54 A FOX TALE 



gnaw off his own leg ! Who shall say now that foxes have 

 no courage ? In a few minutes he was free of the trap — 

 and free of his own leg too ! He had to limp home as 

 best he could, and there lay for several days in great 

 pain, with the result that the larders became empty, and 

 he had to live on frogs and weasels — anything, in fact, 

 that he could catch in his burrow ; 



So, now, if any of you come across a three-legged fox, 

 you will know why it is ; and if you happen to catch him, 

 don't keep him, for he is grown up. and grown-up foxes 

 never tame. 





