Speaker 4: you have only to be on hand when that appointed
1:14:51
Speaker 4: day comes and you can catch the fox very easily.
1:14:56
Speaker 4: I will be there, the dog assured her. This is
1:14:59
Speaker 4: what I I call a stroke of luck. I will
1:15:02
Speaker 4: tell you what you must do, little bird. I will
1:15:07
Speaker 4: hide in the bushes near your nest, and when the
1:15:10
Speaker 4: fox arrive, you must beg him to delay eating you
1:15:14
Speaker 4: and your children until you have sung one last song.
1:15:20
Speaker 4: He surely would not refuse such a request. Then, perch
1:15:24
Speaker 4: on a twig and sing loud and clear. That will
1:15:29
Speaker 4: be the signal for me. I will jump from my
1:15:33
Speaker 4: ambush and snap. It will be over for mister fox.
1:15:38
Speaker 4: I shall do everything exactly as you have planned. The
1:15:42
Speaker 4: little bird agreed. When the appointed day came, and the
1:15:47
Speaker 4: fox drew near the hedge where the little bird had
1:15:50
Speaker 4: her nest, saying to himself, these fat little birds, so
1:15:56
Speaker 4: tender and sweet, will make a fine dinner for me
1:16:01
Speaker 4: to eat. Then he saw the mother bird and her
1:16:06
Speaker 4: little ones sittin on the branch of the hedge. Well,
1:16:10
Speaker 4: little bird, how goes it? He said, I have been
1:16:15
Speaker 4: expecting you, she responded, and here we are waiting. But
1:16:23
Speaker 4: before you eat us, I have one last request to make.
1:16:27
Speaker 4: Let me sing my favorite song, jest once more, yes, yes,
1:16:33
Speaker 4: sing away for all I care. The fox said, only
1:16:36
Speaker 4: be quick about it. So the little bird perched on
1:16:41
Speaker 4: one of her topmost twigs of the hedge and began
1:16:45
Speaker 4: her song right lustily. The dog heard her where he
1:16:50
Speaker 4: was lurking in the neighborhood thicket, and in a twinklin'
1:16:54
Speaker 4: he rushed forth, seized the fox, an killed and ate him.
1:17:00
Speaker 4: So the little bird and her children were rid of
1:17:02
Speaker 4: their enemy, and they lived in the hedge, unmolested and happy,
1:17:07
Speaker 4: until the chill of the approach and winter made them
1:17:11
Speaker 4: fly away to warm south Land. End of chapter fourteen.
1:17:26
Speaker 1: Chapter fifteen of A Book of Fairytale Foxes. This is
1:17:31
Speaker 1: a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
1:17:35
Speaker 1: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
1:17:41
Speaker 1: Recording by cal Taylor. A Book of Fairytale Foxes by
1:17:45
Speaker 1: Clifton Johnson. The Fox and his five hungry comrades. Once
1:17:50
Speaker 1: upon a time there was a man and his wife
1:17:53
Speaker 1: who dwelt in a little house far away from any neighbors.
1:17:56
Speaker 1: But the loneliness of their situation did not trouble them,
1:18:00
Speaker 1: and they would have been perfectly happy if it had
1:18:02
Speaker 1: not been for a martin who came nearly every night
1:18:05
Speaker 1: to the poultry yard and carried off one of their fowls.
1:18:09
Speaker 1: The man contrived all sorts of traps to catch a thief,
1:18:12
Speaker 1: but the martin was clever enough to avoid them. At last,
1:18:16
Speaker 1: the man stumbled over one of his own traps in
1:18:19
Speaker 1: the dusk of a winter evening, and he fell and
1:18:22
Speaker 1: struck his head against a stone and was killed. Not
1:18:25
Speaker 1: long afterward, the martin came along on the lookout for
1:18:29
Speaker 1: a supper. He saw the man lying there lifeless, and
1:18:32
Speaker 1: he said, here is a prize. I must see if
1:18:35
Speaker 1: I can get this man away into the forest before
1:18:38
Speaker 1: he is found. A light sledge stood near by, and
1:18:41
Speaker 1: with great effort the martin got the man on to
1:18:44
Speaker 1: it and began to drag the sledge towards the forest.
1:18:47
Speaker 1: He had not gone far when he met a squirrel
1:18:49
Speaker 1: good evening. The squirrel remarked, with a bow, what is
1:18:53
Speaker 1: it that you are dragging behind you? The martin laughed
1:18:57
Speaker 1: and said, did you ever hear of anything strange? I
1:19:00
Speaker 1: am drawing a sledge with a dead man on it.
1:19:03
Speaker 1: This man set traps about his hen house, thinking to
1:19:06
Speaker 1: catch me, But I was too sly for him, and
1:19:09
Speaker 1: to night he stumbled over one of his own traps
1:19:12
Speaker 1: and was killed. He is very heavy. I wish you
1:19:14
Speaker 1: would help me draw the sledge. The squirrel was quite
1:19:18
Speaker 1: willing to help, and the sledge moved slowly along. By
1:19:21
Speaker 1: and by a hare came running across to a near
1:19:24
Speaker 1: field and stopped to find out what the martin and
1:19:27
Speaker 1: the squirrel were dragging on the sledge. What have you
1:19:30
Speaker 1: got there, he asked, and the martin told his story
1:19:33
Speaker 1: and begged the hare to help pull. So the hare
1:19:36
Speaker 1: took hold and pulled his hardest. After a while a
1:19:39
Speaker 1: fox joined them, and then a wolf, and lastly a bear.
1:19:43
Speaker 1: The bear was so large and strong that he was
1:19:46
Speaker 1: of more use in pulling the sledge than all the
1:19:49
Speaker 1: other five beasts put together. They went on until they
1:19:52
Speaker 1: were deep into the forest. Then they ate the man,
1:19:55
Speaker 1: and for a time their appetite was satisfied. But at
1:19:59
Speaker 1: length they began get hungry again. And the wolf, who
1:20:02
Speaker 1: is all the hungriest of all, said, what shall we eat?
1:20:05
Speaker 10: Now?
1:20:06
Speaker 1: My friends? I suppose we shall have to eat the
1:20:09
Speaker 1: smallest of us. The bear replied, yes, that is what
1:20:13
Speaker 1: we will do, The wolf said, I quite agree with
1:20:16
Speaker 1: the bear and the wolf. The fox affirmed, so do I.
1:20:19
Speaker 1: The hare declared, those are my sentiments too. The marten said,
1:20:23
Speaker 1: and he turned around to seize the squirrel, who was
1:20:25
Speaker 1: smaller than any of the others. But the squirrel ran
1:20:28
Speaker 1: up a tree quick as a flash. Then that martin
1:20:31
Speaker 1: remembered that he was next in size, and he hastily
1:20:34
Speaker 1: slipped into a hole in the rocks. What shall we
1:20:37
Speaker 1: do now, the wolf asked, when he recovered from his surprise.
1:20:41
Speaker 1: We must eat the smallest of us, the bear said,
1:20:44
Speaker 1: and stretched out a paw towards the hare, but the
1:20:47
Speaker 1: hare darted away into the woods before the bear's paw
1:20:50
Speaker 1: touched him. Now that the squirrel, the marten, and the
1:20:53
Speaker 1: hare were gone, the fox was the smallest of the
1:20:56
Speaker 1: three who were left. The wolf and the bear explained
1:20:59
Speaker 1: that they were very sorry, but they would have to
1:21:01
Speaker 1: eat him instead of making an attempt to escape. The
1:21:05
Speaker 1: fox smiled at the other two and remarked, things taste
1:21:08
Speaker 1: stale on the low lands. Why should you eat here?
1:21:11
Speaker 1: One's appetite is much better on a mountain. You are right,
1:21:15
Speaker 1: the bear agreed, and as there is a mountain close
1:21:19
Speaker 1: at hand. We will climb it before we begin feasting.
1:21:22
Speaker 1: They started at once and chose a path that led
1:21:25
Speaker 1: up to the mountain side. The fox trotted cheerfully along
1:21:29
Speaker 1: with his two big companions, but presently managed to whisper
1:21:32
Speaker 1: to the wolf, tell me what you will have for
1:21:34
Speaker 1: your next meal after I am eating. This question disturbed
1:21:38
Speaker 1: the wolf very much. What would they have for their
1:21:41
Speaker 1: next meal and who would be there to eat it?
1:21:44
Speaker 1: They had made a rule always to dine off the
1:21:47
Speaker 1: smallest of the party, and certainly he was smaller than
1:21:50
Speaker 1: the bear. Those thoughts flashed to his head, and he
1:21:53
Speaker 1: hastened to say, dear brothers, would it not be better
1:21:57
Speaker 1: for us to live together as comrades than to devour
1:22:01
Speaker 1: each other. We could hunt and bring in the game
1:22:04
Speaker 1: and all share. It is not my plan a good one.
1:22:09
Speaker 1: Nothing could be better, the fox responded. The bear would
1:22:12
Speaker 1: very much have preferred a good dinner once to any friendship,
1:22:16
Speaker 1: but the others were two to one, and he had
1:22:19
Speaker 1: to be content for some time. All went smoothly. The
1:22:22
Speaker 1: three companions secured plenty of game and had all they
1:22:26
Speaker 1: wanted to eat. They got through the winter very well,
1:22:29
Speaker 1: and then they dissolved their partnership and returned to their homes.
1:22:32
Speaker 1: A few weeks later, the fox was wandering one morning
1:22:35
Speaker 1: in the forest when he noticed a magpie's nest in
1:22:38
Speaker 1: the top branches of a tall, slender tree. He was
1:22:41
Speaker 1: particularly fond of young magpies, and he considered how he
1:22:45
Speaker 1: could get one for his dinner. At last, he thought
1:22:48
Speaker 1: of a plan that seemed promising, and he sat down
1:22:51
Speaker 1: near the tree and began to stare hard at it.
1:22:54
Speaker 1: The magpie was watching him from a bow, and she asked,
1:22:58
Speaker 1: what are you looking at, mister fox. I'm looking at
1:23:01
Speaker 1: this tree, he replied. I intend to make some new snowshoes,
1:23:06
Speaker 1: and this is just the right tree to cut them
1:23:08
Speaker 1: out of. The magpie squeeched with alarm when she heard
1:23:11
Speaker 1: him say that, Oh, don't use this tree. I implore you,
1:23:15
Speaker 1: dear brother, she exclaimed, I have built my nest in it,
1:23:19
Speaker 1: and my young ones are not yet old enough to fly.
1:23:22
Speaker 1: It would not be easy to find another tree that
1:23:24
Speaker 1: would make such good snowshoes. The fox responded, and he
1:23:28
Speaker 1: cocked his head on the side and gazed at the
1:23:30
Speaker 1: tree thoughtfully. But I did not like to be inconsiderate
1:23:34
Speaker 1: he continued, So if you will give me one of
1:23:36
Speaker 1: your young ones, I will seek my snowshoes elsewhere. The
1:23:40
Speaker 1: magpie did not know what else to do, and she agreed.
1:23:43
Speaker 1: Then she flew to her nest with a heavy heart
1:23:46
Speaker 1: and pushed out one of her young ones. The fox
1:23:49
Speaker 1: seized it in his mouth and ran off in triumph.
1:23:52
Speaker 1: While the magpie, oh deeply grieved for the loss of
1:23:56
Speaker 1: her little one, found some comfort in the thought that
1:23:59
Speaker 1: only a bird of extraordinary wisdom would have dreamed of
1:24:02
Speaker 1: saving the rest by the sacrifice of one. However, not
1:24:06
Speaker 1: many days had passed when the fox again came and
1:24:09
Speaker 1: sat under that same tree and stared at it steadfastly.
