T happened that a Fox caught its tail 

 in a trap, and in struggling to release 

 himself lost all of it but the stump. 

 At first he was ashamed to show 

 himself among his fellow foxes. But at last 

 he determined to put a bolder face upon his 

 misfortune, and summoned all the foxes to a 

 general meeting to consider a proposal which 

 he had to place before them. When they 

 had assembled together the Fox proposed that 

 they should all do away with their tails. He 

 pointed out how inconvenient a tail was when 

 they were pursued by their enemies, the dogs ; 

 how much it was in the way when they 



