Very, very early, before the sun was properly up, the jackal and the hedgehog were pulling at the shepherd’s cloak.
‘Wake up,’ they said, ‘and give us that sheep. We have had nothing to eat all night, and are very hungry.’
The shepherd yawned and rubbed his eyes. ‘He is tied up to that tree; go and take him.’ So they went to the tree and unfastened the cord, and turned to go back to the cave where they had slept, dragging the greyhound after them. When they reached the cave the jackal said to the hedgehog.
‘Before I kill him let me see whether he is fat or thin.’ And he stood a little way back, so that he might the better examine the animal. After looking at him, with his head on one side, for a minute or two, he nodded gravely.
‘He is quite fat enough; he is a good sheep.’
But the hedgehog, who sometimes showed more cunning than anyone would have guessed, answered:
‘My friend, you are talking nonsense. The wool is indeed a sheep’s wool, but the paws of my uncle the greyhound peep out from underneath.’
‘He is a sheep,’ repeated the jackal, who did not like to think anyone cleverer than himself.
‘Hold the cord while I look at him,’ answered the hedgehog.
Very unwillingly the jackal held the rope, while the hedgehog walked slowly round the greyhound till he reached the jackal again. He knew quite well by the paws and tail that it was a greyhound and not a sheep, that the shepherd had sold them; and as he could not tell what turn affairs might take, he resolved to get out of the way.