1:24:12
Speaker 1: A dreadful pang shot through the heart of the magpie
1:24:15
Speaker 1: as she peeped at him from a hole in the nest.
1:24:18
Speaker 1: What are you looking at, she asked in a trembling voice,
1:24:22
Speaker 1: at this tree. He answered, I was just thinking what
1:24:25
Speaker 1: good snowshoes it would make. Oh, my dear brother, do
1:24:28
Speaker 1: go away, the magpie cried, and she hopped away in anguish.
1:24:35
Speaker 1: You know, it was only the other day that you
1:24:37
Speaker 1: promised to get your snow shoes somewhere else, So I
1:24:41
Speaker 1: did the fox acknowledged, but though I have searched far
1:24:44
Speaker 1: and wide, I cannot find a single tree that as
1:24:47
Speaker 1: good as this. I am sorry to disturb you, but
1:24:50
Speaker 1: really it is not my fault. The only thing I
1:24:54
Speaker 1: can do for you is to promise to continue my
1:24:56
Speaker 1: search for a suitable tree if you will give me
1:24:59
Speaker 1: another your young ones. The poor magpie felt obliged to
1:25:03
Speaker 1: push a second of her young ones out of the nest,
1:25:06
Speaker 1: and she had not the consolation now of thinking that
1:25:10
Speaker 1: she was cleverer than other people. After the fox left,
1:25:14
Speaker 1: she sat on the edge of her nest, her head
1:25:16
Speaker 1: drooping in her feathers, all ruffled, looking very miserable. Indeed,
1:25:20
Speaker 1: she was so different from the gay, jaunty magpie, whom
1:25:24
Speaker 1: every creature in the forest knew that A crow flying
1:25:27
Speaker 1: past stopped to find out what the matter was. He
1:25:30
Speaker 1: looked in the nest and said, there should be two
1:25:32
Speaker 1: more young ones in there. Where are they? I had
1:25:35
Speaker 1: to give them to a fox. The magpie replied, he
1:25:38
Speaker 1: has been here twice in the last week, and he
1:25:41
Speaker 1: was going to cut down my tree and make snowshoes
1:25:43
Speaker 1: out of it. Each time. I had to give him
1:25:46
Speaker 1: one of my young ones to save the tree. Oh,
1:25:49
Speaker 1: you foolish, spurred the crow, cried. The fox could not
1:25:53
Speaker 1: have cut down a tree. He has neither axe nor knife.
1:25:56
Speaker 1: He was only trying to frighten you, dear me, to
1:25:59
Speaker 1: think that you have sacrificed your young ones for nothing.
1:26:03
Speaker 1: Where are your brains? Then the crow flew away, leaving
1:26:06
Speaker 1: the magpie overcome with shame and sorrow. The next morning,
1:26:10
Speaker 1: the fox returned to play his old trick on a magpie,
1:26:14
Speaker 1: but this time, instead of a cowering, timid bird, he
1:26:17
Speaker 1: found one with head erect. In a determined voice, You
1:26:21
Speaker 1: sly fox, she said, until you show me the axe
1:26:25
Speaker 1: or the knife you propose to use in cutting down
1:26:28
Speaker 1: this tree, you waste words in telling me that you
1:26:31
Speaker 1: intend to make no shoes of it. Who has been
1:26:34
Speaker 1: giving you good advice? The fox asked, a crow? Who
1:26:37
Speaker 1: visited me yesterday? The magpie replied, a crow, was it?
1:26:42
Speaker 1: The fox said, well, he had better not meet me,
1:26:46
Speaker 1: or it may be the worse for him. The fox
1:26:48
Speaker 1: had no desire to continue the conversation with the magpie,
1:26:52
Speaker 1: and he went away. By and by. He came forth
1:26:55
Speaker 1: from the forest into the open country and stretched himself
1:26:58
Speaker 1: out in a road just as if he were dead.
1:27:01
Speaker 1: Very soon, he noticed, as he watched from the corner
1:27:03
Speaker 1: of his eye that a crow was flying toward him.
1:27:07
Speaker 1: There he lay, stiff and still, with his tongue hanging
1:27:09
Speaker 1: out of his mouth. The crow, who wanted something to
1:27:12
Speaker 1: eat very badly, alighted near by and hopped along until
1:27:16
Speaker 1: he was close to the motionless renard. And I wonder
1:27:19
Speaker 1: if this is a fox the magpie was telling me about.
1:27:22
Speaker 1: He said, well, here the vandal is dead. The fellow
1:27:26
Speaker 1: has met the fate he deserved, quicker than I would
1:27:28
Speaker 1: have expected. After looking at him, first with one eye
1:27:32
Speaker 1: and then with the other, the crow stooped forward to
1:27:35
Speaker 1: peck at his tongue. Instantly, the fox gave a snap
1:27:39
Speaker 1: and caught the intruder by the wing. The crow knew
1:27:42
Speaker 1: it was of no use to struggle, and he said,
1:27:44
Speaker 1: brother fox, if you are really going to eat me,
1:27:47
Speaker 1: I beg you at least to do so in good
1:27:49
Speaker 1: style close by. As a preposis, why not first throw
1:27:53
Speaker 1: me over so my feathers will be scattered about it
1:27:56
Speaker 1: as I tumbled down the rocks. Then all who see
1:28:00
Speaker 1: them will know that you're cutting is greater than mine.
1:28:03
Speaker 1: This idea pleased the fox, who had a special grudge
1:28:06
Speaker 1: against the crow for depriving him of the young magpies.
1:28:10
Speaker 1: So he carried him to the edge of the prefaces
1:28:12
Speaker 1: and threw him over, intending to go around by a
1:28:15
Speaker 1: path in noon pick him up at the bottom.
1:28:18
Speaker 10: But no.
1:28:18
Speaker 1: Sooner was a wily bird release from the fox's jaws
1:28:22
Speaker 1: than he checked his fall by waving his wings. Then
1:28:25
Speaker 1: he hovered just out of the reach of his enemy
1:28:27
Speaker 1: and said, jeeringly, ho, fox, you know well enough to
1:28:32
Speaker 1: know how to catch, but you cannot keep. The fox
1:28:35
Speaker 1: turned away and slunk into the forest with his tail
1:28:38
Speaker 1: between his legs. He did not think now there was
1:28:41
Speaker 1: much prospect of his catching any game that day, for
1:28:44
Speaker 1: the crow was sure to fly back ahead of him
1:28:47
Speaker 1: and put all the animals on their guard. Presently, he
1:28:50
Speaker 1: met his old friend, the bear. Bruin's wife had died
1:28:53
Speaker 1: the night before, and he had started out that morning
1:28:56
Speaker 1: to get someone to mourn o burn. He had not
1:28:59
Speaker 1: gone very far from his comfortable cave when he came
1:29:02
Speaker 1: across the wolf. Where are you going, the wolf inquired,
1:29:06
Speaker 1: My wife has just eyed and I am going to
1:29:08
Speaker 1: find a mourner. The bear replied, will let me mourn
1:29:12
Speaker 1: for you, the wolf said, Do you understand how to howl?
1:29:16
Speaker 1: The bear asked, certainly, certainly. The wolf assured him. Well,
1:29:20
Speaker 1: I wish you would favor me with a specimen of
1:29:22
Speaker 1: your howling, to make sure that you know your business.
1:29:25
Speaker 1: The bear said, so, the wolf broke forth in a
1:29:28
Speaker 1: song of lament. Ooo ooo oo o um, he shouted,
1:29:34
Speaker 1: and he made such a noise that the bear put
1:29:37
Speaker 1: his paws up to his ears and begged him to stop.
1:29:40
Speaker 1: You have no idea how to do it, the bear growled, angrily,
1:29:43
Speaker 1: be off with you. A little farther on, the hare
1:29:46
Speaker 1: was resting in a ditch. He saw the bear come
1:29:49
Speaker 1: out and spoke to him. Why do you look so sad,
1:29:52
Speaker 1: he inquired. My wife has dyed. The bear answered, and
1:29:56
Speaker 1: I am searching for a mourner who can lament over
1:29:58
Speaker 1: her properly. I will gladly do the lamenting for you,
1:30:02
Speaker 1: the hare said, before I accept your kind offer. The
1:30:05
Speaker 1: bear responded, I would like to have you give me
1:30:08
Speaker 1: a proof of your talents. Poo poo, poo, pompoo, the
1:30:12
Speaker 1: hair piped, but he had such a weak, small voice
1:30:15
Speaker 1: that the bear could hardly hear him. No, h that
1:30:19
Speaker 1: is not what I want, The bear said, I will
1:30:21
Speaker 1: bid you good morning. Later in the day he met
1:30:24
Speaker 1: the fox, and the fox also observed the bear's altered
1:30:27
Speaker 1: looks and stopped to speak with him. What is the
1:30:30
Speaker 1: matter with you, the fox asked, My wife has died
1:30:34
Speaker 1: and I am seeking for a mourner. The bear answered,
1:30:37
Speaker 1: I will do the morning, the fox said. Bruin looked
1:30:40
Speaker 1: at him thoughtfully. Can you howl? Well, he questioned, yes beautifully.
1:30:45
Speaker 1: The fox declared, just listen, and he lifted up his
1:30:48
Speaker 1: voice and cried.
1:30:50
Speaker 10: Woo oo loo.
1:30:52
Speaker 1: Missus Behner, the famous spar the baker of tooth some cakes.
1:30:57
Speaker 1: The prudent housekeeper has.
1:30:58
Speaker 10: Porn from her husband.
1:31:00
Speaker 1: Woo ooo oo, she has gone.
1:31:04
Speaker 10: She is gone.
1:31:06
Speaker 1: Now, at last I have found someone who understands the
1:31:09
Speaker 1: yard of lamentation, the bear exclaimed, with a grunt of satisfaction.
1:31:14
Speaker 1: Come with me to my cave. So he led the
1:31:16
Speaker 1: way to his cave and showed the fox the body
1:31:19
Speaker 1: of Missus Bear lying on a bed of moss. There,
1:31:22
Speaker 1: he left Renard to mourn while he went outside and
1:31:25
Speaker 1: started a fire. Then he might cook some soup for
1:31:28
Speaker 1: the mourner. Presently, the bear bethought himself that he did
1:31:32
Speaker 1: not hear any of the howling lamentation he was expecting,
1:31:36
Speaker 1: ladle in hand, he entered the cave, and there, to
1:31:39
Speaker 1: his horror, he found the fox eating the dead bear.
1:31:42
Speaker 1: Instead of wailing over her, the fox dashed out of
1:31:46
Speaker 1: the door, and the bear threw his ladle at him,
1:31:48
Speaker 1: but the fox escaped unhurt. That ended whatever friendship had
1:31:52
Speaker 1: existed between the bear and the fox, and they never
1:31:56
Speaker 1: had anything to do with each other afterward. End of
1:31:59
Speaker 1: the chapter fifteen. Chapter sixteen of the Book of Fairytale Foxes.
1:32:10
Speaker 1: This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
1:32:14
Speaker 1: a public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please
1:32:18
Speaker 1: visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by cal Taylor. A Book
1:32:23
Speaker 1: of Fairytale Foxes by Clifton Johnson. The Crafty Fox in
1:32:28
Speaker 1: the Industrious Goose. Once there was a fox and a
1:32:32
Speaker 1: goose who were close friends, and for a time they
1:32:35
Speaker 1: got along very well together, in spite of the fact
1:32:38
Speaker 1: that the fox was crafty and lazy and the goose
1:32:42
Speaker 1: honest and industrious. One day the goose said to the
1:32:45
Speaker 1: fox friend fox, I have a piece of land, and
1:32:49
Speaker 1: if you will help me. We will cultivate it and
1:32:51
Speaker 1: raise some wheat to eat next winter. I would be
1:32:55
Speaker 1: greatly pleased to join with you in his enterprise. The
1:32:57
Speaker 1: fox said, we will do the Yes, sir, we work together,
1:33:01
Speaker 1: share and share alike. The goose told him very well.
