“I tell you what,” said the Fox. “You lie down and pretend to be dead. The girl will put down her basket to take you up for the sake of your skin, for out of hare-skins they make gloves; then I’ll snatch the rolls, and we shall have a splendid meal!”
The Hare did as the Fox told him, fell down, and pretended to be dead, while the Fox hid behind a snow-drift. The girl came along, saw the Hare with his legs stretched out stiff and stark, put down her basket sure enough, and stooped over the Hare. The Fox snatched up the basket and scampered off with it. The Hare in a twinkling came to life, and followed his companion. But he ran on ahead, and showed quite plainly that he meant to keep the rolls all to himself.
But that was not what the Hare had bargained for, you may guess. So when they came to a little lake, he called out to the Fox:
“What do you say to catching a dish of fish? Then we should have fish and rolls to eat like any lord. Just dangle your tail down in the water; the fish haven’t much to bite these days, so they’re bound to hang on to your tail. You must make haste, though, before the lake freezes over.”
Well, the Fox thought that a good idea. So he went to the lake, which was just beginning to freeze, and dangled his tail in the water. In a very short time the tail was frozen in.
Now, the Hare took the basket and gobbled up the rolls one after the other as comfortably as you please, right before the Fox’s face.
“Wait till it thaws,” he said to the Fox. “Wait till the spring. Wait till it thaws!” and then he ran away.
And the Fox was so angry at the way he had been caught that he barked and barked like a savage dog on a chain.
The Story of Zirac
Once upon a time a raven, a rat, and a tortoise, having agreed to be friends together, were having a pleasant chat when they saw a wild goat making its way toward them with surprising swiftness. They took it for granted by her speed that she was pursued by some hunter, and they at once without ceremony separated, every one to take care of himself. The tortoise slipped into the water, the rat crept into a hole, which he fortunately found near at hand, and the raven hid himself among the boughs of a very high tree. In the mean time the goat stopped quite suddenly, and stood to rest herself by the side of a fountain, when the raven, who had looked all round and perceived no one, called to the tortoise, who immediately peeped above the water, and seeing the goat afraid to drink, said: “Drink boldly, my friend, for the water is very clear.”