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The (Old) Lion and The Fox

An old lion, who wasn't strong enough to gain food anymore, knew that he had to feed himself by means of a trick. And after he had arrived in a cave, he lay down in it and pretended to be ill; and that way he seized and ate all the animals who came to visit him.

When already quite a lot of animals had been devoured a fox, who noticed what the lion was up to, went to him. The fox, who saw to it that he stood on a safe distance from the cave, asked the lion how he was doing. The lion replied that he was doing quite badly and then asked why he didn't came into the cave, to which the fox replied: "Oh, but I would have come in, IF I hadn't seen that many tracks lead into the cave, but none outwards."

And that's how wise people can detect perils from certain indications and thereby escape them.

Translation © Lazyfox, 1998

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