1:33:05
Speaker 1: The fox agreed the mit Shortly afterwards, and the goose said,
1:33:09
Speaker 1: it is time to plow our land. Yes, I think
1:33:13
Speaker 1: it is, the fox responded, but that is none of
1:33:16
Speaker 1: my business. You will have to do the plowing. So
1:33:19
Speaker 1: the goose stood the plowing, and then she went to
1:33:21
Speaker 1: the fox and said, it is time to sow the seed.
1:33:25
Speaker 1: You are quite right, the fox said, and the quicker
1:33:28
Speaker 1: the sewing is done, the better. But that is your business.
1:33:32
Speaker 1: I have nothing to do with it myself. So the
1:33:35
Speaker 1: goose stood the sewing. Some months later she said to
1:33:38
Speaker 1: the fox friend, the grass is choking the wheat. We
1:33:42
Speaker 1: must pull it out. Certainly it ought to be pulled out.
1:33:45
Speaker 1: The fox remarked, with a wise nod of his head,
1:33:48
Speaker 1: and you had better do the pulling as soon as possible.
1:33:51
Speaker 1: That is none of my business. So the goose pulled
1:33:55
Speaker 1: the grass out by and by. The wheat was ripe,
1:33:57
Speaker 1: and the goose said to the fox. Are we must
1:34:00
Speaker 1: be reaped? All right? To fox it? You attend to that.
1:34:04
Speaker 1: It is not my business. So the goose reaped the wheat.
1:34:08
Speaker 1: A few days afterwards, she sought the fox and said,
1:34:11
Speaker 1: it is time to put our wheat in the barn
1:34:14
Speaker 1: and do the threshing. Well, then the fox said, I
1:34:17
Speaker 1: advise you to hustle and get it in before we
1:34:20
Speaker 1: have rained. After it is in the barn, go right
1:34:23
Speaker 1: ahead at the threshing. Those things are none of my business.
1:34:27
Speaker 1: You must attend to them yourself. Let me know when
1:34:30
Speaker 1: the work is done, and I will go to the
1:34:31
Speaker 1: barn and see what sort of a crop we have raised.
1:34:34
Speaker 1: The goose got the wheat in and threshed it, but
1:34:37
Speaker 1: she had begun to feel distrustful of her friend, the fox.
1:34:41
Speaker 1: He had been sauntering about the forest all the months
1:34:43
Speaker 1: that she had been so busy with the wheat, and
1:34:46
Speaker 1: had not helped her in the least. I think I
1:34:49
Speaker 1: will consult the greyhound, she said to herself. He is
1:34:52
Speaker 1: a shrewd fellow whose advice would be worth having. She
1:34:56
Speaker 1: soon found a greyhound, and when he heard her story,
1:35:00
Speaker 1: he said, the fox has been playing tricks on your
1:35:03
Speaker 1: good nature right along, and no doubt he will do
1:35:06
Speaker 1: again if he has a chance. Take me into the
1:35:09
Speaker 1: barn before you tell him that the wheat is threshed,
1:35:11
Speaker 1: and hide me in the sheaves, so that only one
1:35:14
Speaker 1: of my eyes will be uncovered. I want to see
1:35:17
Speaker 1: what happens when he comes, but I don't want him
1:35:20
Speaker 1: to know who I am there. The goose went to
1:35:23
Speaker 1: the barn with the greyhound, and after she had hid him,
1:35:26
Speaker 1: she brought out the fox. Renard was much delighted to
1:35:30
Speaker 1: see all the nice, clean straw, the great heap of
1:35:33
Speaker 1: splendid grain. He began to dance about and sing, hooray, hooray,
1:35:38
Speaker 1: both straw and weed aer mine. Hooray, hooray, both straw
1:35:43
Speaker 1: and weed are mine. While he was singing, he approached
1:35:46
Speaker 1: the place where the greyhound was hiding in the straw
1:35:49
Speaker 1: and saw his eye. Ah, there's a grape, he cried,
1:35:53
Speaker 1: But it is not ripe. The greyhound shouted, and he
1:35:57
Speaker 1: leaped out of his hiding place and killed the crab
1:36:00
Speaker 1: dig fox. So the goose had all the straw and wheat,
1:36:03
Speaker 1: and she fared very comfortably that winter. End of chapter sixteen.
1:36:14
Speaker 6: Chapter seventeen of a book of Fairytale Foxes. This is
1:36:19
Speaker 6: a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
1:36:24
Speaker 6: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
1:36:31
Speaker 6: Recording by Kate follis a book of fairytale foxes by
1:36:37
Speaker 6: Clifton Johnson. The Fox and the Wicked Wolf. Once a
1:36:45
Speaker 6: wolf and a fox lived together in the same den.
1:36:49
Speaker 6: But the wolf treated the fox very roughly, and one
1:36:54
Speaker 6: day the fox said to him, be not so unkind
1:36:57
Speaker 6: to me. I pray you, if you persist in ill
1:37:01
Speaker 6: using me, punishment will surely overtake you sooner or later.
1:37:07
Speaker 6: This appeal made the wolf angry, and he gave the
1:37:11
Speaker 6: fox a blow that knocked him down senseless. But after
1:37:16
Speaker 6: a while the fox recovered and said to the wolf,
1:37:21
Speaker 6: I crave your pardon for my fault. Finding in future
1:37:25
Speaker 6: I hope to avoid displeasing you. I will forgive you
1:37:30
Speaker 6: only on condition that you promise to be my slave.
1:37:34
Speaker 6: The wolf responded, you know very well now how severe
1:37:40
Speaker 6: I can be to those who offend me. The fox
1:37:45
Speaker 6: prostrated himself before the wolf and said, I will be
1:37:49
Speaker 6: your slave, and may you live long and never fail
1:37:53
Speaker 6: to subdue those who oppose you. After that, the fox
1:37:57
Speaker 6: bore the wolf's insolence and abuse in silence, But he
1:38:01
Speaker 6: was far from being contented. One day, as he was
1:38:06
Speaker 6: rambling about, he noticed a break in the wall of
1:38:09
Speaker 6: a vineyard. Here is a chance to slip through and
1:38:13
Speaker 6: get some grapes, he said, But caution is the half
1:38:17
Speaker 6: of cleverness. Perhaps this break in the wall has been
1:38:21
Speaker 6: made to deceive and ensnare me. He went nearer and
1:38:26
Speaker 6: examined the gap warily, and lo just the other side
1:38:32
Speaker 6: of it was a deep pit which the vineyard people
1:38:36
Speaker 6: had dug. The pit had a slight covering to conceal it,
1:38:41
Speaker 6: and was well arranged to catch in it any wild
1:38:45
Speaker 6: beast that came through the gap to despoil the vines.
1:38:50
Speaker 6: The fox drew back from it, exclaiming, Heaven be praised
1:38:55
Speaker 6: that I looked about instead of leaping through the gap
1:38:58
Speaker 6: in my haste to get some grapes. I hope that
1:39:02
Speaker 6: my cruel master, the wolf, will fall into this pit
1:39:06
Speaker 6: and perish, so I shall be freed from my servitude.
1:39:11
Speaker 6: He laughed and shook his head, and hurried off to
1:39:15
Speaker 6: find the wolf. As soon as he caught sight of him,
1:39:18
Speaker 6: he said, you have often observed that vineyard, which the
1:39:23
Speaker 6: beasts all have such difficulty to get into on account
1:39:27
Speaker 6: of the stout and high wall which surrounds it. I
1:39:32
Speaker 6: have just come from there to tell you that there
1:39:35
Speaker 6: is a breach in the wall through which you might
1:39:38
Speaker 6: easily slip. You must lose no time in guiding me
1:39:43
Speaker 6: to the spot, the wolf commanded. They trotted away together,
1:39:48
Speaker 6: and when they came to a gap in the wall,
1:39:51
Speaker 6: the wolf bolted through. Down he went through the covering
1:39:55
Speaker 6: of the pit, and the fox exclaimed, joyfully, Now has
1:40:00
Speaker 6: fortune favored me, My wicked master, will trouble me no more.
1:40:06
Speaker 6: He crept to the edge of the pit and looked down.
1:40:10
Speaker 6: There was the wolf weeping in sorrow for himself, and
1:40:15
Speaker 6: the fox wept too. The wolf looked up and asked,
1:40:20
Speaker 6: do you weep because of your compassion for me? No,
1:40:25
Speaker 6: the fox answered, I weep for the length of your
1:40:29
Speaker 6: past life, and in regret at your not having been
1:40:33
Speaker 6: caught in some trapper pits sooner. If you had been
1:40:36
Speaker 6: snared and killed before I met you, I would have
1:40:39
Speaker 6: had much more of ease and comfort, you evil minded fox.
1:40:45
Speaker 6: The wolf said, go to my mother and tell her
1:40:48
Speaker 6: what has happened to me. Perhaps she can contrive some
1:40:51
Speaker 6: way of getting me out of here. Not so, the
1:40:54
Speaker 6: fox responded, You have been entrapped by the excess of
1:40:59
Speaker 6: your covet hisness and have fallen into a pit from
1:41:02
Speaker 6: which you will never be saved. O fox, the wolf said,
1:41:08
Speaker 6: you have hitherto feared the greatness of my power, and
1:41:11
Speaker 6: have always manifested an affection for me and a desire
1:41:15
Speaker 6: for my friendship. Do not now be angry with me
1:41:19
Speaker 6: for my treatment of you. Forgive my offenses and show
1:41:23
Speaker 6: me kindness. Can you not find some means of delivering
1:41:27
Speaker 6: me from destruction? You artful, wicked, treacherous wolf, The fox said,
1:41:34
Speaker 6: hope not for deliverance. You are going to be justly
1:41:38
Speaker 6: punished for your base conduct as you have sown.
1:41:42
Speaker 8: So shall you.
1:41:43
Speaker 6: Reap, oh, gentless of the beasts of prey? The wolf resumed,
1:41:49
Speaker 6: You surely are more faithful than to leave me in
1:41:52
Speaker 6: this pit. I have always found you ready to aid
1:41:55
Speaker 6: me in the past. Stupid enemy, the fox exclaim aimed,
1:42:00
Speaker 6: how are you reduced to humility and submission after your
1:42:05
Speaker 6: tyranny and haughtiness? I kept company with you through fear
1:42:09
Speaker 6: of your oppression and flattered you with the hope of
1:42:13
Speaker 6: winning your favor. Speak not with the tongue of enmity.
1:42:17
Speaker 6: The wolf entreated, go and get a rope and tie
1:42:21
Speaker 6: one end to a tree and let the other down
1:42:24
Speaker 6: to me. Then I will lay hold of it and
1:42:27
Speaker 6: escape from this horrid spot. Do as I bid you,
1:42:30
Speaker 6: and I will give you all the treasures that I possess. No,
1:42:35
Speaker 6: the fox said, you will never escape through my help.
1:42:40
Speaker 6: Reflect on your wickedness and the cruel way you treated me.
1:42:45
Speaker 6: Know that your soul is about to quit this world
1:42:48
Speaker 6: and go to an evil abode where you should have
1:42:51
Speaker 6: been long before. It was plain to the wolf that
1:42:56
Speaker 6: the fox had no kindly feeling for him, and he said,
1:43:01
Speaker 6: I have been careless in the past, but if I
1:43:04
Speaker 6: am delivered from this affliction, I will surely repent of
1:43:07
Speaker 6: my overbearing conduct to those who are weaker than I.
