A fox was travelling along one day, when suddenly he came upon a sleeping horse. He suckled milk from the horse
until he had his fill. He then took another mouthful along with him for his lunch.
He hadn't gone very far when he met up with a bear. The bear said, "What is that mouthful of stuff bulging in your cheek?" The fox said,
"There's a horse sleeping over there. I sucked milk from her." "Gosh," said the bear, "How about showing me where
she is sleeping, so I can get some too."
Then they went back and arrived again at the place where the horse was sleeping. The bear started in at
once, and drank milk until he had gotten his fill. The fox said, "I think it would be a very good idea for us to take
her along with us. Then we can always have her milk."
The bear said, "How will we manage to take her with us? She is so heavy." The fox said, "That's easy. You are
very strong and therefore you will do the pulling." But then the bear asked, "How will I ever manage to pull her?"
The fox answered, "There's nothing to it. I will splice your tails together and tie them. I'll make them
good and tight. And then I'll get behind and push.
And so the bear consented. Soon the fox said "Okay, I'm finished. Are you ready?" And he went around to the front
of the horse and bit her on her snout.
The horse immediately jumped up and ran away, with the bear being dragged along behind her. It was quite
a distance, they say, before the bear's tail finally broke and he managed to get free of the frightened horse.
Then, of course, the bear got angry, and made up his mind that he was going to kill the fox the next time
they met. Now, they say, he travelled around looking for the fox, and it was some time later before he caught
up with him again.
When he did the bear said, "It's been a long time that I've been going around looking for you. Now we'll
straighten out that matter concerning the trick you played on me. Right here and now I'm going to beat the daylights
out of you." The fox said "There is a great difference in our sizes, and it's quite plain to see that you will obviously get the
best of me." "There's a great big tree on top of the hill. That is where we'll meet tomorrow at two o'clock."
Then they parted company once more. The bear began collecting fighters at once. After a while he met a pig.
Said the bear, "Darned if you don't look like a tough one. That's just what I'm looking for, a good fighter."
The pig answered back, "That's exactly what I'm looking for myself. I've never been beaten by anyone yet."
Immediately the bear invited the pig along to go back with him to where they were going to fight.
In the meantime, the fox was also looking for help. After going quite some distance he met a dog with broad shoulders
and a lame gait. The fox said, "Well, it sure is a good thing that we met. I'm going to have a fight tomorrow."
The dog responded by saying, "That's exactly what my business is. I've never been beaten by anyone yet." So
he immediately invited him along.
A little further they met up with a cat. An so he asked him as well if he could fight and he said it was
okay by him. And so the fox said, "Now I guess we might as well head for the place where we are going to fight."
Now the bear and the pig arrived in the vicinity of the big tree. The bear said, "I guess I'll climb up this tree
here so I can see whether they are in sight yet." Now the pig said, "I think I'll rest here in the shade.
I'll cover myself with leaves while we are waiting."
And, so they say, the bear was sitting way up on top of the tree looking around. "Wow. Here comes the other
gang," said the bear, "Now I realize we've made a big mistake. We're surely going to get whipped. He certainly
has a tough crowd coming."
"What makes you say that?" asked the pig. The bear answered back, "Well, one of them is carrying a bag on
his back and he is gathering up stones as he's coming along (this was the cat with his tail waving in the air)."
So then the pig suggests, "Maybe it would be a good thing to make up with the fox when they get here."
And so, it is said, the the one perched way up in the tree called down to the fox when arrived and said,
I think we should make up. Let's be friends and go our separate ways in peace." "That's fine by me," said
the fox.
Now they said that at this time the cat spoke up saying. "I'm very disappointed that we won't be fighting.
Here's what I would have done if we would have fought. Right away he jumped to where the leaves were moving
and grabbed the pigs nose. The pig squealed.
This startled the cat. He then jumped up onto the tree where the bear was sitting. This startled the bear
so much that he cried out, "Aki, I'm a dead man! The bear jumped form the tree and landed sprawling on the
ground.
Now the dog, it appears, began to chase after the pig, bitting him on the rear as they ran away.
And the fox, this wise old fellow, he just ran away laughing.
And that's how it happened. |
