Hoping to catch a chicken, a fox lay down in a barnyard, pretending to be asleep, eyes closed, motionless.
A chicken, thinking the fox really was asleep, wandered dangerously close.
The fox pounced and grabbed her by the leg.
"Keaw! Keaw!" shrieked the chicken.
The farmer came running, but it was too late: the fox had already eaten the chicken.
"Fox," said the farmer, "did you hear a chicken cry for help?"
"No," said the fox, "I didn't."
"Then how do you explain the feathers in your mouth?" asked the farmer.
"Those feathers mean nothing at all," the fox replied.
[a Bakweri story from Cameroon]
Inspired by: "The Fox and the Hen" in African Jungle Tales by C. J. Bender, 1919.
Notes: You can read the original story online. This is a story of the Kwe (Wakweli) people of Cameroon; find out more at Wikipedia.
No comments:
Post a Comment