III.
'"It is related that a certain fox had a fine large den, in which he collected provisions for the winter and for the summer, fared sumptuously, and never suffered from want. Once, however, a large army of ants invaded his domicile, and made short work of all the victuals he had carefully stored. This misfortune befel him just at a time when the weather happened to be very cold and food scarce, so that he began to feel the pangs of hunger. One morning, however, when he was about to sally forth from his den, he perceived, to his no small astonishment, at the mouth of it a camel kneeling, with the hinder part of his body turned towards him. The fox said to himself, 'Here is good luck,' and made a foolhardy attempt to drag the animal into the cave by tying a rope to its tail, and to commence pulling at it with all his might. To make sure of his prey the fox had tied the other end of the rope to his own body, but when he began to jerk it rather strongly the camel became vexed, jumped up suddenly, and first discharging both urine and dung upon Reynard, began to shake himself violently. The fox dangled in the air, and was repeatedly knocked against the flanks of the gigantic animal. Then the fox repented of his silly attempt to feast on camel meat, and knew that his death-knell would shortly sound. Luckily an ichneumon happened to be standing close by, amazed at the strange spectacle, and the fox implored it to intercede for him. Accordingly, the ichneumon addressed the camel in the following strain: 'Friend giant! it is meet that the strong, hoping for an eternal reward, should have mercy upon the weak! Here is a poor stranger who has accidentally become entangled with your tail. He will be strangled; you may save his life and become his deliverer by letting him go.' The camel then released the fox, who would assuredly have lost his life if the ichneumon had not interceded for him." When the male partridge had heard this story he fully approved of the moral of it, which is to the effect that ignorant and weak individuals are generally foiled in their designs against those who are powerful. He therefore considered that it would be best to throw themselves upon the mercy of the eagle, and said: "We must pay a visit to his majesty the eagle, explain our case to him, implore his mercy, and enroll ourselves among the number of his servants. We may succeed by gaining his favour; he is the king of all the birds, and carnivorous, but for all we know his disposition may be so merciful that he will spare our offspring not only himself, but order all the other birds of prey, his subjects, to do likewise."
'Then the she-partridge exclaimed: "Your advice is indeed wonderful! You propose nothing less than that we should court our own perdition, and of our own accord run into a trap! The eagle in treacherous, and would deal with us like the heron dealt with the little fish." The male said, "Please narrate the occurrence," and the female continued: