~ 106. The Fox who Played Dead ~
There was a hungry fox who decided to fool the birds by playing dead. She threw herself down on the ground, and lay there motionless, pretending to be a corpse so that the birds wouldn't be afraid to fly right up to her.
The crow, however, took a close look and saw the fox was still breathing. So he fluttered around the fox and mocked her. "You might be able to fool other birds," cawed the crow, "but you can't fool me. My eyes are as sly as your thoughts."
As the saying goes: It takes one to know one.
Inspired by: Mille Fabulae et Una, a collection of Latin fables that I've edited, free to read online. I am not translating the Latin here; instead, I am just telling a 100-word version of the fable.
Notes: This is fable 439 in the book. It is not in Perry's catalog, but it appears in Camerarius. The saying in the original story is: furem esse furi manifestum, et lupum lupo, a thief is obvious to a thief, and wolf to wolf. The fox playing dead to attract birds is part of the bestiary tradition.
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