170 THE FOX 



he proceeded to take possession of the hare's by means 

 of a fraud. 



It is, indeed, a notable instance of the truth of the 

 natural history of the fables, that when the fox comes 

 into contact with the hare, he is represented as always 

 succeeding rather by cunning than by force — the 

 size, strength, and swiftness of the hare making this 

 an absolute necessity. Thus in ' Reineke ' the fox 

 beguiles Lampe the hare into his castle, where he is 

 devoured, and there is a quaint and simple bit of 

 comedy when Reynard persuades Bdlyn, the ram 

 companion and fellow-ecclesiastic of the hare, that 

 the hare is comfortable inside with his aunt. Rey- 

 nard always lays particular stress on relationship 

 when he is brewing mischief. At the same time 

 Reynard gives Bellyn the head of the hare to carry to 

 the king. But the fox is not infallible and is some- 

 times himself deceived. 



Everyone knows the famous and ancient fable of 

 the fox and the crow and the piece of cheese, but 

 there are several variations of this in a Russian fable 

 in which the fox is caught by flattery. A fox comes 

 under a tree on a branch of which a cock is sitting. 

 The fox persuades the cock to come down to make 

 his confession. The fox is in the Slavonic, as in 

 the Latin and German stories, often the ecclesiastic. 



