BROTHER FOX’S TAR BABY[O]
TRANSLATED BY JOEL CHANDLER HARRIS
Once upon a time Brother Fox and Brother Rabbit lived near each other in the woods. But they had to go a long way each morning to get water from a spring.
One day Brother Fox said to Brother Rabbit: “What’s the use of taking a long walk every morning. Let us dig a well of our own.”
“I shall no longer go to the spring,” said Brother Rabbit. “From this time on I shall drink the dew from the grass and the flowers. Why should I work to dig a well?”
Brother Rabbit knew by the way Brother Fox talked that he was going to dig the well anyway.
“Just as you please,” said Brother Fox. “Then I will dig the well myself. And I will drink the water all by myself.”
The next morning Brother Fox began to dig a well by a big tree. He worked, and worked, and worked. Brother Rabbit was hiding in a bush near by and watching Brother Fox.
“Ha, ha, ha!” he said to himself. “How foolish Brother Fox is! I guess I shall soon have all the water I want. Ha, ha, ha!”