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Aesop's Fables, translated by Laura Gibbs (2002)

149. THE FOX, THE ROOSTER AND THE DOG
Perry 252 (Chambry 180 *)

A dog and a rooster had become friends and were making a journey together. When night fell, they came to a place in the woods. The rooster took his seat up in the branches of a tree while the dog went to sleep in a hollow at the foot of the tree. The night passed and day was dawning when the rooster crowed loudly, as roosters usually do. A fox heard the rooster and wanted to make a meal of him, so she came running up and stood at the foot of the tree and shouted to the rooster, 'You are an excellent bird and so useful to people! Why don't you come down and we'll sing some songs together, delighting in one another's company.' The rooster replied, 'Go over to the foot of the tree, my dear, and tell the watchman to let you in.' When the fox went to announce herself, the dog suddenly leaped up and grabbed the fox, tearing her to pieces.
The story shows that people are the same way: if you are wise, you take up arms to save yourself whenever you run into trouble.


Source: Aesop's Fables. A new translation by Laura Gibbs. Oxford University Press (World's Classics): Oxford, 2002.
NOTE: New cover, with new ISBN, published in 2008; contents of book unchanged.