1:43:12
Speaker 6: He wept and lamented until the heart of the fox
1:43:16
Speaker 6: was moved with tenderness for him. Then the fox placed
1:43:21
Speaker 6: himself at the brink of the pit and sat so
1:43:24
Speaker 6: that his tail hung down in the cavity. Immediately, the
1:43:29
Speaker 6: wolf reached up with his front paws caught hold of
1:43:32
Speaker 6: the fox's tail, and attempted to pull himself out of
1:43:36
Speaker 6: the pit, but he pulled with such haste and violence
1:43:40
Speaker 6: that the fox lost his footing and tumbled down beside him.
1:43:45
Speaker 6: Now you have become my companion, the wolf said, and
1:43:49
Speaker 6: you are in my power. Why did you rejoice in
1:43:52
Speaker 6: my misfortune? Punishment has quickly overtaken you. I will hasten
1:43:58
Speaker 6: your slaughter that you may not behold mine. Delay your vengeance,
1:44:04
Speaker 6: the fox begged, for I have a plan that may
1:44:07
Speaker 6: get us both out of this pit. Oh, you wily deceiver,
1:44:12
Speaker 6: the wolf said, I do not trust you, but tell
1:44:16
Speaker 6: me your plan. It is one for which you ought
1:44:19
Speaker 6: to reward me generously. The fox responded. When I heard
1:44:24
Speaker 6: your promises and your confession of past misconduct, and your
1:44:28
Speaker 6: regrets at not having repented and done good, I felt
1:44:32
Speaker 6: sorry for you and hung my tail down into the pit.
1:44:36
Speaker 6: But with your usual habit of haste and violence, you
1:44:40
Speaker 6: pulled me in such a way that I thought my
1:44:43
Speaker 6: soul had departed. I slipped back over the edge and
1:44:47
Speaker 6: became your companion in this place of destruction and death.
1:44:51
Speaker 6: My plan is the only possibility of release. Well, the
1:44:56
Speaker 6: wolf said, and what is it you have to propose?
1:45:00
Speaker 6: The fox answered, I would have you stand upright and
1:45:05
Speaker 6: allow me to climb on to your shoulders. Then I
1:45:08
Speaker 6: can reach up to the edge of the pit and
1:45:10
Speaker 6: pull myself out. Afterward, I will go and bring something
1:45:14
Speaker 6: that you can take hold of and deliver yourself with.
1:45:17
Speaker 6: I put no confidence in your words, the wolf commented,
1:45:22
Speaker 6: But it is my only chance to get out of here,
1:45:24
Speaker 6: so I accept your proposal. The wolf raised himself upright,
1:45:30
Speaker 6: and the fox got on his shoulders and sprang up
1:45:33
Speaker 6: to the surface. Oh, my friend, the wolf called, do
1:45:38
Speaker 6: not forget me nor delay my deliverance. The fox uttered
1:45:43
Speaker 6: a loud laugh and said, you are my enemy never
1:45:48
Speaker 6: again when I put myself in your power. Verily, the
1:45:53
Speaker 6: wolf said softly. You foxes are the sweetest of people
1:45:57
Speaker 6: in tongue, and the most pleasant in jesting, But not
1:46:02
Speaker 6: every time is appropriate for sport and joking. Oh idiot,
1:46:07
Speaker 6: the fox responded, you seek deliverance in vain. Your fate
1:46:12
Speaker 6: is sealed. He then went to a mound that overlooked
1:46:17
Speaker 6: the vineyard and called to some men working among the vines.
1:46:22
Speaker 6: They saw him and ran toward him, and he hastened
1:46:25
Speaker 6: to escape through the gap in the wall. The men
1:46:28
Speaker 6: came to the pit, and there they saw the wolf
1:46:31
Speaker 6: and stopped. Then they picked up heavy stones and pelted
1:46:35
Speaker 6: the captive and killed him. After that the fox dwelt
1:46:40
Speaker 6: in security in the den where he and the wolf
1:46:44
Speaker 6: had lived together, And for all that I know, there
1:46:47
Speaker 6: he dwells still. End of chapter seventeen. Chapter eighteen of
1:47:00
Speaker 6: a Book of Fairytale Foxes. This is a LibriVox recording.
1:47:05
Speaker 6: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
1:47:09
Speaker 6: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording
1:47:16
Speaker 6: by Kate fowllis a book of Fairytale Foxes by Clifton Johnson.
1:47:23
Speaker 6: The Fox who became a shepherd. There was once an
1:47:29
Speaker 6: old woman who went to market and bought some sheep.
1:47:33
Speaker 6: She drove them home and put them in the barn
1:47:36
Speaker 6: and said, now I must get a shepherd. The sheep
1:47:40
Speaker 6: will have to be turned out to graze, and a
1:47:43
Speaker 6: shepherd must be with them to take care of them.
1:47:46
Speaker 6: So early the next day she started out to look
1:47:50
Speaker 6: for a shepherd. On and on she walked over the
1:47:54
Speaker 6: hills until she met a bear. Good morning. The bear said,
1:48:00
Speaker 6: where are you going to day? I am looking for
1:48:03
Speaker 6: someone to watch my sheep, She told him.
1:48:08
Speaker 10: Hire me.
1:48:09
Speaker 6: The bear said, I'll watch them. Your voice is rather gruff.
1:48:16
Speaker 6: The old woman responded, can you talk softly to them?
1:48:21
Speaker 3: Yes?
1:48:22
Speaker 6: The bear answered, this is the way. I will call
1:48:25
Speaker 6: them er gur ger. Oh no, the old woman exclaimed,
1:48:33
Speaker 6: and stopped her ears. Such a call as that would
1:48:37
Speaker 6: scare the wits out of them. They would run away.
1:48:41
Speaker 6: So she left the bear and walked on and on
1:48:46
Speaker 6: until she met a wolf. Good morning. The wolf said,
1:48:51
Speaker 6: where are you going to day? I am looking for
1:48:55
Speaker 6: someone to watch my sheep. She replied, I can watch them.
1:49:01
Speaker 6: The wolf told her hire me, But I'm not sure
1:49:06
Speaker 6: about that voice of yours. She said, could you talk
1:49:10
Speaker 6: softly to my sheep?
1:49:12
Speaker 3: Yes?
1:49:13
Speaker 6: The wolf declared, I will call them like this. Wow wow, No, no,
1:49:20
Speaker 6: the old woman cried, I could not have a shepherd
1:49:24
Speaker 6: who called them in that rude tone. They would run away.
1:49:30
Speaker 6: So she left the wolf and walked on and on
1:49:34
Speaker 6: until she met a fox. Good morning. The fox said,
1:49:39
Speaker 6: where are you going to day? I am looking for
1:49:43
Speaker 6: someone to watch my sheep. She told him that is
1:49:48
Speaker 6: just the job for me. The fox asserted, well, The
1:49:54
Speaker 6: old woman said, you have a pleasant voice. I think
1:49:58
Speaker 6: perhaps you will do, but I should want to be
1:50:02
Speaker 6: very sure that you could talk softly to my sheep. Oh,
1:50:08
Speaker 6: I would do that, the fox promised, This is the
1:50:12
Speaker 6: way I would call them. Ooh, ooh, ooh, very good.
1:50:19
Speaker 6: The old woman said, I will hire you. The fox
1:50:24
Speaker 6: went home with her, and she let the sheep out
1:50:27
Speaker 6: of the barn and told him to take care of
1:50:30
Speaker 6: them while they were grazing. Night came and the cunning
1:50:34
Speaker 6: fox brought the sheep safely home. But the next night
1:50:39
Speaker 6: one of them was missing. They are not all here,
1:50:44
Speaker 6: The old woman said, where is the missing one? The
1:50:48
Speaker 6: wolf ate it? The fox replied, he came out of
1:50:52
Speaker 6: the woods while I was not looking and carried it
1:50:55
Speaker 6: off before I could stop him. You must be more
1:51:00
Speaker 6: careful after this, the old woman cautioned him. But the
1:51:05
Speaker 6: very next night, another sheep was gone, and the old
1:51:10
Speaker 6: woman asked the fox where it was.
1:51:13
Speaker 8: The bear ate it?
1:51:15
Speaker 6: The fox answered, he came from behind a rock while
1:51:19
Speaker 6: I was not looking, and carried the sheep off before
1:51:22
Speaker 6: I could stop him. You must keep on the lookout
1:51:26
Speaker 6: all the time, the old woman ordered. Unless you can
1:51:31
Speaker 6: do better, I shall have to turn you off and
1:51:34
Speaker 6: hire another shepherd. The next morning, Soon after the fox
1:51:40
Speaker 6: had driven the sheep out to where they were to graze.
1:51:43
Speaker 6: The old woman filled the bull with milk and said,
1:51:48
Speaker 6: I will carry this to my shepherd. She walked along
1:51:52
Speaker 6: with her cane in one hand and the bowl of
1:51:55
Speaker 6: milk in the other. Presently she climbed a little hill,
1:51:59
Speaker 6: and there was the fox in a hollow before her,
1:52:03
Speaker 6: standing over a dead sheep. She looked at his bloody
1:52:08
Speaker 6: jaws and knew it was he who had killed the
1:52:11
Speaker 6: other two sheep, as well as that one, you wretch.
1:52:15
Speaker 6: The old woman cried, you robber, you villain. She strode
1:52:21
Speaker 6: toward him threateningly. The fox did not like the look
1:52:25
Speaker 6: of her stout cane, and he started to run. Then
1:52:29
Speaker 6: the old woman, in her wrath, threw the bowl of
1:52:33
Speaker 6: milk at him. It struck the end of his tail,
1:52:36
Speaker 6: and from that day to this the tale of the
1:52:40
Speaker 6: Fox has had a white tip. End of chapter eighteen,
1:52:53
Speaker 6: Chapter nineteen of A Book of fairy Tale Foxes. This
1:52:58
Speaker 6: is a liprivox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the
1:53:02
Speaker 6: public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit
1:53:08
Speaker 6: LibriVox dot org. Recording by Kate fowllis a book of
1:53:14
Speaker 6: fairy tale foxes by Clifton Johnson, The Fox, the Wolf,
1:53:20
Speaker 6: and the Cheese. At the foot of some high mountains,
1:53:26
Speaker 6: there was once a small village with a road entering
1:53:30
Speaker 6: it from the east, and this road was joined by
1:53:34
Speaker 6: one from the south on the village borders. One summer night,
1:53:39
Speaker 6: when a round full moon was shining, a wolf came
1:53:43
Speaker 6: trotting along the eastern road. I must get a good
1:53:48
Speaker 6: meal before I go back to my den in the mountains,
1:53:51
Speaker 6: he said to himself. It is nearly a week since
1:53:55
Speaker 6: I have tasted anything but scraps. There are plenty of
1:53:59
Speaker 6: rabbits and hairs in the forest, but they are so swift,
1:54:04
Speaker 6: and I would need to be a greyhound to catch them,
1:54:07
Speaker 6: and I am not as young as I was. I
1:54:10
Speaker 6: wish I could dine on that lady fox I saw
1:54:13
Speaker 6: a fortnight ago. I would have caught and eaten her
1:54:17
Speaker 6: right then, but her husband was near by, and I
1:54:21
Speaker 6: did not want to fight two such active, sharp toothed creatures. Well,
1:54:27
Speaker 6: I'm going to see what I can pick up in
1:54:29
Speaker 6: this village. While the wolf was talking thus to himself,
1:54:34
Speaker 6: the very fox that he so desired to eat was
1:54:38
Speaker 6: coming along the southern road, and she was saying, the
1:54:43
Speaker 6: whole of this day, I have listened to the clucking
1:54:46
Speaker 6: of those village hens till I can keep away no longer.
