One day, a fox named Acheria was very hungry. He didn't know what to think. He saw a shepherd passing by with his flock every day and said to himself that he should steal his milk and cheese and thus make a real feast, but he needed someone to help him in order to make something.
Acheria
So he went to find a wolf and said to him:
“Wolf, wolf!” we should be able to have a feast with milk and cheese from a shepherd I know. You will go where the herd grazes and from afar you will have to shout: Uhur, uhur, uhur. The shepherd, after milking his sheep, takes them to the field, with his dog, very early in the morning and returns to work at home where he prepares his cheese. When you start to howl: Uhur, uhur, and the dog starts to bark, the shepherd will leave everything and run out. Meanwhile I will steal the milk and we will share it when you join me. »
The wolf agreed to have a feast and left. He did as the fox told him.
The dog began to bark as the wolf approached. And when the man heard this, he went out leaving everything and our fox went and stole the dish in which the curds were. What did he do next, before the wolf arrived? He very carefully removed the cream and ate the entire contents of the jar. After he had eaten everything, he filled it with manure and put the cream on top and he waited for the wolf at the place he had indicated.
The fox told the wolf, as it was he who was going to do the sharing, that the top being much better than the inside, the one who chose it would only have that and the other would have everything else. “Now choose what you want. »
The wolf said to him:
“I don't want the top; I prefer what is at the bottom. "
The fox then took the upper hand and gave the poor wolf the dish full of manure. When he saw this, the wolf got angry, but the fox said to him:
" It's not my fault. Apparently the shepherd does it like that. »
And the fox went away well satisfied.
Another day he was still very hungry and did not know what to think. Every day he saw a boy pass by on the road with his father's dinner.
He said to a blackbird:
“Merle, do you know what we should do? We should have a good meal. A boy will pass by here presently. You will go in front of him and when the boy wants to catch you, you will go a little further, limping and when you have done this several times, the boy, overcome with impatience, will put down his basket to catch you more quickly. I will take this basket, and I will go to such and such a place and there we will share it and have a good meal. »
The blackbird tells him yes.
When the boy passed by, the blackbird limped past the boy. When the boy leaned down (to catch it), the blackbird escaped a little further. At last, the boy grew impatient, and put his basket on the ground to pursue the blackbird more quickly. The fox, who was lying in wait to grab the basket, took it far away with him, not to the agreed place, but to his den and there he gorged himself, eating the blackbird's share as his own.
So he said to himself:
“It's not good to stay here. The wolf is my enemy and so is the blackbird. Something will happen to me if I stay here. I have to go to the other side of the water. »
He went to stand at the water's edge. A boatman came passing, the fox said to him:
“Ho! man, ho! Will you take me across? I will tell you three truths. "
The man tells him yes.
The fox jumped (into the boat) and started by saying:
“People say that meture is as good as bread. It's a lie. The bread is better. This is a truth. »
When he was in the middle of the river, he said:
“They also say: “What a beautiful night, it’s as clear as day!” » This is also a lie. The day is always clearer. Here is the second truth. »
And he told her the third as they approached the bank.
" Oh ! man man! you have bad pants and they will be much worse if you don't pass people who pay more than me.
“This is very true,” said the man, and the fox jumped to the ground.
So I was there at the water's edge and there I learned these three truths and since then I have never forgotten them.
