THE FOX WHO LOST HIS TAIL
A Fox was once caught in a trap by his
tail. He succeeded in getting away, but
was forced to leave his "brush" behind. He
soon realized that his life would be a burden,
from the shame and ridicule to which his tail-
less condition would expose him.
So he set about to induce all the other
Foxes to part with theirs. At the next as-
sembly he boldly made a speech, in which he
set forth the advantages of his present state.
"The tail," he said, "is no real part of our
persons, and, besides being very ugly to see, it
is a dead weight hung upon us. I have never
moved about with such ease as since I gave
up my own."
When he had ended his speech, a sly old
Fox arose, and giving his own brush a grace-
ful wave, said, with the kind of sneer which
the Foxes know so well how to execute, that
if he had lost by accident his own tail, he
should, without doubt, agree with his friend;
but that until such a mishap should occur, he
should retain his own, and should advise the
others to do the same. And the vote to retain
the tails was given by a wave of the brush.Yet many fashions have been set by Foxes
who have met with some such accident.