1:54:51
Speaker 6: It is the sweetest of all music when one is
1:54:55
Speaker 6: fond of fousand eggs. As sure as I live, I
1:55:00
Speaker 6: will have some of those hens this night. Just then
1:55:04
Speaker 6: she reached a little plot of grass where the two
1:55:08
Speaker 6: roads joined, and she lay down there under a tree
1:55:11
Speaker 6: to rest. Soon afterward, the wolf came along and saw her,
1:55:17
Speaker 6: and she turned her head at the sound of his
1:55:20
Speaker 6: footfalls and saw him. It was too late for her
1:55:24
Speaker 6: to escape, and she suppressed her fear and made a
1:55:28
Speaker 6: predense at friendliness. Is that your neighbor, she said politely.
1:55:33
Speaker 6: I hope you are well. I am as well as
1:55:37
Speaker 6: any one can be who is very hungry. The wolf said,
1:55:42
Speaker 6: and his eyes glistened greedily. But what is the matter
1:55:46
Speaker 6: with you? A fortnight ago you were as plump as
1:55:49
Speaker 6: heart could wish. I have been sick, the fox explained,
1:55:55
Speaker 6: And I am so thin that my very bones rattle.
1:56:00
Speaker 6: But you are still good enough for me, the wolf said,
1:56:04
Speaker 6: and he started toward her with open mouth. What are
1:56:08
Speaker 6: you doing, the fox cried, stepping backward. What am I doing,
1:56:14
Speaker 6: the wolf retorted, I'm going after my supper, and I
1:56:18
Speaker 6: shall eat you in less time than a rooster takes
1:56:22
Speaker 6: to crow. Oh, you are always joking, she remarked anxiously,
1:56:27
Speaker 6: never removing her eyes from the wolf. I am too
1:56:31
Speaker 6: hungry to waste time joking, the wolf said, with a
1:56:35
Speaker 6: snarl that showed all his teeth. I want to eat you,
1:56:40
Speaker 6: not to talk to you. Remember that I have children
1:56:44
Speaker 6: at home, The fox said, pity a poor mother, and
1:56:48
Speaker 6: she wiped her eyes with the tip of her tail.
1:56:52
Speaker 6: But the wolf showed plainly that her appeal did not
1:56:56
Speaker 6: move him, and that his patience was about excited it.
1:57:01
Speaker 6: So she hastened to ask him to grant one last request.
1:57:06
Speaker 6: What is it, the wolf growled. In this village, there
1:57:10
Speaker 6: is an old well, the fox responded, and its owner
1:57:15
Speaker 6: stores cheeses in it. Two buckets hang from a pole
1:57:19
Speaker 6: above it, and I come frequently and descend in one
1:57:23
Speaker 6: of the buckets into the well and bring away with
1:57:26
Speaker 6: me enough cheese to feed my children. My request is
1:57:30
Speaker 6: that you let me go and make one more good
1:57:34
Speaker 6: meal off the cheese before I die. I'd rather like
1:57:38
Speaker 6: some cheese myself. The wolf said, lead the way, and
1:57:42
Speaker 6: we will go to the well. So they went on together,
1:57:45
Speaker 6: But as they were creeping softly into the village, the
1:57:49
Speaker 6: fox made a sudden leap over a wall, hoping to
1:57:54
Speaker 6: elude her companion. However, he sprang over after her and
1:58:00
Speaker 6: was instantly at her side. I think I had better
1:58:04
Speaker 6: curb your desire to jump by taking a bite out
1:58:08
Speaker 6: of your hatch, he said, with a menacing snap of
1:58:12
Speaker 6: his teeth. The fox drew back uneasily. Be careful, or
1:58:18
Speaker 6: I shall scream. She told him that would rouse the village,
1:58:24
Speaker 6: and the wolf had no desire to have her carry
1:58:27
Speaker 6: out her threat. Presently, they entered a courtyard and there
1:58:33
Speaker 6: was the well. The fox looked down into it and
1:58:38
Speaker 6: saw the reflection of the moon, big round and yellow
1:58:43
Speaker 6: in the water at the bottom. How lucky, she said
1:58:48
Speaker 6: to the wolf. A huge cheese the size of a
1:58:52
Speaker 6: grindstone lies down there. Look. Look, did you ever see
1:58:57
Speaker 6: anything so beautiful? Never, the wolf answered, as he peered
1:59:03
Speaker 6: hungrily into the well. You have only to go down
1:59:07
Speaker 6: in one of these buckets to eat your fill, the
1:59:10
Speaker 6: fox informed him. I will wait my turn here.
1:59:14
Speaker 8: Oh that is your.
1:59:16
Speaker 6: Game, the wolf said, with a grin no, you can't
1:59:21
Speaker 6: escape me by any such trick. You must go down
1:59:24
Speaker 6: yourself and bring the cheese up. There was nothing the
1:59:29
Speaker 6: fox could do but obey, and she climbed into the bucket.
1:59:34
Speaker 6: Down she went to the bottom of the well, and
1:59:37
Speaker 6: at the same time a bucket on the other end
1:59:41
Speaker 6: of the rope went up. The bucket in which the
1:59:45
Speaker 6: fox descended hit the water with a splash, but did
1:59:49
Speaker 6: not fill, for the well was nearly dry. The cheese
1:59:54
Speaker 6: is even larger and richer than I thought, the fox
1:59:59
Speaker 6: called to the Then hasten and bring it up, the
2:00:03
Speaker 6: wolf ordered, But it is so heavy that I can't.
2:00:07
Speaker 6: The fox said, you will have to come down, and
2:00:10
Speaker 6: then we will carry it up between us. And how
2:00:14
Speaker 6: am I to come down? The wolf asked, Get into
2:00:18
Speaker 6: that other bucket, which is right over your head. The
2:00:22
Speaker 6: fox replied, so the wolf, with some difficulty, climbed into
2:00:27
Speaker 6: the bucket. He weighed at least four times as much
2:00:31
Speaker 6: as the fox, and he went down with a jerk,
2:00:35
Speaker 6: and his weight sent her to the surface with equal rapidity.
2:00:40
Speaker 6: As soon as he understood what had happened, he upbraided
2:00:43
Speaker 6: the fox very angrily. She had leaped out of the
2:00:47
Speaker 6: bucket and was now looking down at him. Good Bye,
2:00:51
Speaker 6: she said sweetly, I hope you will enjoy the cheese.
2:00:55
Speaker 6: Then she went off to a neighboring henhouse, where she
2:00:59
Speaker 6: secured several fat chickens. As she was on her way home,
2:01:04
Speaker 6: she said to herself, I wonder how mister Wolfe is
2:01:08
Speaker 6: getting along. I'm afraid I left him in a bad plight,
2:01:13
Speaker 6: but I see that the sky has clouded over. If
2:01:16
Speaker 6: there should be a heavy rain, the other bucket will
2:01:19
Speaker 6: fill and sink to the bottom of the well, and
2:01:23
Speaker 6: his bucket will go up at least it may.
2:01:28
Speaker 1: End of chapter nineteen, Chapter twenty of A Book of
2:01:38
Speaker 1: Fairytale Foxes. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings
2:01:43
Speaker 1: are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer,
2:01:47
Speaker 1: please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by kel Taylor. A
2:01:53
Speaker 1: Book of Fairytale Foxes by Clifton Johnson. How the cat
2:01:57
Speaker 1: outwitted the box. Once upon a time, a cat and
2:02:00
Speaker 1: a rooster agreed to live together. So they built themselves
2:02:04
Speaker 1: a hut, and a rooster did the housekeeping, while the
2:02:06
Speaker 1: cat skirmished around and got food for them every day.
2:02:10
Speaker 1: When the cat left the hut. He said to the rooster,
2:02:14
Speaker 1: lock the door as soon as I go out, and
2:02:16
Speaker 1: don't let anyone in until I come back. One day,
2:02:20
Speaker 1: while the cat was away hunting, a fox came rapping
2:02:23
Speaker 1: at the door of the hut. Little rooster, he cried,
2:02:26
Speaker 1: let me in. Pussy told me not to. The rooster
2:02:30
Speaker 1: responded again. The fox rapped open the door. He shouted,
2:02:35
Speaker 1: I tell you, Pussy ordered me not to. The rooster said,
2:02:40
Speaker 1: But the fox kept asking to be let in, and
2:02:43
Speaker 1: at last the rooster grew tired of avoice, saying no,
2:02:47
Speaker 1: and opened the door. In rush. A fox seize a
2:02:50
Speaker 1: rooster and his jaws and ran off with them. Then
2:02:53
Speaker 1: the rooster called, oh, Pussy dear, the fox is here.
2:02:58
Speaker 1: He holds me tight feet and fright. Unless you're quick
2:03:02
Speaker 1: my bones, he'll pick The cat heard the rooster calling,
2:03:06
Speaker 1: and he chased the fox till he overtook him. Then
2:03:09
Speaker 1: he made the fox release the rooster and the two
2:03:12
Speaker 1: friends went home. On the way, Puss gave the rooster
2:03:15
Speaker 1: some good advice and said, in conclusion, now keep out
2:03:19
Speaker 1: of that fox's jaws in the future, if you don't
2:03:23
Speaker 1: want to be killed altogether. Another day, when the cat
2:03:27
Speaker 1: was out foraging so that he and the rooster might
2:03:29
Speaker 1: have something to eat. The sly fox again came rapping
2:03:33
Speaker 1: in the door. Dear little rooster, the fox said, pray,
2:03:37
Speaker 1: let me in. No, mister fox. The rooster responded, pussy,
2:03:42
Speaker 1: told me to keep the door shut and locked. But
2:03:45
Speaker 1: the fox kept on asking and asking till last the
2:03:48
Speaker 1: rooster let him in. Then the fox rushed at the rooster,
2:03:52
Speaker 1: seized him by the neck, and ran off with him.
2:03:55
Speaker 1: At once. The rooster cried out, oh, pussy, dear, the
2:03:59
Speaker 1: fox is here. He holds me tight. I'm paint from
2:04:02
Speaker 1: pride unless you quick my bones.
2:04:05
Speaker 10: Hill peck.
2:04:05
Speaker 1: The rooster's call was heard by the cat, who ran
2:04:08
Speaker 1: after the fox and compelled him to let his captive go,
2:04:11
Speaker 1: and gave him a sound drubbing. On the way home.
2:04:15
Speaker 1: The cat scolded the rooster roundly and told him never
2:04:19
Speaker 1: on any plea to let the fox in again. He
2:04:22
Speaker 1: is no friend of ours, the cat declared. All he
2:04:25
Speaker 1: wants is to eat you. Not long afterward, the fox
2:04:29
Speaker 1: came once more to the hut when the cat was
2:04:31
Speaker 1: out hunting for food. Dear little rooster, he said, open
2:04:35
Speaker 1: the door, No, mister fox, puss me, Toby, I wasn't
2:04:39
Speaker 1: to do so, was the rooster's response. But the fox
2:04:43
Speaker 1: begged and begged so persistently that at last the rooster
2:04:47
Speaker 1: opened the door. Instantly, the fox cut the rooster by
2:04:50
Speaker 1: the throat and ran off with him, and the rooster shouted, oh,
2:04:54
Speaker 1: Pussy dear, the fox is here.
2:04:56
Speaker 8: He holds me tight.
2:04:58
Speaker 1: I'm paint from fright unless can you quick my bones?
2:05:01
Speaker 10: He'll pick.
