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Vernon Jones (1912)

98. THE BEAR AND THE FOX

A Bear was once bragging about his generous feelings, and saying how refined he was compared with other animals. (There is, in fact, a tradition that a Bear will never touch a dead body.) A Fox, who heard him talking in this strain, smiled and said, "My friend, when you are hungry, I only wish you _would_ confine your attention to the dead and leave the living alone."

A hypocrite deceives no one but himself.

THE BEAR AND THE FOX


Aesop's Fables: A New Translation by V.S. Vernon Jones with illustrations by Arthur Rackham (1912). This book is available online at Project Gutenberg.