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The Fox Whose Tail Had Been Cut Off

Once upon a time there was a fox, whose tail had been cut off by a steel-jawed trap. And because he was so ashamed of his lost beauty he fancied that his life had become unbearable. He grew embittered of it and he wanted to bring all the other foxes in the same situation, so that in their mutual suffering his own mutilation would be a common thing.

Therefore, one day he called all the foxes together and tried to persuade them to chop off their tails, because, as he said, it was not only an ugly object, but also an unnecessary burden which was tied up to them. But someone interrupted him and said: "Hey fox, if your tail hadn't been cut off you certainly wouldn't have said this to us."

This story applies to those who give their fellow people advice not out of kindness but out of self-interest.

Translation © Lazyfox, 1998

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