104. The Fox and the Raven

Fox was starving, so he decided to play dead. "When Raven comes to feed on my body," he thought, "I'll grab him!"
But when Raven saw Fox lying there, he alighted on a rock, just out of reach. 
Fox stayed perfectly still.
"Well, I suppose Fox is sleeping," Raven squawked. "Because if he were dead, the wind would make his ears wave back and forth."
Hearing Raven's words, Fox cautiously wiggled his ears.
Raven cawed loudly. "O Fox, your body may be still and your eyes closed, but you can hear every word I'm saying."
Then Raven flew away, laughing.
[a Bishari story from the northern Sudan]



Inspired by: "Abu el Husseini the fox" in Northern Sudan: Bisharin Fables by W. E. Jennings-Bramly, 1925.
Notes: You can read the original story online. You can read about the Bishari people of northeast Africa at Wikipedia.



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