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Grimms' Fairy Tales
The
Wolf and the Fox
The wolf had the fox with him, and whatsoever
the wolf wished, that the fox was compelled to do, for he
was the weaker, and he would gladly have been rid of his
master. It chanced that once as they were going through
the forest, the wolf said, "Red-fox, get me something
to eat, or else I will eat thee thyself." Then the
fox answered, "I know a farm-yard where there are two
young lambs; if thou art inclined, we will fetch one of
them." That suited the wolf, and they went thither,
and the fox stole the little lamb, took it to the wolf,
and went away. The wolf devoured it, but was not satisfied
with one; he wanted the other as well, and went to get it.
As, however, he did it so awkwardly, the mother of the little
lamb heard him, and began to cry out terribly, and to bleat
so that the farmer came running there. They found the wolf,
and beat him so mercilessly, that he went to the fox limping
and howling. "Thou hast misled me finely," said
he; "I wanted to fetch the other lamb, and the country
folks surprised me, and have beaten me to a jelly."
The fox replied, "Why art thou such a glutton?"
Next day they again went into the country, and the greedy
wolf once more said, "Red-fox, get me something to
eat, or I will eat thee thyself." Then answered the
fox, "I know a farm-house where the wife is baking
pancakes to-night; we will get some of them for ourselves."
They went there, and the fox slipped round the house, and
peeped and sniffed about until he discovered where the dish
was, and then drew down six pancakes and carried them to
the wolf. "There is something for thee to eat,"
said he to him, and then went his way. The wolf swallowed
down the pancakes in an instant, and said, "They make
one want more," and went thither and tore the whole
dish down so that it broke in pieces. This made such a great
noise that the woman came out, and when she saw the wolf
she called the people, who hurried there, and beat him as
long as their sticks would hold together, till with two
lame legs, and howling loudly, he got back to the fox in
the forest. "How abominably thou hast misled me!"
cried he, "the peasants caught me, and tanned my skin
for me." But the fox replied, "Why art thou such
a glutton?"
On the third day, when they were out together, and the
wolf could only limp along painfully, he again said, "Red-fox,
get me something to eat, or I will eat thee thyself."
The fox answered, "I know a man who has been killing,
and the salted meat is lying in a barrel in the cellar;
we will get that." Said the wolf, "I will go when
thou dost, that thou mayest help me if I am not able to
get away." "I am willing," said the fox,
and showed him the by-paths and ways by which at length
they reached the cellar. There was meat in abundance, and
the wolf attacked it instantly and thought, "There
is plenty of time before I need leave off!" The fox
liked it also, but looked about everywhere, and often ran
to the hole by which they had come in, and tried if his
body was still thin enough to slip through it. The wolf
said, "Dear fox, tell me why thou art running here
and there so much, and jumping in and out?"
"I must see that no one is coming," replied the
crafty fellow. "Don't eat too much!" Then said
the wolf, "I shall not leave until the barrel is empty."
In the meantime the farmer, who had heard the noise of the
fox's jumping, came into the cellar. When the fox saw him
he was out of the hole at one bound. The wolf wanted to
follow him, but he had made himself so fat with eating that
he could no longer get through, but stuck fast. Then came
the farmer with a cudgel and struck him dead, but the fox
bounded into the forest, glad to be rid of the old glutton.
From Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Household Tales, trans. Margaret
Hunt (London: George Bell, 1884), 1:299-301. |