2:05:02
Speaker 1: The cat heard the rooster calling and gave chase. He ran,
2:05:06
Speaker 1: and he ran, but this time he could not catch
2:05:09
Speaker 1: a fox. And he returned home and wept bitterly because
2:05:13
Speaker 1: now he was all alone. At length, however, he took
2:05:16
Speaker 1: his fiddle in a big sack and went to the
2:05:18
Speaker 1: foxes hole. He sat down near it and began to
2:05:21
Speaker 1: play and sing. Fiddley d d fox, listen to me,
2:05:27
Speaker 1: four daughters, have you a little son too? So fiddledy
2:05:31
Speaker 1: d all come out and see who fiddle's here for you.
2:05:36
Speaker 1: The fox's older daughter said to her father Daddy, that
2:05:39
Speaker 1: fiddler plays very nicely. I'm going to see who he is.
2:05:43
Speaker 1: Out she skipped, but Pussy was watching, and the moment
2:05:47
Speaker 1: she appeared, he caught her and popped her into his sack. Again,
2:05:52
Speaker 1: he played and sang, fiddle e d fox, listen to me,
2:05:57
Speaker 1: four daughters, have you a little too so fiddled? D all?
2:06:03
Speaker 1: Come out and see who fiddles here for you. Then
2:06:07
Speaker 1: the second oldest daughter of the fox skipped out. Pussy
2:06:10
Speaker 1: caught her and popped her into his sack, and he
2:06:13
Speaker 1: continued his fiddling and singing until he had caught all
2:06:16
Speaker 1: four daughters and the little son too. The old fox
2:06:20
Speaker 1: was now left alone. He waited and waited for his
2:06:23
Speaker 1: children to return, but they did not come. At last,
2:06:27
Speaker 1: he said to himself, I will go out and call
2:06:31
Speaker 1: them in. For the rooster is roasted, the soup is ready,
2:06:35
Speaker 1: and the porridge is on the table. It is high
2:06:37
Speaker 1: time we had something to eat. So whout he went,
2:06:40
Speaker 1: and the cat grabbed him and shoved him in the
2:06:43
Speaker 1: sack with his children. Then the cat went down into
2:06:46
Speaker 1: the fox's hole and drank all the soup and gobbled
2:06:49
Speaker 1: up all the porridge. He looked about for something more
2:06:52
Speaker 1: to eat, and saw the roasted rooster lying on a
2:06:54
Speaker 1: platter beside a fire. Come shake yourself, rooster, Puss said.
2:06:59
Speaker 1: So the rooster shook himself and got up, and he
2:07:02
Speaker 1: and the cat went home together. They carried a sack along,
2:07:06
Speaker 1: and when winter came they had some nice fox skins
2:07:09
Speaker 1: for their beds to keep them warm. None of their
2:07:11
Speaker 1: wild neighbors ever troubled them again, and they lived in
2:07:15
Speaker 1: their little hot in peace and plenty for the rest
2:07:18
Speaker 1: of their days. End of chapter twenty Chapter twenty one
2:07:29
Speaker 1: of A Book of Fairytale Foxes. This is a LibriVox recording.
2:07:33
Speaker 1: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
2:07:36
Speaker 1: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording
2:07:42
Speaker 1: by cal Taylor. A Book of Fairytale Foxes by Clifton Johnson.
2:07:47
Speaker 1: The Fox, the Bear, and the Poor Farmer. Once upon
2:07:52
Speaker 1: a time there was a farmer who was so poor
2:07:54
Speaker 1: that he did not own any horses or oxen, and
2:07:57
Speaker 1: he had to do his plowing with two cows. One morning,
2:08:01
Speaker 1: he was plowing in a field that bordered the forest
2:08:04
Speaker 1: when he heard among the trees a great noise of
2:08:07
Speaker 1: rustling and crackling, and the growling and squeaking. He left
2:08:12
Speaker 1: his plow in the furrow, crept softly into the woods,
2:08:15
Speaker 1: and peered cautiously through the thick underbrush. There he saw
2:08:19
Speaker 1: a huge bear rustling with a little rabbit, and the
2:08:23
Speaker 1: sight of two such ill matched creatures contending seemed to
2:08:27
Speaker 1: him so funny that he laughed loud and long. The
2:08:31
Speaker 1: bear heard his laughter and was very angry. He let
2:08:35
Speaker 1: go his hold on a rabbit and strode towards a farmer,
2:08:38
Speaker 1: growling savagely. What do you mean laughing at me?
2:08:42
Speaker 10: He asked.
2:08:43
Speaker 1: The poor farmer, was now as much brightened as he
2:08:46
Speaker 1: had been amused a moment before, he could not answer
2:08:50
Speaker 1: a word. I'll teach you not to laugh at me again,
2:08:53
Speaker 1: the bear snarled. I'm going to eat you and your
2:08:57
Speaker 1: two cows. The bear was rushing at the farmer with
2:09:00
Speaker 1: wide open jaws when the trembling man found his tongue.
2:09:03
Speaker 1: Oh please, mister bear, he cried in terror. I couldn't
2:09:07
Speaker 1: help laughing. I really couldn't. I beg you not to
2:09:11
Speaker 1: eat me. I will never never laugh at you again. No,
2:09:14
Speaker 1: you will not laugh at me again. The bear said,
2:09:17
Speaker 1: you won't have that chance. I am going to eat
2:09:20
Speaker 1: you right now. The farmer fell on his knees and,
2:09:23
Speaker 1: with tears in his eyes, besought the bear to spare him.
2:09:27
Speaker 1: But the more piteously he entreated, the more fiercely, the
2:09:30
Speaker 1: beach declared that he should be eaten. Finally, the farmer said,
2:09:36
Speaker 1: I see that I can expect no mercy from you,
2:09:39
Speaker 1: and I will only ask the privilege of living until evening.
2:09:44
Speaker 1: Let me have the rest of this day. I beseech you,
2:09:46
Speaker 1: mister bear, so that I can plow and sow this field.
2:09:50
Speaker 1: Then my family will not be without bread to eat
2:09:53
Speaker 1: when winter comes. To this proposal, the bear gave a
2:09:57
Speaker 1: solemn consent. Then he shambled off and was soon lost
2:10:01
Speaker 1: to sight in the forest, and the farmer returned to
2:10:04
Speaker 1: his plowing. About noon, a fox who was passing that
2:10:08
Speaker 1: way stopped to speak to the bend. Why are you
2:10:11
Speaker 1: looking so sad, the fox inquired, I surely have a
2:10:15
Speaker 1: reason to be sad. The farmer answered, this morning I
2:10:19
Speaker 1: heard a great racket near by in the woods, and
2:10:21
Speaker 1: when I went to discover the cause of the noise,
2:10:24
Speaker 1: I found a bear wrestling with a rabbit. I could
2:10:27
Speaker 1: not help laughing, and that made the bear so angry
2:10:31
Speaker 1: he was going to eat me at once. I begged
2:10:34
Speaker 1: for mercy, but he would only grant me the rest
2:10:37
Speaker 1: of the day, and he is coming back here this
2:10:40
Speaker 1: very evening to eat me and my two cows. If
2:10:43
Speaker 1: that is all you are mourning about, you need grieve
2:10:47
Speaker 1: no longer. The fox said cheerily. I can tell you
2:10:51
Speaker 1: how to save your own life and the lives of
2:10:53
Speaker 1: your two cows as well, And you shall have the
2:10:56
Speaker 1: skin of that bear for a warm rug in your house.
2:10:59
Speaker 1: But oh, can such a miracle be done, mister fox,
2:11:02
Speaker 1: The farmer questioned, what will you give me if I
2:11:05
Speaker 1: tell you the fox asked. At first, the farmer did
2:11:08
Speaker 1: not know what to offer, but presently he agreed to
2:11:12
Speaker 1: give the fox nine hens and a rooster. Very well,
2:11:15
Speaker 1: the fox said, now listen and do just as I
2:11:19
Speaker 1: tell you. When the bear returns this evening, I will
2:11:22
Speaker 1: be hiding in the bushes. I will make a blowing sound,
2:11:26
Speaker 1: just such as a hunters make when they blow their horns.
2:11:29
Speaker 1: The bear will ask you what is that. You must
2:11:32
Speaker 1: answer the hunters are coming. The bear will be frightened
2:11:36
Speaker 1: and beg you to conceal him. I see you have
2:11:39
Speaker 1: a big sack here in which you brought your seed.
2:11:42
Speaker 1: Tell the bear to crawl into that and not to stir.
2:11:46
Speaker 1: Then I will come out of the bushes and ask
2:11:48
Speaker 1: what is in your sack. You will reply, some sticks
2:11:52
Speaker 1: of wood. I will not believe you, and you will
2:11:55
Speaker 1: say hit the sack with your axe. You must send
2:11:59
Speaker 1: seize your axe, strike a mighty blow into the bear's
2:12:02
Speaker 1: head that will kill him at once. The farmer was
2:12:05
Speaker 1: pleased with this advice, and he agreed to follow it.
2:12:09
Speaker 1: Everything happened as the fox had arranged, and the farmer
2:12:12
Speaker 1: and his cows were saved. Did I not tell you
2:12:15
Speaker 1: I would rescue you, the fox said, Learn from this,
2:12:19
Speaker 1: my friend, that wit is better than strength. I shall
2:12:23
Speaker 1: come to your house tomorrow morning for those dying hens
2:12:26
Speaker 1: and that rooster. Pick out the fattest bowls in your flock,
2:12:30
Speaker 1: and take care that you are home, or you will
2:12:32
Speaker 1: be sorry. The farmer loaded the bear on his wagon,
2:12:36
Speaker 1: hitched his cows to it, and drove joyfully home. Then
2:12:40
Speaker 1: he ate a hearty supper, went to bed and slept soundly.
2:12:44
Speaker 1: Very early the next morning, when the farmer had scarcely
2:12:47
Speaker 1: opened his eyes, the fox knocked at the door. I
2:12:50
Speaker 1: want that rooster nine hens, he shouted, right away, brother fox,
2:12:55
Speaker 1: right away. The farmer responded, just give me time to dress.
2:12:59
Speaker 1: But it happened that he had two dogs who were
2:13:02
Speaker 1: in the habit of staying in the house at night,
2:13:04
Speaker 1: and they went snipping at the door and got a
2:13:07
Speaker 1: scent of the fox. Immediately they began to bart whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, Hello, farmer,
2:13:13
Speaker 1: The fox cried anxiously, what's that here? You haven't a
2:13:17
Speaker 1: hound in there? Have you? Yees? Two of them? The
2:13:21
Speaker 1: farmer answered, they sleep under my bed, and now they've
2:13:24
Speaker 1: sented you and are trying to get out. I can
2:13:27
Speaker 1: hardly hold them. Oh, mister Parner, don't let them go,
2:13:31
Speaker 1: the fox exclaimed, ain't on em till I get away
2:13:35
Speaker 1: from here. Never mind the nine hens and a rooster,
2:13:38
Speaker 1: you can keep them. When the farmer opened the door,
2:13:41
Speaker 1: the fox was disappearing over the ridge of a neighboring mountain.
2:13:45
Speaker 1: The farmer laughed heartily, and if he's still alive, he
2:13:49
Speaker 1: may be laughing yet. End of chapter twenty one twenty
2:14:00
Speaker 1: two of A Book of Fairytale Foxes. This is a
2:14:04
Speaker 1: LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
2:14:09
Speaker 1: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
2:14:15
Speaker 1: Recording by cal Taylor. A Book of Fairytale Foxes by
2:14:19
Speaker 1: Clifton Johnson. The Proud Fox and the young prairie chicken.
