172 THE FOX 



prey, when clogged with mud and wet is a most 

 undoubted encumbrance. 



If we turn to particular authors, I am struck with 

 the accuracy of the observation o. ^Esop and 

 Phaedrus. In the latter, the fox is among the drama- 

 tis persona of the fabulists the most true to nature. 

 There is the remark of the ape when he begs a portion 

 of the fox's brush ' What,' he asks, ' is the use of 

 dragging such a mass of hair through the mire ? ' The 

 fox replies that he would drag a brush much longer and 

 heavier rather than lend the ape a bit of it. With the 

 moral I am glad to say we have nothing to do, but 

 two things are here set out : that the brush is often a 

 drag on the hunted fox, yet that on the whole it is an 

 advantage to the race an assistance in hunting (and 

 by the way, the fox tucks his nose into it when asleep), 

 a comfort in his domestic moments. There is a keen 

 touch of observation, too, in the case of the fox 

 who would be king. Granted by Jupiter a human 

 form and seated on his throne, the fox espies a beetle 

 in the corner, and springs down to capture it. 

 Jupiter promptly sends him back to the woods 

 ' Live as you have been accustomed to do, since you 

 are fit for no higher position.' 



There was a peculiar aptness about this, for the 

 fox is one of the most untameable of animals. His 



