a sheep.'

'And that is the whole of it,' said the Cat. 'Well, it is very sad. What
do you do with yourself?'

'My duty, to be sure,' said the Fox; 'use my wits and enjoy myself. My
dear friend, you and I are on the lucky side. We eat and are not eaten.'

'Except by the hounds now and then,' said the Cat.

'Yes; by brutes that forget their nature, and sell their freedom to the
men,' said the Fox, bitterly. 'In the meantime my wits have kept my skin
whole hitherto, and I bless Nature for making me a Fox and not a goose.'

'And are you happy, Fox?'

'Happy! yes, of course. So would you be if you would do like me, and use
your wits. My good Cat, I should be as miserable as you if I found my
geese every day at the cave's mouth. I have to hunt for them, lie for
them, sneak for them, fight for them; cheat those old fat farmers, and
bring out what there is inside me; and then I am happy--of course I am.
And then, Cat, think of my feelings as a father last night, when my dear
boy came home with the very young gosling which was marked for the
Michaelmas dinner! Old Reineke himself wasn't more than a match for that
young Fox at his years. You know our epic?'

'A little of it, Fox. They don't read it in our schoolroom. They say it
is not moral; but I have heard pieces of it. I hope it is not all quite
true.'

'Pack of stuff! it is the only true book that ever was written. If it is
not, it ought to be. Why, that book is the law of the world--_la
carriere aux talents_--and writing it was the honestest thing ever done
by a man. That fellow knew a thing or two, and wasn't ashamed of himself
when he did know. They are all like him, too, if they would only say so.
There never was one of them yet who wasn't more ashamed of being called
ugly than of being called a rogue, and of being called stupid than of
being called naughty.'

'It has a roughish end, this life of yours, if you keep clear of the
hounds, Fox,' said the Cat.

'What! a rope in the yard! Well, it must end some day; and when the
farmer catches me I shall be getting old, and my brains will be taking
leave of me; so the sooner I go the better, that I may disgrace myself
the less. Better be jolly while it lasts, than sit mewing out your life
and grumbling at it as a bore.'

'Well,' said the Cat, 'I am very much obliged to you. I suppose I may
even get home again. I shall not find a wiser friend than you, and
perhaps I shall not find another good-natured enough to g