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

449. THE FOX, THE BOAR AND HIS TUSKS
Perry 224 (Chambry 327 *)

The wild boar was standing beside a tree, sharpening his tusks. The fox asked him why he was sharpening his tusks now, when there was no immediate need for him to do so. The wild boar replied, 'I have my reasons! This way, when danger threatens, I won't have to take time to whet my tusks but will instead have them ready for use.'
The fable shows that we need to prepare ourselves before danger strikes.

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.