The Fox And The Goat
In a faraway jungle, the rivers and streams dried up by the wildfire, and any water left in them was unfit for drinking. The forest animals that managed to escape the fire had no option but to cautiously enter a small village nearby in search of water and food.
One day, a thirsty fox sneaked into the nearby village to try its luck at finding some water to drink. The fox walked about in the village but couldn’t find a single drop of water to drink.
Disappointed, the fox looked up at the sky to check if there was any sign of rain. All the fox saw was the bright moon that seemed to be smiling at his misery. The fox kept walking and walking and, much to his surprise came upon an old well.
“Well! Look what we have here?!” the fox exclaimed and walked towards the old well, all the while looking at the moon and smirking.
The moment the fox put his head down to drink the water in the well, he lost his control and fell with a splash into the deep well. He tried his best to get out of it, but all his efforts were in vain. He had no option but to wait for someone to come in the morning and help him out of the old well.
The next morning at dawn, the fox heard someone asking, “Why are you down the well, Mr Fox?”
The fox looked up and saw an innocent-looking goat.
The fox thought for some time and then replied cunningly, “Oh! I was trying to drink as much water as I could from this old well. This is the finest water I have ever tasted in my whole life. My dear, why don’t you try it?”
The thirsty goat followed what the sly fox said and jumped into the well to drink the water to his heart’s content. The next moment, the goat found himself in the same difficult situation as the fox.
The innocent goat asked the fox, “How do we get out of here?”
“I have an excellent idea,” said the sly fox, “You stand on your hind legs, and I’ll climb on your strong horns and get out of the well. Then, I will help you climb up as well”.
The innocent goat did as he was told, and the cunning fox climbed out of the old well and ran away without turning back even for a moment.
Before running away, the sly fox said to the innocent goat, “Had you been intelligent enough, you would never have got in without thinking about how to get out this old well.”
The poor goat got struck in the well.
Moral of The Story
The moral of “The Fox and the Goat” is to “look before you leap,” which means you should think carefully about the consequences of your actions before acting. The story also teaches that you should not trust blindly and need to be cautious about the help you accept, as it can sometimes be a trick.
