A Clever Fox (Grand Mother's tales)

A Clever Fox

One day a fox was very hungry and hungry and he was searching for food in a village. Around that time, he saw some pieces of cake in a basket with a broken bottom, on the scaffolding inside a granary. He ate the cakes in a hurry. Then he started to lick the banana leaf which covered the bottom hole of the basket. He licked the leaf so much that the leaf tore up and got damaged, as a result of which the basket dangled around his neck like a necklace. He tried to remove the basket but he failed. He was not able to catch any duck or goat anymore because when he came out of the forest with the basket around his neck, everyone would scream loudly and drove him away by shouting"Catch the one with the necklace."

    After a few days, when the fox was roaming along the forest he saw two tiger cubs with meat. He quickly figured out a plan to eat the meat. He shook the basket in his neck from a distance and asked the cubs, "Where have your parents gone? Maybe they are trying to escape from me. Tell me where they are."

    The cubs were numb with fear hearing his furious words and said politely, "Our parents have gone out for hunting." The fox said, "Ok, then tell him on his arrival. You see, your father borrowed one basket of money from me using this basket around my neck. But he has not returned my money. I can't stay any longer today, but when he comes back, let him know about this matter. I am feeling a bit hungry; do you have anything to eat ?" The fox ate the meat which the tigers gave to their cubs.

     The fox came to the cubs each day when the tigers left their cubs with food. He ate the food and went away. As the days went by, the tigress noticed that their cubs grew very thin. She thought "Why are they so thin?" The tigress told her husband, "Do you hear? You don't have to go hunting today, I shall go alone. We have to find out if anyone comes here in our absence. Today you should hide and keep a watch on them." That day the tigress left the tiger and went hunting alone.

     In no time, the fox came shaking the damaged basket in his neck and was about to eat the meat from the cubs. The tiger understood everything and rushed to the scene with the intention to attack the fox. The clever fox already had a plan to escape from such a situation. So, he ran forward and jumped between two branches of a tree, and ran away. The tiger also jumped between the same branches to catch the fox, but he was caught in between the branches and got trapped. The more he tried to get out from the branches, the more he was trapped. He started screaming loudly. All animals ran here and there. Hearing the roar of the tiger, the tigress rushed there. The fox was standing in a little distance. He said to the tigress, "Look, how I punished your husband. He did not want to repay my money. Now, how do you feel? I shall kill you too. You must repay my money. If you do not any money, then you must become my servant. If you don't agree, I shall kill you along with your cubs." In the meanwhile, the tiger died. The tigress had no other choice but to become a servant to the fox. After that day the fox fearlessly took his meal from the tiger's family. After some days, the tigress had to leave her residence for a special reason. She went to another forest by crossing a river along with her cubs. The fox also joined them. The tigress along with her cubs was swimming across the river. The fox had to swim to keep his reputation. The fox didn't know how to swim and was about to drown; the tigress rescued him and put him on the bank. After crossing the river the fox uttered "Why did you pull me up? Who asked you to do this? Do females have little intelligence? Do you know the prince of water was supposed to repay my money of four baskets? He always escapes from me. Today I caught him and was about to get my money back but you spoiled everything.

     Thus, the fox kept his reputation that day and continued to stay with the tiger's family. The cubs gradually became intelligent. They fixed the time to hunt by rotation with their mother and the fox. When the fox's turn came, he didn't go hunting by any means. One day, being unable to refuse anymore, the fox went with the tigress to hunt deer. The fox said to the tigress, "You go and chase the deer from the other side. I shall wait right near the deer's track. As the deer comes near me, I will catch it? The tigress chased the deer. But while the fox was lying across the track, the dear ran over his body by stepping on him. He pretended that he was laughing while the dear came, so the dear passed away. He said "You chased such a small deer for me to catch? I could not keep my laugh." Again the fox somehow managed to live happily without doing anything. But the cubs were sad. They were planning on how to catch the fox red-handed. One night, at the time of the foxes' howl, the fox heard the pack of foxes howl. The fox ran away and began to join in the howling. The tiger cubs heard and knew he was nothing but a sly fox. They caught him and tore him apart. Thus the sly fox met his end.

                                                                                                                                      -Collected from,

Burhi Aair Sadhu(Grandmother's tales)

Lakshminath Bezbaroa(1864-1938)