2:14:24
Speaker 1: One time there was a proud fox who was trotting
2:14:27
Speaker 1: along the road soon after sunrise on a summer's day
2:14:30
Speaker 1: when he overtook a prairie chicken. The prairie chicken looked
2:14:34
Speaker 1: very young and simple, and the fox thought that here
2:14:37
Speaker 1: was a good chance to secure a nice tender morsel
2:14:41
Speaker 1: for his breakfast. Good morning, he said, and tried to
2:14:45
Speaker 1: get up close to her. Good morning yourself, the prairie
2:14:48
Speaker 1: chicken responded, sidling away from him. How are your folks,
2:14:53
Speaker 1: the fox asked, just middling. The prairie chicken answered, how
2:14:57
Speaker 1: are yours? Oh? Fine, the fox replied, I'm glad to
2:15:02
Speaker 1: hear that. The prairie chicken said, I don't know that
2:15:06
Speaker 1: I've ever seen him or you either before. What have
2:15:10
Speaker 1: you been doing since? Planning time? Just running around and
2:15:14
Speaker 1: enjoying myself? That I wasn't learning all that my daddy knows,
2:15:18
Speaker 1: The fox told her. Surely you don't claim to know
2:15:22
Speaker 1: all that your daddy has been finding out since he
2:15:24
Speaker 1: was turned loose.
2:15:25
Speaker 10: In the world.
2:15:26
Speaker 1: The prairie chicken said, yes, I do. The fox declared,
2:15:30
Speaker 1: if there's a slyer fox in these parts, that I am.
2:15:34
Speaker 1: I agree to pin back his ears and swallow them
2:15:36
Speaker 1: without sauce or seasoning. For gracious sake, the prairie chicken exclaimed,
2:15:42
Speaker 1: I'm telling you the truth, the fox said, when it
2:15:45
Speaker 1: comes to slyness, I don't take a back seat for anyone. Well,
2:15:50
Speaker 1: and what have you been doing yourself? Nothing in particular,
2:15:55
Speaker 1: the prairie chicken answered, and she hung down her head
2:15:58
Speaker 1: and looked as as she as if all her tail
2:16:01
Speaker 1: for feathers were pulled out. Ever since I left the egg,
2:16:06
Speaker 1: I've been busy running after my mammy and getting the
2:16:09
Speaker 1: bugs and seeds, she finds. I haven't had time to
2:16:13
Speaker 1: learn anything except how to hide if I see a
2:16:15
Speaker 1: man with a gun or a beast with a hungry
2:16:18
Speaker 1: looking tooth. Showing That last remark disturbed the fox, for
2:16:23
Speaker 1: he had a hungry tooth himself. He hoped she had
2:16:27
Speaker 1: not noticed it, and he hastened to turn her thoughts
2:16:30
Speaker 1: in another direction. Oh, you know just one way to hide,
2:16:35
Speaker 1: he said, I've got dozens of ways, good lord, I
2:16:39
Speaker 1: can tell your ways of hiding from now and tell sundown.
2:16:42
Speaker 1: But what is your own little way? The perier chicken
2:16:46
Speaker 1: was quite overcome with the learning of the fox, and
2:16:49
Speaker 1: she replied hesitatingly, I just get underneath the dead leaves.
2:16:54
Speaker 1: Of course, a part of me offen sticks out, but
2:16:57
Speaker 1: that doesn't matter, because my feathers and leaves are exactly
2:17:00
Speaker 1: the same color. I call that a pretty poor way
2:17:03
Speaker 1: of hiding. The fox remarked, yes. The prairie chicken agreed
2:17:07
Speaker 1: rather testily. But it won't do me until I can fly.
2:17:11
Speaker 1: Then I won't need any tricks at all. The fox
2:17:14
Speaker 1: was starting to make another brag when some hounds came
2:17:17
Speaker 1: into sight at once. The prairie chicken caught up a
2:17:20
Speaker 1: dead leaf and rolled with it, just as if the
2:17:22
Speaker 1: wind were blowing her along. She got out of the
2:17:25
Speaker 1: path and in among the grass and brush, so she escaped,
2:17:30
Speaker 1: but the hounds caught the fox, and his brush now
2:17:33
Speaker 1: hangs above the chimney piece of the man who owned
2:17:37
Speaker 1: the hounds. The brush was all that the hounds left
2:17:40
Speaker 1: of him. End of chapter twenty two.
2:17:49
Speaker 2: Chapter twenty three of A Book of Fairytale Foxes. This
2:17:53
Speaker 2: is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the
2:17:57
Speaker 2: public domain. For more information or volunteer, please visit LibriVox
2:18:02
Speaker 2: dot org. Recording by Devora Allen. A book of fairy
2:18:07
Speaker 2: Tale Foxes by Clifton Johnson, How the Fox and the
2:18:11
Speaker 2: crab ran a race. Once upon a time a fox
2:18:17
Speaker 2: was walking on the sea shore and met a crab
2:18:19
Speaker 2: crawling thing. The fox said, did you ever run in
2:18:22
Speaker 2: your life?
2:18:23
Speaker 10: Yes?
2:18:24
Speaker 2: The crab replied, I very often run from the mud
2:18:26
Speaker 2: here to the grass yonder, and from the grass back
2:18:28
Speaker 2: to the water. Oh fie, the fox exclaimed, that is
2:18:32
Speaker 2: no distance to run. How many lugs have you eight?
2:18:36
Speaker 2: The crab answered, why? If I had as many legs
2:18:39
Speaker 2: as you have, the fox said, I could run like
2:18:41
Speaker 2: the wind. You are really a very slow, stupid creature.
2:18:45
Speaker 2: It is ridiculous that a person with a whole row
2:18:47
Speaker 2: of legs along each side should run so slowly. Well,
2:18:51
Speaker 2: the crab said, I challenge you to run a race
2:18:53
Speaker 2: if you are not above matching yourself against a dull, witted,
2:18:56
Speaker 2: sluggish animal like me. But I am much smaller than
2:18:59
Speaker 2: you are. Suppose we go and weigh ourselves. If you
2:19:02
Speaker 2: are ten times heavier than I am, of course you
2:19:04
Speaker 2: ought to run more than ten times faster to win
2:19:06
Speaker 2: the race. However, never mind about the weight. I know
2:19:09
Speaker 2: you are swift, but that is just because you have
2:19:11
Speaker 2: such a fine tail and hold it so high. If
2:19:14
Speaker 2: you would allow me to fasten something to your tail
2:19:16
Speaker 2: so it would stay down, I think you could not
2:19:18
Speaker 2: run any faster than I, even if you do weigh
2:19:20
Speaker 2: so much more. Have done with your talking, the fox
2:19:24
Speaker 2: snorted contemptuously. Do as you like, For whether my tail
2:19:27
Speaker 2: is up or down, I have no doubt that I
2:19:29
Speaker 2: shall beat you without any effort at all. Your many
2:19:32
Speaker 2: legs and your stupid head do not go very well together.
2:19:35
Speaker 2: If I had your legs. In my own sense, not
2:19:37
Speaker 2: a creature on earth could outrun me. As it is,
2:19:40
Speaker 2: there are none that can outwhit me, even among mankind,
2:19:43
Speaker 2: such is my reputation that they have a saying as
2:19:46
Speaker 2: sly as a fox. So do what you choose, stupid one.
2:19:50
Speaker 2: All I ask, the crab said, is to fix your
2:19:53
Speaker 2: beautiful tail so it will stay down. Then I shall
2:19:55
Speaker 2: surely win the race. Oh no, you will not, the
2:19:58
Speaker 2: fox retorted. You can fasten my tail down, but just
2:20:01
Speaker 2: the same I shall prove to your dull brain that
2:20:04
Speaker 2: you never had the least chance to win. How do
2:20:06
Speaker 2: you wish that I should hold my tail for you
2:20:07
Speaker 2: to make sure it will stay down? Just lower it
2:20:10
Speaker 2: so I can hang something on it. The crab said,
2:20:13
Speaker 2: all right. The fox agreed, only don't keep me standing
2:20:16
Speaker 2: here all day. I shall not be long, the crab promised,
2:20:19
Speaker 2: And as soon as I have finished, I will call ready.
2:20:22
Speaker 2: Then you are to start. The crab crawled behind the fox,
2:20:26
Speaker 2: caught Reynard's bushy tail with his pincers and shouted ready. Away,
2:20:30
Speaker 2: sped the fox, and he ran and ran till he
2:20:32
Speaker 2: was tired. But when he stopped, the crab, who had
2:20:36
Speaker 2: all the time clung to his tail, was there right
2:20:39
Speaker 2: beside him. What's the matter with you, the crab asked.
2:20:42
Speaker 2: I thought you said you could run ten times faster
2:20:44
Speaker 2: than I. You are not even ahead of me. The
2:20:47
Speaker 2: fox panted for breath and hung his head in shame.
2:20:51
Speaker 2: I feel as fresh as if I had not run
2:20:52
Speaker 2: at all. The crab declared, Let's race back in the
2:20:55
Speaker 2: same way to where we started. No, the fox said,
2:20:59
Speaker 2: I don't care to do any more racing with eight
2:21:01
Speaker 2: legged people, and he went away into the forest, hoping
2:21:04
Speaker 2: he never would see the crab again. End of chapter
2:21:08
Speaker 2: twenty three.
2:21:15
Speaker 3: Chapter twenty four of a Book of Fairytale Foxes. This
2:21:19
Speaker 3: is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the
2:21:22
Speaker 3: public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit
2:21:27
Speaker 3: LibriVox dot org. A book of fairytale Foxes by Clifton
2:21:33
Speaker 3: Johnson The Fox with a Sack full of Tricks. Once
2:21:38
Speaker 3: upon a time, it happened that a cat was searching
2:21:41
Speaker 3: for mice in the woodland when she saw a fox
2:21:44
Speaker 3: coming toward her. I must speak to him, she said
2:21:48
Speaker 3: to herself, and I had better greet him very politely.
2:21:51
Speaker 3: He is clever, and he has experienced in all the
2:21:54
Speaker 3: ways of the world. It will be well to keep
2:21:56
Speaker 3: on as friendly terms as possible with him. Good morning,
2:22:01
Speaker 3: dear mister fox, she said, how do you do? And
2:22:05
Speaker 3: how are you getting along in these hard times? The fox,
2:22:09
Speaker 3: full of pride, looked at the cat for some time,
2:22:12
Speaker 3: undecided whether he would deign to answer or not. At
2:22:15
Speaker 3: last he said, Oh, you poor whisker wiper, you piebald simpleton,
2:22:20
Speaker 3: you starveling mouse hunter. What has put it in your
2:22:23
Speaker 3: head to ask me how I am getting on? I
2:22:26
Speaker 3: wonder that you dare to do it. I meant no offense.
2:22:30
Speaker 3: The cat responded, you are wise and I am simple.
2:22:34
Speaker 3: I am slow, in thought. While your wits are keen
2:22:37
Speaker 3: and quick. I only venture to go a short distance
2:22:40
Speaker 3: from home, and so have not your opportunities to acquire knowledge.
2:22:44
Speaker 3: For your travels take you far and wide. Let us
2:22:47
Speaker 3: be friends, and I beseech you to share with me
2:22:49
Speaker 3: some of your wisdom. Pooh, pooh, the fox sneered. Share
2:22:54
Speaker 3: my wisdom with a foolish cat. However, I am not selfish,
2:22:58
Speaker 3: and I don't mind telling you a thing or two
2:23:00
Speaker 3: that you perhaps may find of value sooner or later.
