The fox spouted off to the cat, teasing him. "I bet you find yourself to be pretty smart, huh? Thinking you're always right, thinking you always know the best way to do something."
The cat admitted that he did not have many tricks. In fact, he only had one; but that one trick was extremely valuable, more so than any of the fox's tricks. Quality over quantity, he stressed.
The fox, opened his mouth to reply, but quickly shut it. Both of their ears perked up; they'd both heard the sound of approaching hunters. Their horns rang out and their dogs' barks carried through the trees and across the land.
Instinctively, the cat jumped up into the tree and vanished, hidden among the leaves and branches.
The Fox and the Cat by Winceslaus Hollar
Retrieved from Wikimedia
From deep within the foliage, the fox heard the cat say, "Here is my trick! Show me yours!"
The fox's head twitched and his eyes moved side-to-side as he thought through his multitudes of escape plans. He had so many! The fox ran, trying to decide which plan to take and buying some time as the hounds approached, biting at his paws.
He tried many things: diving into random burrows, taking sharp turns, doubling back, and running as fast as he could- but these were simply not enough. The hounds quickly caught up to and overtook the fox, quieting his bragging and teasing.
In the end, the cat's common sense won him not only the argument, but his life. The fox's tricks and supposed cunning were too much and not enough at the same time and he paid the ultimate price.
Author's Note
This story is based off of the fable by Aesop titled "The Cat and the Fox" which can be found in the book Aesop for Children, illustrated by Milo Winter (1919). The fable tells the short tale of a cat and a fox. The cat relies on his instinct, whereas the fox hatches schemes, makes plans, and over-prepares while ignoring his basic instincts. He acts as though for something to be good or right, it must be complicated and new. However, when the two must run from a pack of hounds, the fox cannot make a decision on which plan to choose and ends up being hunted down by the hounds. The fable ends simply with the following words:
"Common sense is always worth more than cunning."
I like this story because I agree that simple is sometimes the best option, and one should always listen to their instincts or "go with their gut." This really stuck with me because I try to always listen to my instincts because when I don't, things simply seem to go bad. I liked that this story featured a character that is really smart, but thinks things through just a little too much. I can be the same way; sometimes over-thinking things or second-guessing myself, but I have tried to start trusting myself more like the fox should have in the first place.
I remember this one, Brianna - you did such a fabulous job with this fable by adding all these details. I esp. like the way you help us really see that poor fox ("The fox's head twitched and his eyes moved side-to-side as he thought through his multitudes of escape plans") and including the list of some of the fox's plans is perfect. In the teeny-tiny style of traditional Aesop's fables, there's no room for telling us about all the tricks the fox tried... all of which failed him in the end! And listen, I collect illustrations of Aesop's fables; I can't remember if I shared this link with you before: illustrations of the fable of The Cat and the Fox And the illustration you used is a great one; I am going to go pin that to the Myth-Folklore Board now. Fantastic!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading this story! I am impressed with your writing style, and with all of the details you put in that really made this story come to life. I agree with what you said about how one should always listen to their instincts and go with their gut. I feel like I encounter that most often when I'm taking a test and doubt myself, and end up changing my answer to the wrong one, when I had it right the first time. Thankfully, the consequences of that aren't as serious as losing one's life, like the fox did, but sometimes, especially during finals, it feels like it!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you! Intuition is a very handy tool that most people could forget if they are always prepared. I really liked how you wrote the story because I could picture the scene of the fox and cat being chased vividly. Your paragraph structure is good because it goes from one scene to the next but your sentence structure could be changed a bit. In my opinion, I think you use too many semicolons when they are not needed. For example, in this sentence “Both of their ears perked up; they’d both heard the sound of approaching hunters,” you could use an and instead of the colon so the sentence flows better. I also would have liked to know more about the fox and cat at the beginning of the story. Maybe you could establish in the beginning paragraph both of the characters as a fox and cat to get the readers attention. Other than that, I really enjoyed the read and the moral of the story :).
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