2:23:04
Speaker 3: Thank you, the cat said, I shall treasure whatever you
2:23:07
Speaker 3: see fit to tell me. Well, then, the fox continued,
2:23:12
Speaker 3: what sort of education have you had? How many arts
2:23:15
Speaker 3: do you understand? Only one? The cat replied meekly. And
2:23:22
Speaker 3: what might that be? The fox inquired. I am almost
2:23:26
Speaker 3: ashamed to tell you. It is such a poor little art,
2:23:29
Speaker 3: the cat said. I don't doubt it is poor enough,
2:23:33
Speaker 3: the fox observed with a scornful sniff. Nevertheless, I would
2:23:37
Speaker 3: like to hear what it is. Why, if you really
2:23:40
Speaker 3: want to know, the cat said, hesitatingly, The art is
2:23:44
Speaker 3: one of escaping the dogs when they run after me.
2:23:47
Speaker 3: I can climb a tree and save myself. Is that
2:23:51
Speaker 3: all you can do, the fox said, and he snorted contemptuously.
2:23:56
Speaker 3: As for me, I am master of a hundred arts,
2:23:58
Speaker 3: and I have a sackful of hunting tricks. Also, truly,
2:24:02
Speaker 3: I pity you. Come with me, and I will teach
2:24:05
Speaker 3: you how to escape the dogs without any laborious tree climbing.
2:24:10
Speaker 3: Just then a huntsman came riding along, accompanied by four hounds.
2:24:14
Speaker 3: The cat was too frightened to wait for the fox
2:24:16
Speaker 3: to give her wise advice, and she ran nimbly up
2:24:19
Speaker 3: a tree. Nor did she stop until she had perched
2:24:22
Speaker 3: herself on the topmost bough, where she was completely hidden
2:24:25
Speaker 3: by the twigs and leaves. The fox remained on the
2:24:28
Speaker 3: ground down below, and she called to him, mister fox,
2:24:32
Speaker 3: open your sackful of tricks. Open it quick, or those
2:24:35
Speaker 3: fierce hounds will catch you. But while she was speaking,
2:24:38
Speaker 3: the hounds seized poor Reynard and they held him tight. Oh,
2:24:43
Speaker 3: mister fox, the cat said, you are caught in spite
2:24:46
Speaker 3: of your hundred arts and sackful of tricks, while I,
2:24:49
Speaker 3: with my one art, am safe. Had you been able
2:24:52
Speaker 3: to climb up here, your life would not be forfeited.
2:24:57
Speaker 3: End of chapter twenty four.
2:25:05
Speaker 11: Chapter twenty five of a Book of Fairytale Foxes. This
2:25:09
Speaker 11: is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the
2:25:13
Speaker 11: public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit
2:25:17
Speaker 11: LibriVox dot org. Recording by Adam Wilkins in March twenty seventeen.
2:25:24
Speaker 11: A Book of Fairytale Foxes by Clifton Johnson, Chapter twenty
2:25:29
Speaker 11: five raynerd and his Adventures. Once upon a time a
2:25:34
Speaker 11: fox lay peeping out of his hole on a winter's morning.
2:25:38
Speaker 11: There was a road inside not far away, and by
2:25:41
Speaker 11: and bye he saw a man coming along on it,
2:25:43
Speaker 11: driving to a market with a load of fish. That
2:25:46
Speaker 11: reminds me I haven't had breakfast, the fox said. Some
2:25:50
Speaker 11: of the fish on that sledge would just suit me.
2:25:52
Speaker 11: I think I can play a trick that will make
2:25:54
Speaker 11: the man give me a chance to help myself to them.
2:25:58
Speaker 11: Then he ran down a convene and hollow that allowed
2:26:01
Speaker 11: him to get into the road some distance ahead of
2:26:03
Speaker 11: the sledge without being seen, And there he stretched himself
2:26:07
Speaker 11: motionless by the roadside. Pretty soon the sledge reached him,
2:26:11
Speaker 11: and the driver pulled up sharply. Aha, a dead fox,
2:26:15
Speaker 11: he said, and he jumped out and tossed rain out
2:26:18
Speaker 11: on his load. The man got back on his seat
2:26:21
Speaker 11: and drove on, and soon the fox cautiously wriggled to
2:26:25
Speaker 11: the rear end of the sledge, threw off two nice
2:26:28
Speaker 11: large fish, and jumped off himself. Then he took the
2:26:31
Speaker 11: fish in his mouth and trotted away to the forest.
2:26:34
Speaker 11: There he met a bear who stopped and asked, where
2:26:37
Speaker 11: did you get those fish, mister fox? Oh, not far off,
2:26:41
Speaker 11: the fox answered, you know the stream in the glen
2:26:43
Speaker 11: where the elves dwell. I just stuck my tail through
2:26:46
Speaker 11: a hole in the eyes there, and these fish got
2:26:49
Speaker 11: on and I pulled them out. The bear in those
2:26:51
Speaker 11: days had as long and as fine a tail as
2:26:54
Speaker 11: the fox, and he said, well, if those fish would
2:26:57
Speaker 11: hang on to your tail, I suppose some would hang
2:27:00
Speaker 11: on to mine. Yes, certainly, grandfather, the fox responded, the
2:27:04
Speaker 11: fish haven't much to eat these days. Dangle your tail
2:27:08
Speaker 11: down in the water and they will surely hang on.
2:27:11
Speaker 11: But you would have to sit patiently a long time.
2:27:14
Speaker 11: Could you do that? Don't talk nonsense, The bur snarled,
2:27:18
Speaker 11: Of course I could. Remember. You will spoil everything if
2:27:21
Speaker 11: you are in a hurry, the fox said, as the
2:27:23
Speaker 11: bear shambled away, towards the glen of the elves, Bruin
2:27:27
Speaker 11: found a hole in the ice and thrust his tail
2:27:29
Speaker 11: deep in the chilly water. The weather was cold, and
2:27:33
Speaker 11: ice was forming rapidly. The sunset and it grew dark,
2:27:37
Speaker 11: and the bear said to himself, I have had enough
2:27:40
Speaker 11: of this sort of thing. Fish wall, no fish. I
2:27:42
Speaker 11: am going home. But to his dismay, he found that
2:27:45
Speaker 11: the hole in the ice had frozen over, and that
2:27:48
Speaker 11: his tail was held as if in a vice. To
2:27:51
Speaker 11: add to his alarm, the elves just then discovered him
2:27:54
Speaker 11: and began shouting to each other, Here is a bear
2:27:57
Speaker 11: in our glen. Drive him away, Drive him away. Instantly
2:28:01
Speaker 11: he had swarms of the little people all about him,
2:28:04
Speaker 11: and each one was armed with a tiny bow and
2:28:06
Speaker 11: arrows and a spear hardly big enough for a baby.
2:28:10
Speaker 11: Their arrows and spears, though small, could sting, as the
2:28:14
Speaker 11: bear well knew from past experience, and in his fright,
2:28:17
Speaker 11: he gave a mighty tug that broke his tail short off.
2:28:22
Speaker 11: Then away he scampered out of the glen as fast
2:28:24
Speaker 11: as he could. His fine, bushy tail was gone, and
2:28:28
Speaker 11: ever since that time all the bears have had short,
2:28:31
Speaker 11: stumpy tails. The bear wanted to punish the fox, and
2:28:35
Speaker 11: he went in search of him. Raynard understood perfectly what
2:28:39
Speaker 11: he must expect, and he said to himself, unless I
2:28:42
Speaker 11: keep out of that fellow's way, I shall lose something
2:28:45
Speaker 11: more than my tail. Then he began speaking to his
2:28:48
Speaker 11: feet and other parts of himself. He would ask a
2:28:50
Speaker 11: question and pretend that the part addressed answered, though of
2:28:54
Speaker 11: course it was he who did all the talking. The
2:28:57
Speaker 11: conversation was like this, What would you do, my feet?
2:29:00
Speaker 11: If the bear was seeking my life? We would run
2:29:03
Speaker 11: so fast that he could not catch us. What would
2:29:06
Speaker 11: you do my ears? If the bear was seeking my life?
2:29:10
Speaker 11: We would listen so keenly that we should hear all
2:29:13
Speaker 11: his plans. What would you do, my nose? If the
2:29:16
Speaker 11: bear was seeking my life? I would smell so sharply
2:29:20
Speaker 11: that I could warn you of his coming while he
2:29:22
Speaker 11: was still afar off. What would you do, my tale?
2:29:26
Speaker 11: If the bear was sick in my life? I would
2:29:29
Speaker 11: steer you so straight that she would soon get beyond
2:29:31
Speaker 11: his reach. Then the fox listened intensely and sniffed the
2:29:36
Speaker 11: air suspiciously. I must be off. Danger is near, he said,
2:29:41
Speaker 11: So he ran and ran until he left the mountains
2:29:44
Speaker 11: with the eyes and snow behind. At last he came
2:29:47
Speaker 11: to a man mending a boat beside a river. Lend
2:29:51
Speaker 11: me your boat that I may cross over to the
2:29:53
Speaker 11: other side, the fox requested, don't bother me. The man
2:29:57
Speaker 11: said gruffly, I'm busy, but I need your boat to
2:30:01
Speaker 11: cross over this river. The fox said, as he sat
2:30:04
Speaker 11: on his hind legs and looked up into the man's face.
2:30:07
Speaker 11: Stop your silly chatter, the men ordered, stop it. I
2:30:11
Speaker 11: will give you a buff in the water. Oh, I
2:30:13
Speaker 11: wish I had a boat. I wish I had a boat,
2:30:16
Speaker 11: the fox cried. Then the man jumped up, seized the
2:30:20
Speaker 11: fox by the tail, and threw him far out into
2:30:22
Speaker 11: the stream. It happened that there was a little island
2:30:26
Speaker 11: near where the fox fell, and he scrumbled out on that.
2:30:29
Speaker 11: After shaking the water from his fur, he sat down
2:30:32
Speaker 11: and called hasten, hasten, O fishes, and carry me to
2:30:36
Speaker 11: the other side. Immediately the fishes left the pools where
2:30:40
Speaker 11: they had been lurking, and hurried to see who could
2:30:43
Speaker 11: get to the island first. I have won, the pike shouted.
2:30:47
Speaker 11: Then he said to the fox, jump on my back
2:30:50
Speaker 11: and I will carry you to the other shore. Now,
2:30:53
Speaker 11: I thank you. The fox responded, your back is too weak.
2:30:56
Speaker 11: I should break it. The eel wriggled to the front
2:30:59
Speaker 11: and said, try mine. Ye are to slippery. The fox objected,
2:31:04
Speaker 11: I would slide off and be drowned. You won't slide
2:31:07
Speaker 11: off my back. The perch said, coming forward. Good gracious now,
2:31:12
Speaker 11: the fox exclaimed, not while we have such a spiny
2:31:15
Speaker 11: fin right in the middle of it. But I would
2:31:17
Speaker 11: be very uncomfortable at this moment. A fine salmon swum
2:31:22
Speaker 11: up and said, well, you can have no fault to
2:31:25
Speaker 11: find with me. You are the person I want. The
2:31:29
Speaker 11: fox said, come close to the shore so I can
2:31:32
Speaker 11: get on your back without wetting my feet. The salmon
2:31:35
Speaker 11: swam as near the island as he could, and the
2:31:38
Speaker 11: fox stepped carefully on his back and was carried swiftly
2:31:41
Speaker 11: to the opposite bank. I think the fox must still
2:31:45
Speaker 11: be on that side of the river, for I have
2:31:47
Speaker 11: never heard of his returning. End of chapter twenty five
2:31:54
Speaker 11: recording by Adam Wilkins, end of a book of fairy
2:31:59
Speaker 11: Tale Foxes by Clifton Johnson